Should you look for Certification?

More and more professionals are looking for certification from vendors. How useful is the certification? What is the process of getting the certification?

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There was a time when LAN meant Novell. The company ruled the network operating system market with NetWare. It offered Certified Novell Engineer (CNE) courses. CNE was a craze among customer support engineers and Information Systems (IS) professionals at one time.

But as Windows NT grabbed the market share from NetWare, Microsoft Certified Software Engineer (MCSE) has become the latest craze. Microsoft has made MCSE more modular and scaleable. One can become a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) by just clearing one paper and can incrementally go on adding to it. Many of late are opting for it.

On the other hand, Lotus has ruled the GroupWare marketplace for a long time. And, now you have Certified Lotus Professional (CLP), Certified Lotus Specialist (CLS), and even Certified Lotus Instructor

(CLI).

Today, certification is a big thrust for many IT companies. IBM and Sun -- whose Java certification is one of the most sought -- after certification as well as specialist companies like SAP and Baan are offering certification for ERP and Dialogic for computer telephony.

The reasons are primarily three:

• In the long run, the success of a product in a market also depends on how easily one can get technical support for the product. Take UNIX as a case in point. A vast majority agrees that it is the most reliable and rugged system. But lack of enough UNIX-skilled professionals prevents many companies from going for UNIX. Today, IT vendors understand that more the people knowing your product means more your market share. Certification means creating people who can support the product. For most IT companies, this is the major incentive for offering certification.

* Most of these certifications are global. The certification ensures that globally there is a standard that can be expected from the certified professionals. That is essential for support.

* It has slowly but steadily turned out to be good business.

Yes, it does. According to a majority of the 253 IS managers in big and medium-sized companies (more than 100 employees) in the US surveyed by leading market research and consulting company International Data Corporation (IDC) from across a

number of difficult business segments. The white paper, published by IDC, based on the findings of the above mentioned survey, throws light on some

interesting aspects on companies' view of IT certification.

The white paper ‘Benefits and Productivity Gains Realized through IT Certification’ was sponsored by leading IT companies like IBM, Lotus, Microsoft, Sybase, and the premier examination conducting company, Sylvan Prometric. It categorizes the companies into two classes - certification supporters, the companies who paid for or otherwise supported employees becoming professionally certified and/or required professional certification when hiring IT personnel: and certification non-supporters, who do not support their employees becoming certified and do not require certification when hiring the IT personnel.

Two third IS managers were from certification supporter companies and one-third in certification non-supporter group.

The vast majority -- a whopping 92 percent -- of the managers said they got all or some of the benefits they expected from their certified employees.

The top five benefits expected were:

* Certification provides greater knowledge and increases productivity

* Certification assures a certain level of expertise and skill

* Certification improves support quality

* Certification leads to highest morale and commitment.

Interestingly, a majority--about 77 percent of the managers in the certification supporters group--also expected that the outsourcing firms should also be having IT people with certification. In fact, for many that was an important criterion for choosing the outside service firm.

What holds true for USA does not necessarily hold true for India. It is two different markets. So are the users. Is there any benefit in going for a certification in India?

Yes, there are. Though the reasons are quite different over here.

One, Indians love to have more and more qualifications. In the process, sometimes they end up learning something. But many private training schools take advantage of this tendency of students, based on the core belief that a course means a sure passport to a lucrative job. There was a need for a standard seal of approval. This gap, along with the market trends - one or two company ruling a particular market - paved the way for these companies emerging as the certifying authorities for their products, which were industry standards.

In India, today the craze is for Microsoft certification. There was a time when CNE was the most sought-after certificate. These demands run parallel to market demands.

One, the world more easily believes that you have a certain level of expertise in that product and technology. Even if you have managed a good, large Windows NT network and know it inside out, it is very difficult to convince a prospective employer who was to take his decision just by asking you a few questions.

If you have an MCSE certificate, your certificate does the convincing for you. Two, going for certification also means that you study for that. In the mid-career, say after three/four years of leaving the college that helps in brushing up your knowledge with the latest technologies. That is

why a MCSE certificate require that you should not only clear Windows 95/NT Workstation, NT Server, NT Server/Enterprise, but also networking essentials. And among electives, even TCP/IP.

Three, it is a way of one-upmanship. In the highly competitive marketplace, proving that you are one up and better than the rest. That is why the craze is always for the new certifications.

What are the practical benefits?

If you want - as most IT professionals today do-to go abroad, the certificate will come in handy. Not many in the US, Canada, Japan or Singapore might be looking for these certifications. But when they want to hire you, the decision will be much faster if you are a certified professional. If you are not from the IIT's, BITS, or IISC, which have international standing, these certificates give you a certain degree of value that you can bank upon, at least initially.

If you want to stay in India, these certificates will give you an edge over others. But there are still some questions.

* What certificate should you go for?

This is crucial question. There is no point doing MCSE, if you want to write Oracle/Developer 2000 software. Similarly, there is no point doing a trainer certification if you do not intend to teach. The clue here is to compare yourself with the certificate and you without that. What more value will it give you? How will it help you to gain a lead in your present job role/intended or future job role? You will always know what you honestly feel. But that is up to you. You-and only you-can help yourself in that.

No. Absolutely not. Many private training schools will tell you to the contrary. Do not believe them. If you can clear by studying yourself and combining your practical experience, go for that. Most of the MCPs I know have cleared the exams without any training.

But if you feel you need help, you can go for training. But before that find out whether it is an authorized training provider by the company or not. For example, if you are going for CLP, then please ensure that the company, is a LAEC-Lotus Authorized Education Center.

Otherwise you might simply be robbed. You must have read in the newspapers about Indian IT professionals who were sent packing from the US as they were not trained properly. For you, it might mean failing to clear the exam at the first place. You certainly do not want that.

Take the list from the company concerned--like Microsoft, Novell, and Lotus.

Simple, Try again. Many bright engineers have been known to have failed in their first attempt but have come out with good marks the next time. In fact, many prefer taking a first exam just to familiarize themselves about the exam. So don't give up.

Courtesy: Voice & Data