IT Certification Credibility Shot, Vendor Action Needed!
Over the last 15 years I have been an advocate of certification programmes and recently having attended the VMware vSphere 4 What’s New course, one my next tasks was to update my VCP certification to VCP 4. Right now disillusioned with IT certification programmes I am keeping this on hold.
Professional certifications are intended to reward technology professionals who have proven their ability in a particular technology area. Gained through training and on the job experience a certification is something tangible the IT professional can use to market themselves, maximise future job opportunities and maximise their earning potential by providing prospective employers with official recognition for the knowledge they possess. Unfortunately today, the certification model offered by many software and hardware vendors carry little credibility as the opportunities open to candidates to cheat the system are readily available leaving most IT certification programmes lacking integrity.
Recently discussing the many available IT certification programmes with a fellow IT professional he mentioned he had already attained VCP 4 certification. He confided for his revision he had used a PDF file containing around 350 questions (along with answers). The questions were not example questions in the style used when sitting the VCP-410 examination, they were the complete collection of VMware education services pool of VCP-410 questions from which a subset are presented to candidates sitting the official VCP 4 exam, word for word!
One attendee at the vSphere 4 course pre-booked his VCP-410 exam and sat it as soon as the course finished. He told me during a coffee break that he had been up until 2am in his hotel room revising, that he had also used a PDF file containing the questions and answers that would appear in the test. I cannot comment about the individuals experience or his level of ability to administer vSphere 4, the guy may well be a highly experienced technician but I do believe that reducing a technical certification to simply memorizing several hundred questions and multiple choice answers means that even none IT professionals could gain certification with minimum effort. I feel we have reached the point where the entire certification process is discredited.
This is by no means a VMware specific accreditation issue; it is the same across most, if not all major IT vendors’ current professional certification programmes. It just happens that my current education efforts are focused on VMware vSphere.
To those of us who have been on the certification merry-go-round for many years trying to make sitting the exams easier or to give it its proper name, “cheating” is not new.
A simple Google or Bing search returns several websites prepared to offer for purchase PDF files containing actual examination questions for many different vendors’ certification exams. Not surprisingly these are offered with a “first time pass guarantee”. One further search shows at least two of these vendors PDF files are readily available through bitTorrent and RapidShare networks. Even the pirates are being pirated!!
Brain dump websites have been around pretty much since the inception of certification programmes. For the uninitiated, brain dumps are created when people log on to a website and recall any questions they remember from a recently sat exam and in doing so, over time a pool of real exam questions is built that is available for the better good of the community. This is with complete disregard for the non-disclosure agreements all students agree to before starting an exam. Brain dump sites are difficult to police, they are community driven, often utilising a forum where it is almost impossible to identify who is posting the information.
As long as ten years ago people who held Microsoft MCSE certification but lacked real world experience were referred to as paper MCSE’s. These were often boot camped training course attendees who were taught with the sole focus being to pass the exams in as short a time frame as possible. At least a paper MCSE had studied the official curriculum; today with the question/answer files that are available it is possible to gain certification without ever using a technology at all.
Websites selling exam question files are not brain dump sites with anonymous forum postings, they are companies selling for profit the intellectual property of the vendors whose software/hardware we use and evangelise on a day to day basis. Often these sites offer the answers for over 30 different vendors certification programmes. It is time for the vendors who push their education services and their certification programmes to take action to restore the credibility of the qualifications they wish us as professionals to strive for and achieve. Whether this entails chasing down the companies who are selling exam questions and taking appropriate legal action or reviewing the entire testing process, something has to be done.
Through virtualisation technologies it is possible to create more practical task driven examinations covering real world scenarios. Requiring configuration tasks to be performed from which a more accurate assessment of a person’s practical skill can be assessed.
A scripted analysis of the virtualised environment upon completion of the examination would determine whether the tasks have been successfully completed or not. No method is perfect but this is a better option and makes it more difficult for the person sitting the exam to cheat rather than simply learning by heart several hundred questions and answers. Of course no doubt video step-by-step guides may be posted to provide the unscrupulous with their guaranteed first time pass but whatever the chosen method used for delivering certification exams it is the vendors responsibility to ensure the content of their examinations are changed frequently and they remain one step ahead of the cheats.
I am convinced there are many honest IT professionals out there but I fear the cheats are at the very least a significant minority. In our industry experience and knowledge are priceless and we should be able to expect from our vendors that people who attain certification possess the knowledge and skills their qualification stands for. Our vendors must ensure a solid level of integrity in their certification programmes if only in respect to all the hard working professionals who have legitimately gained their certifications and for their achievements to have maximum value when included in their résumés.
If I wish to apply for a new job in the future my résumé may be disadvantaged by not containing up to date certification details, it could be the difference between being offered an interview or not. Meaning however flawed the certification system is, ultimately I will be forced to pursue them.
