September 25, 2000

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Demand For IT Pros Drives Vendor Certification Growth

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But the Redwood City, Calif., company, which sells coins, sports memorabilia, and other collectibles on the Web, doesn't ask for a written agreement--only a verbal one. When the company has an employee who becomes certified in a particular product or technology, that person is asked to train the group that he or she works with. "We grow our own internally," Engle says.

In a survey of 200 North American companies, International Data Corp. reports that certification is beneficial to companies and employees, and the monetary investment pays off. Responding companies say they believe that Novell certification, for example, improves the level of support available to users; increases the effective implementation of new products, technologies and services; increases system up-time; and reduces operating costs, says Richard Brewer, program director of IDC's infrastructure services and co-author of the report, Evaluating the Benefits And Market Perceptions Of Novell Certification.

Most respondents to the survey say their Novell-certified employees are more productive than noncertified employees. Companies that had Novell-certified employees say the total cost of certification is about $5,000 per employee, including indirect costs such as lost work time and productivity during the training period. But these employees generate savings by improving server uptime and providing more efficient help-desk desktop support.

Novell's Spencer says the ongoing Novell certification ensures that certified Novell engineers keep their skills updated so they're able to work on the company's newest products.

Novell certification requires a significant investment of time and money. For example, to receive Novell's latest CNE for NetWare 5, candidates must pass six exams, each of which costs $100. Each exam has a corresponding, optional course that lasts up to five days and costs as much as $1,995.

In lieu of classes, students purchase self-study kits for each test, at a cost of approximately $400.

Currently, Novell has more than 180,000 Certified Novell Engineers in the marketplace and another 320,000 Certified Novell Administrators, master CNEs, and Certified Novell Instructors.

Novell recently introduced a new certification, the Certified Directory Engineer. "The CDE certification shows an individual has cross-platform expertise on directories--not just Novell's," Spencer says. The reason? "Consulting companies need employees with multiple certifications." The CDE program recognizes certifications from Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft, and doesn't require people with these certificates to get a Novell certificate before taking the CDE exam.

Oracle initiated its certification program about three years ago at the request of customers, says George Paris, the company's director of services marketing. "The Oracle certification program meets a growing demand in the marketplace for people developing Oracle applications on the Oracle platform, and for the database administrators working on our platforms and products," Paris says.

The number of people who hold at least one of four Oracle certifications has doubled from 15,000 last year to nearly 30,000 today, Paris says. An Oracle study conducted last year shows that 25% of newly certified employees receive a promotion; of those, nearly 71% say the certification contributed to their promotion.

David Pallmann, a Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer and chief technologist for NQL Solutions, a division of AlphaServ.com Inc. in Santa Ana, Calif., says certification is important for IT pros who don't have a degree in computer science. "Certification allows them to demonstrate expertise they already have," says Pallmann.

An IT professional who wants the best job might benefit by becoming what's referred to as a CAC: a Certified Acronym Collector. Increasingly, it appears that's what companies are looking for.

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Illustration by Dave Black
Photo of David Pallman by Edward Carreon

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