Last month, I wrote about the latest quarterly skills pay index from Foote Partners which saw an increase in the pay bonus that employers are willing to pay for non-certified skills, and a lowering of the pay increase for certified folks. I asked for feedback on whether it still pays to be certified and got a response from Susan Underhill, vice president of HP’s global certification and partner education organization.

She maintains that there are numerous benefits to earning certifications – even if the pay gap between certified and non-certified pros is getting smaller. She says: “At HP, we view certification as the beginning of a long-term relationship with the technical professional. Once a person is certified, he gains access to a wealth of resources that will help him do his job better. Resources like technical documents (e.g., ‘how to’ guides, integration notes); tools and utilities (e.g., configurators and sizers); higher levels of tech support; and access to experts such as product designers and engineers. These resources may not necessarily lead to higher pay for the individual, but they are invaluable for being able to do a job, and do it well.”

She goes on to explain that people use certification programs as a structured means for career development. “For example, within the HP program, a person can start out as an Accredited Integration Specialist. With more training and experience, he can progress to the more valuable credential, Accredited Systems Engineer. With still more training and experience under his belt, he can achieve the highest of our credentials, the Master Accredited Systems Engineer. As this person ascends the certification ladder, he has a means to show his employer that his skills are validated by a third party and that he is capable of undertaking more complex and challenging projects.”

Citing studies done by IDC and HP, Underhill reports that employers value having certified individuals on their teams for the following reasons:

* Certified professionals deliver faster time to implementation and increased speed and efficiency of IT environments.

* Certified professionals are more productive and better equipped to implement and manage complex IT environments than their non-certified counterparts.

Jon Brodkin is senior writer at Network World.