Many options with lifelong training

Sunday Business Post - Computers in Business magazine - September 2007

Ongoing training is a must and companies provide highly flexible courses that should cater for all, writes Dermot Corrigan

The continual upgrading of certifications across a range of technologies from security to networking to database management, is driving increasing demand for technical training in IT departments nationwide.

Last year’s introduction of new Microsoft certifications has lead to significant training and upskilling requirements for IT professionals specialising in Microsoft technologies, said Catherine O’Keefe, training manager with PFH Technology Group.

"Definitely over the next year we are going to see greater demand for those," said O'Keefe. "They are rebranding MCSE (Microsoft Certified System Engineer) and MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) as MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) and they are being broken down into more core areas. The likes of Vista 2008, Longhorn 2008, Exchange 2007, VMware, Sharepoint, SQL are all going to increase."

Professional certification programmes are now standard throughout the IT sector, and play an important role in ensuring that companies keep their IT skills and competencies up to date, said Michael Galvin, general manager, Cisco Systems Ireland.

"We have a very formal programme of certification at different levels," said Galvin. "By way of our position in the market, our certifications have almost become industry standard, particularly in the networking industry.

"The highest level for an individual is CCIE - Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert. These are not generic certifications, they are specific to different parts of the market. You can be a CCIE in security or voice over internet protocol (VoIP). They are very high level technical certification, which are almost seen as benchmark in the industry."



Newer technology players, such as VMware, also have their own certification processes.


"When you do the course and you pass the exam you become a VMware certified professional (VCP)," said Enda Fitzpatrick, sales manager with Commtech. "They are developing more courses at the moment. The VCP is just around installing and configuring, but they have also brought one around the security side, which is much more in depth course, and also an operations course which is around the management of the system."


Other vendors such as Sun Microsystems, IBM, Oracle, Avaya, MacAfee and many others also have specific certification programmes in place.


Many vendors offer certification programmes and training themselves as well as in association with licensed partners, consultants and resellers.

The resellers generally must hold the relevant certifications to offer solutions and support to customers. Larger customers often must also have in-house staff who hold certifications in order to efficiently utilise the technologies.


Other stakeholders in the IT space, such as industry groups, open source technology developers, regulatory authorities and governments, can also develop certification programmes (e.g. CISSP in security or ITIL in IT service management).


Colman Morrissey, managing director of Espion, said that regulation and compliance were going to be an important driver in certification going forward.


"Regulation will drive security which in turn will drive technology as security managers strive to cope with the internal control requirements imposed by new regulatory requirements," said Morrissey. "Thus compliancy, auditing incident response tools and technologies combined to newer evolving technologies such as biometrics, single sign on authentication et cetera will play a big part."


Galvin said that major vendors, such as Cisco, develop their certifications alongside new advances or upgrades in the particular technology.


"As we bring new technologies into the market we add them to the certification process as part of our life-cycle readiness programme so we can support it," he said.


When new products or services are brought to the market there is often an accompanying certification, said Galvin, who pointed to the introduction of the Cisco SMB specialisation in April this year.


"The inhibitors for small businesses deploying technology are cost and security, so we have launched a set of certifications aimed at that market that are very focused on technologies that those customers use,” he said.

Gaining a certification

Keeping IT skills and certifications up to date tends to be an open-ended process, with new technologies, skillsets and certifications being added all the time. The amount of time and money that must be invested in an individual’s training varies, according to O’Keefe.


"It depends on your experience, some people may have done similar courses for some products, or some study, whereas some people might have never used some of the products," she said.


O’Keefe said that delivery of certification was generally flexible and rolled out over a period of time.


"We deliver the full seven modules as a 20 day programme, with mentoring as well for each exam," said O'Keefe. "It would not be consecutive days, it could be delivered over a period of three to six months, or even two to three years, depending on the requirements of the customer. There may be three or four days and then a gap of three or four weeks, between each course. They would then go back to work to use the product, then do the exam, and then move on to the next module. "


Continually returning to training is a vital element of the certification process, according to Galvin.


"For all of our certifications, each individual has to re-certify every two years," he said. "Every year we update the content of the certification based on the market, and the fact that the technology evolves pretty quickly, even the core technologies such as routing and switching. The number of upgrades and advances that go on is quite phenomenal. The purpose of these certifications is to have a high bar, so that when our customers have a good experience. That is why we do it."


The certifications are typically designed in a ladder format, so that staff can continue to build on their qualifications as their career progresses, O’Keefe said. For example the new Microsoft certifications sit on top of the previous generation.


"If they are already an MCSE they are going to want to keep the equivalent of that certification," said O'Keefe. "The normal ones will be your server product, your desktop product and your exchange. You will be getting the equivalent in the new version. There is no need to start again."


Individuals who are already technically adept and have experience in the technology, may not need to sit through all of the formal programmes. Galvin recently met one person who had completed the CCIE certification in just four weeks.


"He pretty much did it all himself, with no formal training,” said Galvin.” He just happened to be a talented technology person who spent a lot of time on the web and then just went and passed the course. That would be an exception though."


The costs involved in completing a recognised certification programme can be significant.


"If someone goes through a training programme, where they take every course in a formal way through a training partner it could cost €30,000 to €50,000 to train an individual," said Galvin. "That investment would be over a number of years and includes intangible costs such as time out of work and travel. The ongoing investment would be different, as once you have reached the level you then only have to top-up."