Certifications

The double life of today's IT professionals

Denise Dubie — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:21:15 -0400

IT professionals not only keep networks and systems humming along smoothly, but they are also expected to couple high-tech know-how with business acumen. But that's the norm in today's economy where IT budgets continue to be squeezed for every drop.

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7 skills for IT fame and fortune

Mitchell Ashley — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:52:18 -0400

With the economic downturn on everyone's mind, assumptions about job security come under question, and everyone starts reexamining their skills. There are lots and lots of valuable jobs performed in IT, but some skills are valued even more highly than others. With all the upheaval we're experiencing in IT, many new skills are in high demand or rapidly increasing in value. Here are my Top 7 skills that could help you not only keep that job, but secure an even better new job, positioning you to work on the next generation of IT applications and software products in the era of Web-delivered online applications.

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So – what are the “required” certifications a IT Pro Should possess?

Randy Muller — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:50:41 -0400

Now if this isn’t going to stir the proverbial pot! This is not a slight to all of you programmers or DBA types – this and several other blogs will cover the classes and certifications that I feel an IT Pro should possess (leaving all conversation of real-world experience out of this –I’ll cover that topic in other blogs). But, what you have is a person new to the IT field and you want to give them some advice on what classes and certifications they should take first? Class – any guesses? Yes – you in the black t-shirt with the Mt Dew in your hand - what do you recommend?” “Uh – how about A+ and Net+?” “Great suggestions! – and thus it begins”

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Time for Cisco to take Certifications tests in house Mr.Chambers

Larry Chaffin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:51:01 -0400

Time for Cisco to take Certifications tests in house Mr. Chambers,

Dear John,

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3 safe resources to help you prepare for your MCTS/MCITP certification exams.

Robert Williams — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:43:14 -0400

Regardless of the certification, your best bet is to visit the certification vendor first. They will almost always have the resources you need to at least get started on your certification. In this case, the first resource I suggest is the Windows Vista – Learning Portal.

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Certification Integrity: Could it REALLY be this simple?

Robert Williams — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:45:08 -0400

I was forwarded an email this morning which shows how an ounce of research will turn into a pound of prevention. For those of you that haven't taken the time to verify for your self that TESTKING IS ILLEGAL. Take a brief moment, email any of the certification vendors out there (here is a list of Vendors), and wait for the response. You'll get a similar response from most, if not all of the vendors.

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Certification Vendors: Are they handling cheaters properly?

Robert Williams — Fri, 23 May 2008 22:38:11 -0400

I've seen numerous conversations that address the cheating problem and what certification programs are doing to combat the issues. What I'd like to bring to this venue is the idea behind what they are trying to accomplish, how they are accomplishing it, and what could be done in conjunction to further increase the value of any certification program.

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2008 Resolutions – Where are You? (Surveys)

wendell — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:21:38 -0400

Bad, bad Wendell. Zero progress on my cert goals this year. How about you?

Back in January, I posted about our collective new year's resolutions regarding certification. We had a pretty healthy response on the survey as to what certifications you each planned for 2008. I promised then to help in an ever so slight way by asking you each quarter about your progress. Hopefully, stopping for a few minutes to consider your current progress will be worth the time. So... how's your progress?

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Is Microsoft making a big mistake?

Ron Colonna — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:56:27 -0400

I know, it sounds scary asking that question as a Microsoft Certified Trainer but I think it does need to be asked. For those of you who don't know, Microsoft is taking a "new direction" with their certifications. Instead of having "premier" certs like the MCSE or the MCSD they are now offering shorter and more specialized choices like the MCTS or the MCITP. I don't think I like that.

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The 20 most useful Microsoft sites for IT professionals

Microsoft Subnet — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:13:06 -0400

Microsoft professionals have a lot to keep track of, and a lot of market noise to contend with. That's why we've compiled this list of the 20 best places on the Web to help you find what you need. The list includes technology-specific sites, worthy bloggers and safe resources to help you pass your next Microsoft cert or training course. Plus we'll reveal places for trustworthy free Microsoft software and the best sites to help you stay on top of the voluminous amount of news churned out by, and about, the folks in Redmond.

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What does it take to get a good job?

