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Which certifications are worth your time?

Project management certs in vogue; tech less so, but security, storage certifications have pull
By Carolyn Duffy Marsan , Network World , 11/27/2007
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For years, the key to jumpstarting a network professional’s career was getting a Cisco, Microsoft or other technical certification. But now CIOs, IT recruiters and salary specialists say demand is waning for hardware- and software-oriented certifications.

Instead, companies are looking for IT professionals with business-oriented certifications in such areas as project management and Six Sigma (read about how engine maker Cummins has used Six Sigma to slash IT costs by millions), a statistical quality improvement technique that is being adopted by more IT shops.

"The [Project Management Institute] certification is the big one for us," says Jack Harrington, co-founder and principal of Atlantic Associates, a Boston IT staffing firm. "We see some demand for Six Sigma, but not as much as for PMI. If I had one recommendation about professional development for IT employees, it’s to get a PMI certification because it helps develop broad skills that can be applied across technologies and vertical industries."

Most technical certifications are losing value when it comes to salaries, says David Foote, president of Foote Partners, which conducts IT salary surveys nationwide. As part of its regular surveys, Foote tracks 159 certified skills and 156 non-certified skills to see which affect salaries most.

"Networking certifications lost 4.1% of their value in the last year, 9% in the last two years. That’s pretty horrible. That’s even worse than the average loss across all IT certifications," Foote says. "Networking and communications-related non-certified skills gained 2.8% of value in the last year."

Foote says the trend is a big turnabout from recent years.

"Employees with certifications were earning more than non-certified skills for some time," Foote says. "The last time non-certified skills were more valued than certifications was the third quarter of 2001."

Experts agree that some technical certifications are still worth the time and effort. This includes the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), EMC Technology Architect and storage-area networking certifications from companies such as Brocade.

"In networking, one of the hottest areas is storage-area networking," Foote says. "Companies aren’t demanding certifications for storage-area networking, but they are looking for people who understand storage-area networking and the role it plays in the enterprise."

Security certifications also are in demand, particularly the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA).

Security is "certainly a hotbed," says Matt Colarusso, branch manager for Sapphire National Recruiting in Woburn, Mass. "Our clients are looking for hands-on technical people who understand firewalls, VPN set-ups and router controls."

Investing in tech certification

Technical certifications remain valuable enough that most CIOs will reimburse their employees for the cost.

Jeff Ton, vice president of enterprise processes, information and technology at Lauth Property Group in Indianapolis, recently began a certification program for his 25-person IT shop.

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Dec. 11: Get your cert questions answered, liveBy Microsoft Subnet on November 28, 2007, 3:19 pm2 p.m.- 3 p.m. EST Tue., December 11 Microsoft Certifications: Everything you need to know, with Patrick Regan Come ask certification guru Patrick Regan your questions...

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Competence CertificationBy Brutally Frank on November 29, 2007, 11:51 amThe mere idea of "Certifications" remind me of the Straw Man in the movie The Wizard of Oz -- he wanted some kind of intellectual legitimacy. In this case we...

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CertificationsBy bwags on November 30, 2007, 10:23 amI could not agree more with those that have posted certifications are not worth much if anything at all. I have met professionals with no certifications that...

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CertsBy Anonymous on June 11, 2008, 10:19 pmYeah but where does someone start who is trying to break into the business. I have little experience and am looking to attain some.

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Certifications and certifications..By tuomoks on June 12, 2008, 12:10 amI would agree except for two reasons - having certifications definitely gets you at least to the interview and some certifications are good starting points, just...

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