certification of computer professionals

Unlike medicine, the law, or even civil engineering, the computer-related fields do not have legally required certi-fication. Given society’s critical dependence on computer software and hardware for areas such as infrastructure management and medical applications, there have been persistent attempts to require certification or licensing of software engineers. However, the fluid nature of the infor-mation science field would make it difficult to decide which application areas should have entry restrictions.

At present, a variety of academic degrees, professional affiliations, and industry certificates may be considered in evaluating a candidate for a position in the computing field.

Academic and Professional Credentials

The field of computer science has the usual levels of aca-demic credentials (baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees), and these are often considered prerequisites for an academic position or for industry positions that involve research or development in areas such as robotics or arti-ficial intelligence. For business-oriented IT positions, a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information sys-tems may be required or preferred, and candidates who also have a business-oriented degree (such as an MBA) may be in a stronger position. However, degrees are generally viewed only as a minimum qualification (or “filter”) before evaluating experience in the specific application or platform in question. While not a certification, membership in the major professional organizations such as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Institute for Electri-cal and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) can be viewed as part of professional status. Through special interest groups and forums, these organizations provide computer professionals with a good way to track emerging technical developments or to broaden their knowledge.

In the early years of computing and again, in the micro-computer industry of the 1980s, programming experience and ability were valued more highly than academic creden-tials. (Bill Gates, for example, had no formal college train-ing in computer science.) In general, degree or certification requirements tend to be imposed as a sector of the informa-tion industry becomes well defined and established in the corporate world. For example, as local area networks came into widespread use in the 1980s, certifications were devel-oped by Microsoft, Novell, and others. In turn, colleges and trade schools can train technicians, using the certifi-cate examinations to establish a curriculum, and numerous books and packaged training courses have been marketed.

In a newly emerging sector there is less emphasis on credentials (which are often not yet established) and more emphasis on being able to demonstrate knowledge through having actually developed successful applications. Thus, in the late 1990s, a high demand for Web page design and pro-gramming emerged, and a good portfolio was more impor-tant than the holding of some sort of certificate. However as e-commerce and the Web became firmly established in the corporate world, the cycle is beginning to repeat itself as certification for webmastering and e-commerce applications is developed.

Industry Certifications

Several major industry certifications have achieved wide-spread acceptance. Since 1973, the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP) has offered certification based on gen-eral programming and related skills rather than mastery of particular platforms or products. The Associate Computing Professional (ACP) certificate is offered to persons who have a basic general knowledge of information processing and who have mastered one major programming language. The more advanced Certified Computing Professional (CCP) cer-tificate requires several years of documented experience in areas such as programming or information systems manage-ment. Both certificates also require passing an examination.

A major trade group, the Computing Technology Indus-try Association (CompTIA) offers the A+ Certificate for computer technicians. It is based on passing a Core Service Technician exam focusing on general hardware-related skills and a DOS/Windows Service Technician exam that empha-sizes knowledge of the operating system. The exams are updated regularly based on required job skills as assessed through industry practices.

Networking vendor Novell offers the Certified NetWare Engineer (CNE) certificate indicating mastery of the instal-lation, configuration, and maintenance of its networking products or its GroupWise messaging system. The Certified NetWare Administrator (CNA) certificate emphasizes sys-tem administration.

Microsoft offers a variety of certificates in its networking and applications development products. The best known is the Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) certifi-cate. It is based on a series of required and elective exams that cover the installation, management, configuration, and maintenance of Windows 2000 and other Microsoft net-works.

A number of other vendors including Cisco Systems and Oracle offer certification in their products. Given the ever-changing marketplace, it is likely that most computer pro-fessionals will acquire multiple certificates as their career advances.