Certification - What is it?
Certification is the evaluation of a person's skills against a standard. A skill that meets certain requirements based on the standard, may be awarded a certificate of conformance.
Certification Types
Certification can be divided into two broad types
Vendor Neutral: This certification type is not tied to a specific vendore.g comptia A+. Network+, Security+ etc. For example, for a candidate to be Comptia Network+ certified, Comptia do not expect the candidate to learn propeitary concept such as using Windows 2003 server active directory to create user account, instead Comptia expect the candidate to be familier with general networking concepts that all network share.
Vendor specific: This type of certification is a propietary or a vendor certification. Its said to be propietary because it restricts candidate to learning the objectives of an exam from a specific vendor. E.g Microsoft MCSE, Cisco CCNA, Novel CNE etc.
Certification Vendor s
Below is a few listings of some of the IT certification vendors:
Comptia
Microsoft
Cisco
ITIL
CIW
SUN
Oracle
Linux
Ec-Council
HP
CWNA
New to certification? or will like to view available certification options for each vendor, please click here
Why bother with certification?
Certification is one of the ways in which we can provide an assurance of quality. There are numerous methods available for QA which cover the entire range of activities surrounding technical development. Certification then is an assurance that we give to buyers and end users. The principal goal of a certification program is to promote confidence in a technology and to prove that you know what you are talking about when it comes to areas in which you are certified.
How is it done?
Certification is usually carried out by subjecting the candidate to a range of tests. This requires a test suite and a site at which to run the tests. The exact sub-set of tests required is determined by the certification provider. There are two (2) popular certification vendor namely - VUE (Virtual University Enterprise) and Prometric. A number of IT training firms are certified by these two bodies to enroll candidates for various certification exams. These training centers are also called testing centers. The testing may take place in a trusted 3rd party lab or be directly hosted by the certification agent. The end result of this stage is an official test report.Regardless of the result of the test, a test report must be given to the candidate (wheather pass or fail) as a document and delivered to the certification agent for evaluation.
Respect
If the end product of certification is the right to use a brand on a product then steps must be taken to ensure that the brand carries the right connotations for potential employers and customers. Certain measures can be taken to proctect the vendors from embarrasment or early disclosure of confidential information. It is useful for the certification agency to prepare a policy of vendor neutrality and confidentiality surrounding test campaigns and certificate awards. Promotion and protection of a brand may be the role of the industry consortium that created it.
Other Certification Issues
Whether or not any certification is "worth it" is an individual decision. You alone must decide what your career goals and needs are.
Look at certifications from a cost/benefit or Return On Investment (ROI) basis. If they help you get a better paying job or make more money at your current job, they are obviously "worth it."
The problem is, there is no real way of measuring how much you can expect your income to go up as a result of any given certification. It also depends on non-related job search skills such as how well you network.
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Summary
I have described some of the functions and roles that are involved in a certification process. Certification is a QA process that is aimed at employers/customers with the intention of encouraging adoption of a technology by creating a badge of trust (a brand) for certified implementations of the technology by those who posses them.
Certification is not a simple yes-no question process. It must be sufficiently flexible and up-to-date to reflect the grey areas of the real world.
I wish you success in the pursuit of your desired certification.
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Kazeem Adegboyega provides consulting services to companies. He also regularly instructs in workshops on courses such as CCNA, MCSE, Oracle and other technical courses. Feel free to drop him a line at kazman@theikons.com. |
