More certification flimflam

W ho would have thought that a column on certification would have struck such a chord, but it did - and I've got a bulging inbox to prove it!

Among the hundreds of certifications (it's true, I counted) offered by Novell is one called the Certified Internet Business Strategist (CIBS). This is a single test with two training courses. According to Novell, the CIBS " . . . sets an organization's Internet direction through a thorough understanding of Internet technology and its possible use in increasing productivity, expanding an organization's marketing reach and reducing customer support costs." Whoa, that sounds like the sort of person every company with a Web site would want to have on staff.

A closer look at the training, though, shows otherwise. The two "courses" are one-day seminars. Prerequisite for one is that " . . . students should be familiar with computers and software. Internet experience is helpful." The second course requires that "students should have experience using Windows 95 and business productivity applications including a word processor." Nothing too stringent there.

The course descriptions certainly indicate you'll learn all you need - and all in only two days. In the first course, students learn to browse the Web; create HTML documents; send and receive e-mail; and participate in conferences, collaborative computing and groupware applications. The second course teaches participants how to place a business on the Internet and how to manage the development of a business Web site from inception to evaluation. That's a lot to learn in 12 to 14 hours, don't you think? How do they do it? Well, maybe they don't.

A closer look shows there's nothing in either course that even mentions Web servers (or mail servers, news servers, etc.). Would you want your Web site developed, deployed and managed by someone who has no knowledge whatsoever of the capabilities of the various server platforms?

But the real time-saver, and the thing that labels this "certification" as no more than a giant marketing scheme, is the title of the second course. It's called "Mastering the 'Net with Netscape Communicator." No messing around with Internet Explorer for these business strategists.

Here's a tip that can be used in the hiring process - immediately eliminate anyone with CIBS on his resume. While it can be good to speak to Novell's marketing people, you really don't want to put one on your payroll.

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Kearns, a former network administrator, is a freelance writer and consultant in Austin, Texas. He is also author of the twice-weekly Network World Fusion Focus: Windows NT. He can be reached at wired@vquill.com.