Why IT Certifications Matter

IT certifications are certifications showing the official position one holds as well as their competency in the line of their profession concerning information technology. They certify the one holding these certifications to perform duties or carry out jobs in the line of their profession, in this case, technology. It may involve one or more sectors of information technology industry. IT certifications are vendor-specific. This means that the bearers of these certifications deal with specific technologies. They undergo assessment whereby an official person assesses and carries out a verification procedure upon these certifications. Business Dictionary defines certification as a formal procedure by which an accredited or authorized person or agency assesses and verifies (and attests in writing by issuing a certificate) the attributes, characteristics, quality, qualifications, or status of individuals or organization, good or services, procedures or processes, or events or situations, in accordance with established requirements (Business Dictionary, 2016).

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There has been an ongoing debate in the IT sector if IT certifications are still important in the hiring process. That is if businesses should value the certifications when it comes to hiring new employees, or they should value the experience one has in the line of their profession in the IT industry. In this debate, others believe and hold opinions that these certifications are not of value whereas others believe that the certifications are important. Personally, I believe that the IT certifications are important in the IT industry. Despite ones experience being essential in this industry, certifications help one go a long way in their professions.

The IT industry is an ever changing industry. With every days technological advancements in the world, it makes this industry more dynamic than other industries. With the evolvements of this industry each awakening day, certifications also evolve whereby new certifications come up. These certifications do provide a baseline of expectations to the IT professionals. This is because in the IT industry there is no baseline which is standardized of what could be expected from the IT professions. These certifications bridge the difference between the baseline of the expectations to be expected from the IT professions and the failed regulations within this industry. Some of the common certifications programs are;

compTIA A+ - Covers hardware operating systems and systems networking

MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional)- The stepping stone to additional Microsoft certifications, including the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist

CIW Associate (Certified Internet Webmaster) - Covers the basics of Web programming including HTML and networking (Western Governors University, 2016).

Below are a few justifications why IT certifications still matter.

Technical Perspectives

The IT certifications provide one with an inbuilt knowledge capacity to handle the tasks thrown at them in his/her line of profession. As much as most of the knowledge and experience are acquired in the industry when one initially comes into the industry, they would not know where to start from if they do not have these certifications. An IT profession might come in the industry with their resume proving that they have a working experience of more than 5 or 10 years. This does not prove that they have the skills to performing their duties and tackling the problems at work. Experience alone cannot prove that one has the proper and required skills for the job they are required to handle. IT certifications show evidently that one has the skills and knowledge required. They prove ones ability in carrying out the tasks in the workplace and indeed the certifications give an upper hand to the one bearing them by showing that they have the proper knowledge and ability to handle the tasks in the industry as well as solve real-life problems which might seem difficult and foreign to others (the uncertified IT professions). They are also able to make decisions when they are faced with these real-life situations for they have the knowledge in which they can use to analyze and assess these problems and come up with viable solutions. This gives one the confidence and boosts their morale when it comes to solving these problems at the workplace. This makes the certified IT profession more efficient as compared to others and they boost the performance of the organizational teams in which they are in.

Career Commitment

Why would one acquire these certifications if they were/are not in interested in the line of the profession in which they are in? With the IT industry being an ever changing industry, difficulties arise each and every day. One requires to be specialized in one or more sectors in order to carry out their duties efficiently. This leads to one spending time, energy and money to acquire these certifications that would provide him/her with the knowledge and skills to handle these tasks. As one keeps acquiring these certifications, they further themselves down the lane of their career. Therefore, they become more committed in their professions in the IT industry.

Creation of Quality Organizational Culture

If an organization has a large number of certified IT professions and is performing at its best capability, more certified IT professions will be attracted to that organization. Through this, the organization will have efficient, diligent and exemplary employees. This improves the work culture in the organization. With an improved work, culture comes with increased productivity from the workers due to the workers being highly motivated. Through this, the organization will increase its revenues as well as its market share in the industry. Thus, the organization becomes highly competitive as compared to other organizations in the IT industry.

