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Certifications can be
a real alphabet soup

One of the biggest problems in the IT industry is the inability to recognize whether the folks you have working on your systems are qualified to do so.

In other industries, it is much simpler. Attorneys, doctors, auto mechanics, and others all have standard certification processes that must be followed to practice their profession. But, while there are several "official" sounding certifications in IT, there is no singularly recognized authority or process that governs our industry.

This anarchic atmosphere has led many to believe that certifications are worth little more than the paper they are written on. Of course, hands-on experience is always highly desirable. The certification process has, however, matured to the point where certificates can, in certain cases, have as much value as practical experience.

Usually when we talk about IT certifications, we're not referring to traditional education such as two-year or four-year college degrees. So what certifications are out there and which ones really matter?

Many IT vendors have their own certification programs. As such, if you're using a particular vendor's products, then having staff certified in that product is definitely the way to go.

It goes without saying that a product's popularity is in direct relation to the number of people certified to work with that product. For example, there are probably more folks carrying a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification than any other certification. In the old days an MCSE was not viewed as a very valuable certification. Microsoft has made great strides in this program, however, and today an MCSE is rather meaningful.

Another popular certification track is the Cisco Certified program. Cisco certificates carry quite a bit of weight for anyone working with Cisco products. The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) designation is the most advanced certificate one can achieve in this program. For many years, there were only few hundred CCIE's in the world (and only two or three in Hawaii). But again, as Cisco products have gained popularity, so too has the number of CCIE's.

Linux has also been gaining steam recently. Red Hat's version of Linux is among the most popular and the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) designation is one to look for if you are using Red Hat products.

According to Don Bourassa, Director of the not-for-profit Pacific Center for Advanced Technology Training (www.pcatt.org), "There has been a noticeable increase in demand for Linux training over the past few months. With increasing local industry adoption of Linux, we expect this demand to increase."

Based at Honolulu Community College, PCATT is one of two Red Hat Academies in Hawaii, the other being located at BYU-Hawaii.

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