Patrick Regan — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:17:57 -0500

It is an established fact that computers and networking is a fast-paced environment. Therefore, employees who work in Information Technology (IT), must learn to keep up with the ever changing technology and have the ability to learn new technology. It is said that a person in IT must be able to learn or retrain him or herself every 1 to 1½ years.

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Everything you need to know about Microsoft Certifications

Microsoft Subnet — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:23:56 -0500

2 p.m.- 3 p.m., December 11 Microsoft Certifications: Everything you need to know with Patrick Regan

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Answers to frequent Microsoft training questions

Ron Colonna — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:18:13 -0400

I know that most people believe in FAQs being a useful tool. I agree. Having answers to frequently asked questions can save you a lot of hassle when trying to figure something out. However, sometimes it turns out that no matter WHAT the question may be, there is the same answer. Microsoft Certification and Education tends to work that way.

Over the years, I get a lot of questions of the "What classes...", "Which exams..." and "What do they ask in ..." variety. The answer almost invariably ends up suggesting going to Microsoft's Learning web site... which you can get to here.

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Get a Cisco certification and your tummy tucked at the same time

Cisco Subnet — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:40:34 -0400

Koenig Solutions, a New Dehli-based training company, is offering boot camp courses for Cisco and Microsoft certifications in exotic locations, including Goa beach and the Himalayas, reports the Dominion Post of New Zealand.

Students pay for their own flights to their chosen destination and cost of the bootcamp includes the course and exam fees, one set of course material, plus room and board.

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Cisco updates CCDP exam

Cisco Subnet — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:08:49 -0400

Cisco has rewritten 90% of the course for its Cisco Certified Design Professional certification and a new exam for it will be available at Pearson VUE testing centers Oct. 11. The revised courses will be available from Cisco Learning Partners in the first week of August.

The new course – Designing Cisco Network Service Architectures, ARCH v. 2.0 - puts increased emphasis on Cisco’s Service-Oriented Network Architecture (SONA), which aims to encompass all of Cisco's enterprise technologies, including wired network infrastructure, voice, applications, security and mobility.

Full story.

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The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part four

Brad Reese — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:13:06 -0400

This is what it’s all about in the cheating industry. Here in the fourth and last part of our series (Part One, Part Two and Part Three) that may just make your stomach turn when you read it. The people we’ll be talking about in our last and final installment are the worst form of cheaters there are. These people won’t be found looking for jobs in IT, nor will they be using braindumps to take their exams, but you will see them advertise their illegal services in certification forums and newsgroups across the internet.

Gunmen Gunmen take tests for certification candidates and have taken exams so often they can recite tests verbatim to you. They know the exams inside and out, upside-down, and backwards. The Gunmen know their services disrupt the value of certifications, but they don’t care. They charge outrageous fees so that they can certify someone else. Gunmen are prominent in India and China where the value of the currency is miniscule compared to the U.S. Dollar.

Currency Conversion rates: 1 Chinese Yuan = $0.13 1 Indian Rupee = $0.02 China, for instance, has an average annual income, per capita, of about $650, which is roughly 1/70th that of the United States. These gunmen charge upwards of $500 per exam and are able to take 3 to 4 exams per day. Do the math. For more information read: Gunmen Domain Hosts Gunmen are the primary reason CertGuard.com is operating. The roles of the other cheaters are minute compared to what the gunmen do. A majority of the time, the "candidates" that the gunmen test for have no background in Information Technology at all. Here is what CertGuard has been doing to stop these gunmen from operating. Whenever we see an advertisement for a gunman service, we do a little phishing. We contact the gunman and have them take exams for us (under false names and pretenses, of course). Once the gunman provides us with the testing information, we supply that information to the certification vendor, which in turn provides that information to the testing company (usually Thomson Prometric or Pearson Vue) and they have the respective testing center closed for investigations. The only problem with this method was that the gunmen would just change testing centers, so it became an endless cycle for all of us. That is where Microsoft decided they would prevent foreigners from testing in those countries without the proper credentials. We also see this as a problem, because those credentials have been, and will continue to be, forged. For more information read the article: The Value of IT Certifications So far, Microsoft has been the only certification vendor that has been helping CertGuard take care of these gunmen. Cisco, from what I understand, has followed suit by removing their Certification Exams from those rogue testing centers, but CertGuard has been unsuccessful in contacting their Exam Security Team. Microsoft is doing the rest of the industry a favor by closing the doors of these gunmen, but none of the other certification vendors see it. Or if they do see it, they don’t seem to care much about it. CertGuard wants all of the certification vendors involved in this process. If you’re a representative of one of the Certification Vendors and we haven’t contacted you yet, then please contact us immediately. Related article: Would you cheat to get an IT credential? We hope you’ve enjoyed this series about the cheating industry and we look forward to presenting more information to you in the future. Robert Williams (CertGuard) and Brad Reese http://www.BradReese.Com

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CCIE vs. employer: Whose interest does the CCIE serve?