However until credibility is restored to the certification programmes any résumés I am asked to review will be assessed and candidates selected for technical interview based solely on the experience they have documented -I hope going forwards other IT organisations begin to take a similar view to recruitment.
Our industry needs credible certified professional programmes, where the accreditations people have worked hard to achieve are not devalued by unscrupulous cheats. The vendors promoting certification programmes must step up and take responsibility to ensure they are credible and provide a true yard stick in measuring a candidates ability. As professionals we must talk to our vendors and ensure that the issues are taken seriously and instigate changes that bring credibility back to IT Certification Programmes.
As much as I would like my free VMware Workstation 7 license and of course my VCP 4 certificate right at this point it can wait……
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…..and here is the feedback from Jon C Hall
The VCP for VI3 exam is available until the end of March, when we will be retiring it. My recommendation for the course would be to have the student attend a Live Online class (since as he pointed out there are few open enrollment classes taught on this version). There is a Live Online class on March 2nd.
Hi Milan,
thanks for the feedback,an it’s an interesting dilemma and raises the question of whether vmware has retired their VI3 to soon or whether they feel VI3 certification is no longer applicable.
I know in my own workplace we have only recently made the move to VI4 so I guess there are others also out there. Although having said that VMware ESX servers generally are easily blown away and rebuilt I think in general uptake of new versions by the user community is normally rapid.
Jon C Hall from VMware education services has also commented on the post, I will contact him with your comments and ask him for feedback and thoughts. I will mail you directly with any answers.
With the experience you have gained in the last year or two you would be a good VI3 candidate and the qualification may also be of benefit looking for a contract on VI3 or VI4. But of course if VI3 VCP is not now possible (as training is a pre-req) then you are faced with applying for positions without qualification or taking an exam for something you may only have classroom training in.
…interesting…..
For what it is worth, I believe (as an ex-contractor who has spent his own money on training in the past too) the vSphere 4 course is a logical next step rather than VI3, I base this on your 2 years experience using VI3 – Whether attending vSphere 4 training would allow you to retro-sit VI3 VCP certification I do not know. Let’s see what Jon’s feedback is.
But I wish you luck with gaining your VCP….!
Stu.
Hi Stu
Not sure how i came accross this site but it makes good reading.
now where are those pdf’s!!….
When i left Munich and started contracting people would say to me great CV but you are not a MCSE.
In the end i went and took the exams and passed and it does open doors, rightly or wrongly.
Been using VMware quite alot the last year or two and end of last year finally thought about paying for the courses and doing the exam, having not used vsphere i thought i would go for V3 and then later on go for the vsphere upgrade.
Can i find any training companies offering the old V3 courses, most training companies i have looked at are only doing vsphere and only doing V3 courses when or if there is enough interest.
A ex colleague wanted to do a V3 resit at his normal test centre only had dates up to the end of Feb. Not much revision time!
I havent used vsphere yet and dont want to be certified on a system i have not used.
You want to do the right thing but its not always easy. Guess i will try and get a new contract that allows me to use vsphere
Hello Jon,
it is great to see VMware are taking the issues seriously and are already taking action to counteract IP theft by looking into practical certification examinations. I hope there will be a large pool of different practical tasks and that a sensible replacement frequency of content is maintained. I have read since writing the article that MS are also looking towards “an element” of practical content on Windows 7 certification also – I hope all other vendors follow suit.
Vendors have lived with IP theft now for many years and until now little appears (at least publicly) to have been done to combat it – although at the same time I understand fully the issues you raised concerning the difficulties in pursuing such companies.
It will be interesting to see how much weight vendors place on practical elements compared to traditional multiple choice questions in any given exam.
Once a credible certification process is implemented, credibility in the program will only be restored when the next iteration of the certification is released. I guess logistically this would only happen when a vendor releases their next major product release.
It would be cool if VCP 5 and possibly more importantly VCDX will have greater protection going forwards.
Hello,
This article highlights what is a rampant problem in the IT industry. Companies that sell “real” exams make a living off of stealing the IP of reputable companies like VMware. They are typically based in a country that makes it difficult to prosecute them. VMware combats this situation in the following manner.
1. We monitor these companies for release of new materials
2. If our exam material shows up for sale by one of these companies, we modify or replace the exposed items and republish our exam.
3. We are one if the few IT companies that also has a course requirement component to the certification, ensuring that even if a student somehow gains access to compromised material, they have had some actual exposure to the product.
Of course this is not an ideal situation. Companies that are responsible for this theft of IP make it difficult for any IT company to uphold a strong certification. One way to further augment the process is using a “practical” exam that is performed on actual equipment. Look for a certification from VMware that contains this component in 2010.