PL,
I've worked on certification exams for some years and feel that the issue
with certifications is one of QUALITY. The best way to ensure quality is to
subject those certifications to independent evaluation. Educational
institutes and vendors should give CPEs or credits for taking classes and
leave certification to an independent body.
When I work on certification exams for vendor products, the vendor supplies
the Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) they want tested and they supply the
Subject Matter Experts (SME) to create and review the examination questions.
YOU ARE RIGHT ". . .there is no one better than a vendor to teach about its
products" but I disagree that is "no one better than this vendor to certify
who have learned enough to master its products." Given a good CBK and a
group of SMEs any good testing company can develop an examination that will
identify those persons that possess the knowledge, skills and abilities the
vendors deems necessary to be given credentials. It is certainly in the
vendor's best interest to provide a way to identify competent practitioners.
Unfortunately, when vendors hand out certifications based on poor standards
(like class attendence) or their certification is utterly compromised (like
the MCSE), they are putting the public at risk. And when it comes to the
security and integrity of my company's data, I find that totally
unacceptable.
Bill Stackpole, CISSP
"My opinions are my own and do not always reflect those of my employer."
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