Brad Reese — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:35:20 -0400

The very thought provoking anonymous comment featured below was made to an earlier blog:

Many people are impressed with CCIE certifications; they are not supposed to be easily obtained. Have you ever noticed how CCIE people always tend to recommend Cisco product? But many times employees become too focused on obtaining CCIE certifications, to the point of doing things that are NOT in the best interest of the company they work for. I can say this because I have personally seen it happen many times and have questioned these folks as to why they did what they did. Many times the response I hear is they wanted to obtain another Cisco CCIE Certification. So I have seen companies pull the top industry leading security products out of circuit and replace them with Cisco solutions only. Unknown to the company's senior management, this new product was put in place for the sole purpose of some Cisco geek (in training) wanting to get their next CCIE Certification; then once they got their desired certification they left that company for a higher paying job. Like I said, I have seen this happen more than once. The employer ends up spending tons of money replacing technology that was better than what was already put in place. Anyone can also make a product look bad by improperly configuring it and then blaming the resulting problems on what they tell the management team is poor technology. The fact of the matter is, you can buy the best product in the world, that is the most technologically advanced, if it is not properly configured it is basically worthless. Then again, you can buy a piece of junk and if you know how to properly configure it - it is worth its weight in gold. But that does not mean you do things for the reason of obtaining a new CCIE Certification. Knowledge is a realative thing. I had one associate say to customers that those who thought they knew everything were really annoying to those who did know what they were talking about. If he only knew how annoying he was because he was not really that knowledgeable; and I for one still know that with my 29 years of hands-on experience that there are people out there who know a lot more than me, but at least I don't advance my skills by jeopordizing my employer's security to obtain another certification. Be honest folks, how many of you have pulled out perfectly good solutions and replaced it with technology you wanted to get certified on? Well let's take this one step further... You CANNOT address everything with just technology. That is only one side of the equation. You also have to take into consideration people and process; and then there are other important components as well: Vision and Steering, and culture. How many CCIE geeks (meant as a complement) truely understand these other components? How many have gotten their ITIL certifications, Six Sigma, and other certifications that enhance their understanding of things like ISO-27001 and ISO-20000? I would bet they are too busy working on their next CCIE certification to give a hoot. But certification in these areas teach you about more than just technology. This point is important because it is not always about installing the latest technology. You also have to integrate these solutions with other service delivery and support areas of the organization. You have to operationalize them so that they align with the businesses goals - not the CCIE's goal of obtaining another CCIE Certification. How one sided are your certifications?

Have you experienced CCIEs serving their own best interests over the best interests of their employers? http://www.BradReese.Com

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A happy CCNP CCNA CompTIA Network+ RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer in Kerala, India

Brad Reese — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 07:03:06 -0400

Received this early morning email from Kerala, India. ----- Original Message ----- From: Sajin To: Brad@BradReese.Com Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 12:30 AM Subject: Request. Hello Brad, Ive got a lot of calls of job proposals after I had posted my resume in your esteemed website. I have also not willing to move out of my present company as they have proposed more oppertunities to me. So I am kindly requesting you to wipe off my resume from your website. I am kindly requesting bcoz I am not able to handle more calls when I am being inside this company. Later, if i am willing to move out of my job, I am sure that I will post my new resume later. Thank you. ----------------------------- You're welcome Sajin. Glad you had a lot of calls of job proposals, but even more pleased that your current employer offered you more opportunities. Furthermore, your resume has been wiped off the Cisco Resumes web page. Sajin is a CCNP CCNA CompTIA Network+ RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer working in Kerala, India who now has more opportunity at his employer. Feeling good, http://www.BradReese.Com

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Certifiable!

