Certifications multiply like acronyms

The multitude of certifications available for computer professionals is creating confusion with users claiming new courses emerge in the IT industry as often as new acronyms.

Golden Circle IT manager Paul Dwan is simply suspicious of the whole certification push.

“I think certification is a bit over the top at the moment. I suspect it’s a way for vendors to lock people into using their software,” Dwan said.

“Once someone has certification it doesn’t mean they can perform on a program any better than someone who is skilled in it without certification.”

Dwan also cited ROI on certification training as a challenge for IT managers.

“It’s really hard to prove that once money is spent on certification, you’re actually going to get that money back and start to see results,” Dwan said.

However, Ipex Information Group director of networks and communications David Cohen says the high number of certifications is simply a reflection of the diversity of the IT industry, but he admits keeping on top of certification is a burden.

"I suppose we’re making the choice to keep our skills up to date to offer our customers the right skills and services,” Cohen said.

"Certification is important, but not at the expense of experience and real-world exposure. Without these sorts of skills, certification can be useless.”

Despite some cynicism, Dimension Data Learning Solutions (DDLS) general manager Steve Ross believes demand is still strong from employers in the IT industry.

“A quick way to find out if certifications are in demand is to do a search on [job sites] to see how many jobs require certification. You find out there’s a whole lot of jobs out there that you’re missing out on if you’re not certified,” Ross said.

“Important certifications in employment terms are those like Microsoft and Cisco. But the new one is going to be security.”

“Vendors establish credibility by making sure they offer a course that allows people to gain the right skills for their product.

“There are a lot of certifications, I don’t deny it, but then again, there, are a lot of vendors.”

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