* Certified Force.com credentials will begin retiring July, 2017 **

This notice serves as general announcement that the Salesforce Certified Force.com Developer and Salesforce Certified Force.com Advanced Developer credentials, will begin retiring in July of 2017. The retirement process for these credentials will be complete as of March 30, 2018.

The Salesforce platform is constantly evolving. With more than a decade of innovation, development, and change under our belt it means the skills required of a Platform Developer are very different now than they were when the Force.com credentials were first created. To better validate the current skills required to develop in our platform, last year we introduced three new developer certifications to the market: Platform App Builder and Platform Developer I & II. The Force.com credentials have served the industry well by validating the skills of our customers, and earning our trailblazers the prestigious right to say they were among the first to be certified to develop for the cloud, but the time has come for the Force.com credentials to retire and take their place in the Salesforce Hall of Fame.

What does this mean?

As of February 1, 2017 - Starting with the Winter '17 release cycle, Salesforce Certified Force.com Developers can maintain their credential until their next annual maintenance fee is due. However, when that time comes they will not be able to renew their maintenance and the Force.com Developer credential will expire. They will be able to transition to the Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder credential even if their Force.com Developer credential expires.

For Salesforce Certified Force.com Advanced Developer, or for those in the process of earning their Force.com Advanced Developer credential, will be able to maintain their status until they transition to the Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I & II credentials.

The transition exams are available until March 30, 2018, giving everyone impacted a chance to earn the new Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder and/or Platform Developer I & II credentials before the retirement date.

The Next Step

There is an expedited transitional certification path for Force.com credential holders to earn the Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder (Declarative) and/or Salesforce Certified Platform Developer I or II (Programmatic)credential. Transition path details can be found here (https://sfdc.co/TransitionFAQ).

We are in the process of sending an email to all Force.com credential holders notifying them of their next steps

Learn More

Visit our blog (https://sfdc.co/bA0xur )to learn more about the retirement, the transition paths into one of our newer developer certifications, and for information on accessing the new exam guides.

Salesforce Consulting Partners - Information about what this means for their program tiering is available here (http://p.force.com/certupdates ).