Mark Kadrich — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:51:58 -0400

So you want a career in the glamorous world of information security! You’ve seen the job postings for security people and you’ve decided that’s what you want to do. You want to track down the bad guys and find their hidden tracks. You want to make your system impenetrable to hackers, thieves, and spies - not to mention the occasional pedophile. You want to be the one selecting the encryption protocols that keep the corporate secrets safe and secure. You’ve heard about how much security people get paid and the fast paced party lifestyle that takes security people to exotic shows like DEFCON and exciting places like Las Vegas. Make the Big Bucks! Have fun! Help law enforcement track down digital terrorists and be the one making the pithy one-liners just before the commercial break!

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The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part two

Brad Reese — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:56:09 -0400

Welcome back! If you’ve stumbled upon this series and not had the chance to familiarize yourself with Robert Williams or his goals for CertGuard.com, please take a moment to review Part One, (Part Three and Part Four).

Braindumps Braindumps are certainly not the worst thing that people can take advantage of when it comes to getting certified, but it is at the top of the list; we’ll get into "hired gunmen" in the last installment of this series. For now, we would like to help you better understand what braindumps are, the repercussions of using braindumps, and how to determine if the material you’re using, or recommending to your students, employees, or clients, violate any of the Exam Security Agreements/Non-Disclosure Agreements (or NDAs, as they are commonly referred) we discussed in the first part of this series.

In the current vernacular, braindumps don’t seem to have a clear definition, but we are working on one. Thus far, CertGuard has defined them as being: "Questions and Answers taken from exams or other tests that have been copyrighted for purposes of protecting Confidential or Trade Secret Information and distributed for purposes of cheating or profit." Nowadays, braindumps aren’t just provided by some kid that remembered questions from an exam, there are actually companies that profit from illegally acquiring the exams in whole, or in part. There are many downfalls to using or promoting braindumps that everyone should be aware of. Braindumps provide a means for unqualified individuals to enter the workforce and under qualified individuals to take the positions of more knowledgeable and more experienced personnel, primarily due to the lower pay rates that most of the lesser qualified personnel are asking for. Soon after hiring these individuals, many employers realize that the certification holder that was just hired actually has very little knowledge of the topics they claimed to be experts on. This causes a problem in the workforce, because now you’ve got a dilemma on your hands. Do you fire the individual and risk spending the money and resources it takes to screen other, better qualified individuals? Or do you spend money and resources to train the individual properly? Braindumps, in today’s certification world, have caused problems for not only the companies which hire the cheaters that use the braindumps, but they’ve caused problems for the hard working professionals that have honestly worked their tails off to earn their certifications. There are ways to avoid hiring these sorts of people, but it usually takes a highy skilled technical recruiter, or an employer with experienced human resource professionals, to pick them out of the crowd. Not every business, especially small businesses, can afford to have experienced human resource staff that are knowledgeable enough to handle this. For those of you that own a small business, are hiring managers or would just like to pass this information on, we have a small section in the next installment dedicated to preventing people that cheat from working on your hardware and software. By now, you’re probably wondering how braindumps have gotten to be so prominent in the IT community. The largest braindump provider out there, Certification Trendz, is banking millions of (US) dollars every year off of the sale of their braindumps. They own upwards of 1,000 websites that are all linked together, which provides them with a very large media circle to promote and distribute their ill gotten materials. Their primary site, TestKing.com (TK), sees nearly twenty-thousand visitors, on a monthly basis, from the United States alone. How can we as concerned members of the IT community, stop the use of braindumps? CertGuard’s mission in addition to what was stated in part one of this series, is to effectively reduce or eliminate the use of braindumps in the IT community. What is done to a candidate that is in violation of an Exam Security Policy? Recently, many of the certification vendors have changed their stance on the violations of those policies. It used to be that an individual caught cheating would receive a temporary ban, in other words, a "time-out," but nothing was permanent. Now, in some cases, if an individual is in violation of the candidate agreement they are permanently blacklisted and all of their certifications, previous certifications included, are stripped. Our next installment of this series will discuss the thieves that create the braindumps, the cheaters that use them, and how CertGuard is trying to handle them. Series: Part One Related article: Would you cheat to get an IT credential? http://www.BradReese.Com

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