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Certified Success

IT certification experiences gains amid economic and global change.

by Jackie Zack

In recent years, IT certification has undergone a renaissance as annual growth continues to trend upward. Driven by global expansion and the current economic climate, certification is more relevant and important than ever to IT professionals and their employers. In light of these developments, Teradata Magazine spoke with Ray Kelly, senior vice president of Client Services and Sales for Prometric, a leading global provider of testing and assessment services.

Q: How have interest levels in IT certification fluctuated over the past decade?

A: IT certifications peaked during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, when the industry witnessed huge growth. That changed after the bubble burst, leading to a mass departure of certified professionals from the industry. The market is now experiencing steady growth and returning to the heady years of certification we experienced around 1999.

Q: What factors are motivating IT professionals to seek out certification in such large numbers?

A: With economic uncertainty, employees realize that training/certification is a key differentiator in a competitive job market. It’s certainly being recognized by employees as an important tool in job seeking and career changing, much more so than it was in the past. Ninety-four percent of the candidates recently surveyed by Prometric said they believe certification is beneficial to their career, whether it’s to find a new job or, more importantly, to develop in their current job and demonstrate new skills. And, compared to a degree program, certifications are a significantly more affordable alternative for self-improvement.

TCPP celebrates a 10-year milestone:

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Launched in 1999, The Teradata Certified Professional Program (TCPP) offers IT/data warehouse certification and professional development for Teradata customers, partners and associates. This industry-leading program focuses on advancing knowledge and skills to a worldwide IT community, allowing organizations to optimally utilize Teradata technology. Demand for IT certification is exploding, as evidenced by the fact that TCPP’s growth has nearly tripled in the past three years.

Teradata delivers the very best possible certification program, and by partnering with Prometric, they are providing a consistent testing experience to achieve those certifications for customers, employees and partners,” says Ray Kelly, senior vice president of Client Services and Sales for Prometric.

—J.Z.

Q: Is IT certification also advantageous to the employer?

A: A bachelor’s degree, even when combined with real-life experience, is no longer considered enough. Hardware and software don’t work without people; knowledgeable people with hands-on skill are what really make them effective. From an organization’s standpoint, the ability to work efficiently with the systems, clients, co-workers and teams is critical. Certification is a proven method to ensure employees have the skills to maximize efficiency and productivity.

An IT staff that has a variety of certifications will make a business more marketable because it is likely getting the full scale of use out of the technology. This ability to tap into and use varying skill sets also makes it a better and more professionally challenging place for the employees to work. Sixty-eight percent of IT candidates surveyed by Prometric said that the kind of work they were doing and the technological challenge is the most important quality about their job. Salary actually ranked third. And, of course, that translates into driving new customer business and the ability to develop

"Compared to a degree program, certifications are a significantly more affordable alternative for self-improvement."

—Ray Kelly, Prometric

Q: Has global economic development played any role in certification growth?

A: Recent economic expansion in Asia and the Pacific is helping to drive this surge. The combination of population, culture, education practices and the cost of labor is driving progress in training and testing, particularly in India and China. Similarly, as companies outsource more of their technical employees, they are seeking to ensure the technicians they hire are qualified. During times of economic hardship, more organizations outsource to save money, and employers want independent validation of an individual’s knowledge, skills and abilities.

A competitive edge

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"TCPP [Teradata Certified Professional Program] certification sets a standard in the marketplace. To me, becoming certified means showing a commitment to learning and to staying on top of new technology and best practices. Employers can look to that as an additional component in choosing the best person for a job,” says Linda Richardson, a Teradata Certified Master and Teradata database team leader for Norfolk Southern Corp. (NS).

Richardson became a Teradata Certified Master, the highest level of Teradata certification, in January 2008, a goal she had sought for a long time. “I felt it was a way to consolidate everything I’ve learned about Teradata systems and data warehouse best practices since I began working on them in 1997, and also for me to validate the depth of my knowledge, my skill sets and my abilities to be able to make optimal use of the data warehouse,” Richardson says.

Teradata certification has real value to the organization, Richardson notes. NS’s business partners frequently consult her team on developing Teradata applications. “From that point of view, it is important to me on a personal level to have the confidence and skills to provide the best customer service to our business partners,” she says. “From their point of view, it is essential to have full confidence that the IT resources assisting them are highly skilled and knowledgeable about the recommendations that they are making. Certification through TCPP provides that assurance to our business partners.”

At NS, the data warehouse environment is used not only for decision support but also as an integral part of everyday operations, ensuring that 24x7 workloads receive the information they need when they need it. As such, employee education is a priority, driving home the value that certification can have.

“It requires a staff that is very knowledgeable about the Teradata environment, and certification helps us ensure that our company has the best, most skilled work force to help us maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace,” Richardson notes.

—J.Z.

Q: During the past decade, how has certification evolved?

A: Technology professionals are looking to open doors and add to their credentials by combining IT and non-IT certifications. For example, combining a technical Teradata certification with a project management certification could result in qualification as a project manager for a Teradata system. That’s certainly something that’s been increasing over the last 10 years. It goes back to the fact that degrees are not necessarily a proxy for really good skills.

Across-the-board benefits

In 2000, David Wellman was among the first to attain the Teradata Certified Master status within the Teradata Certified Professional Program (TCPP). That same year, he co-founded Ward Analytics Inc., a software firm specializing in performance tools for the Teradata marketplace. Wellman notes that Teradata certification provides significant advantage and has been beneficial from two perspectives:

> Individual

From an individual’s standpoint, Wellman says, certification represents a valuable academic qualification that defines a new level of knowledge. “Many companies set personal development goals that include certifications,” says Wellman, who currently works as the technical director for Ward Analytics. “If someone goes through all the exams, or a number of them, it forces them to learn about another area of Teradata systems that they normally don’t come across.”

> Employer

Organizations with a team of Teradata-certified employees are likely to have more efficient and productive work environments. “The qualifications mean they are more likely to get more out of the Teradata environment because the people passing the exams, and even those boning up before taking the exams, will come across new information that they can apply to their everyday job and thereby get more out of the Teradata system, which will ultimately benefit the organization they are working for,” he says.

Certification can also help evaluate employees. “As an employer, I can recognize those exams—I know what they mean, what that person has achieved at that point in time,” says Wellman.

Wellman regularly finds value in his certification. “I can go to a prospective customer, and if they ask a question, I can say, ‘Yes, I am a Teradata Certified Master,’ ” he says. “That carries weight as to the level of knowledge I can bring to the subject.”

—J.Z.

Q: Can you highlight a few current advances in testing?

A: A new generation of technology is providing more alternatives. In addition to using Prometric’s computer-based testing network, Teradata is exploring hybrid models such as supplemental exams through Internet-based delivery, a system that was piloted at the 2008 Teradata PARTNERS User Group Conference and Expo. In addition, hands-on testing in a simulated work environment is being explored. Prometric is leading the industry in full-emulation testing to better validate candidates’ skills. Candidates are able to take a test as they are actually using the system and troubleshooting in real time, so it’s a real demonstration of their ability.

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Q: What do you think the future holds for the certification industry, in general?

A: As technology evolves, new areas of focus requiring specialized skills will gain importance. Five years ago, who knew that there would be such a great demand for network security specialists or mobile content engineers or that green building certification would grow so quickly? New areas of focus like these are certainly going to be taking us into the next decade.

 

Jackie Zack is a freelance business, marketing and technology writer based in Brighton, Mich.
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