Higher Organizations Bargaining Power

With the currently changing world, a larger percent of the worlds population is tech-savvy. They are conversant with the dynamics of the technological world. Most of the IT customers both internal and external prefer only certified IT professions. They prefer knowing if the organizations IT professions are certified before agreeing to hand over a project of theirs to be worked upon. Through this, they can assess and determine the worth of the organization to carry out the task they hand them. If a company has certified IT professions, the higher the chances of getting more customers who would like to do business with them. This gives the organization a higher chance when it comes to negotiations of prices with its customers. Not only does the company acquire a higher bargaining power, but make the company highly competitive when it come to the IT market since it attracts a lot more customers as compared to other organizations.

Improving Personal Image

With the current competitive economy of the world, IT certifications make a difference among the professions in the industry. These certifications improve the certified IT professions personal image at the workplace. A certified IT profession is diligent, efficient, and productive and helps the organization in boosting the customers confidence as well as attaining and retaining the customers trust in the organization. This improves the workers image, and the organization considers him/her worthy. With this, it is very unlikely for the profession to be laid off. Workers with high skills and are knowledgeable are unlikely to get laid off. Thus, their job security is higher as compared to those who are uncertified.

With certifications, one stands out among other employees who are not certified. Therefore, when it comes to hiring and promotion, a certified IT profession has a higher chance of getting hired or promoted per se.

Higher Salaries

During hiring or promotion, the management of an organization can assess the skills and knowledge that one has. Through this, they can determine the salary to pay the professions. Certified IT professions tend to get paid higher salaries. Their certifications prove to the hiring employers or the management that their skills are up-to-date in the dynamic industry. During the hiring process or promotion, these individuals who hold these certifications can request for higher salaries. With many organizations nowadays requesting employees to have their cuts in their salaries, are more likely to pay the certified IT professions a much higher salary as compared to the uncertified. The organization finds it worthy to do so.

Minimization of Organizations Cost and Time

An organizations main objective is to minimize cost and maximize profits. Certified IT professions tend to be more productive as compared to the uncertified. They come up with new and efficient ways to solve problems within the organization. With their skills and knowledge, they come up with cheaper means of production thus reduce the expenses of the company. Through this, the organization reduces its operations costs. These professions also have ways of accelerating the processes at the workplace. This saves the organization a lot of time which can be used to carry out other tasks.

With all these justifications, it is clear that IT certifications are beneficial to both the individual and the organization as well. More than 80% of the managers believe that IT certified professionals are more efficient workers (Roussey, 2013). This proves that IT certifications still matter.

THE PROS AND CONS OF VENDOR CERTIFICATION VS INDEPENDENT

Vendor certification is the certification that shows that a vendors activities which include his/her businesss processes and the deliveries included having been accepted and that he/she is worthy to provide the services or goods in their line of business. In the IT industry, there are two vendor certifications which are vendor specific and vendor independent certifications.

The vendor specific certifications are provided by a specific vendor for example i.e. Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and are oriented towards specific technologies (ICT Security). With this kind of certification, the certified profession deals with specific technologies. They become specialized and acquire knowledge and skills that are compatible with the technology they deal with hence are highly conversant with a specific technology. Thus, the vendor carries out the customers projects correctly and accordantly. This certification requires less time and money to acquire it as compared to the vendor-independent certification, but the earnings to the vendor-specific certification are high.

Despite the benefits this certification has, it requires money and time to attain it. The amount of time and costs might be lesser than those of vendor-independent certification, but it is still time-consuming and less cost effective. Vendor specific certification is less trustworthy. It is easy to cheat with this kind of certification. One may get certified in an IT sector that they have never worked in. This certification makes one conversant with only one type of technology as compared to the vendor-independent certification where a profession becomes conversant with different technologies.

Vendor independent certification programs are mainly targeted at the standards or different technologies (ICT Security). This type of certification makes the vendor conversant with different technologies as compared to the vendor specific certification whereby one becomes conversant with one technology. Therefore, it is diverse. This certification has a qualification that can show the customers or employers to which level the individual is competent therefore it is difficult for one to cheat with this certification. Hence, it is a good way of measuring ones expertise. With the pros to it, it still ha...