Certification Top 10 Lists

[bluwulf]

Certification Top 10 Lists
by Ed Tittel <etittel-at-certmag.com> CertMag

There are hundreds of programs in today’s certification landscape. How can you tell the good from the bad, the winners from the losers, or what’s up-and-coming from programs on their way down? While careful analysis of the market is always warranted, and reality checks against current classified employment ads and job postings are highly recommended, we present lists of leading certifications in this story, across various categories we believe to be of definite interest to our readers.

How did we compile these lists? By employing the same kind of analysis we routinely recommend to all our readers, but also by relying on exposure to the marketplace, numerous published certification surveys and wish lists and careful perusal of recent reports in the computer trade press. With high hopes, but with tongues planted firmly in our cheeks, the lists present as much consensus about what’s hot as we can shake out of today’s increasingly complex and specialized certifications. That said, there’s no arguing that these lists reflect the author’s knowledge and experience, and thus, his biases. That’s why inclusion or exclusion from these lists is more important than the order in which specific items appear (and it’s certainly easier to argue about list position than what’s kept in or left out of any specific list).

In every case, each list begins with a heading that names the category it represents, followed by a brief explanation of what that category means and the characteristics that leading certifications in that category should possess.

Program/Certification Selection and List Order
In analyzing certification offerings according to specific criteria—like those used in this story—it’s important to understand how individual certifications and programs stack up against them. Wherever possible, we used the relative size of certified populations and such consensus as was available about the appeal, popularity, employability and pay for certification holders to break ties among otherwise equally ranked programs. In many cases, item order is arbitrary.

Categories Included:

Best Hands-On Programs
Certifications in this category involve exams that not only test real-world skills and knowledge, but also demand that the test-takers demonstrate such skills and knowledge as a part of an exam or hands-on training. Such exams or programs are sometimes called “performance-based,” “practicum” or “laboratory” (lab) exams. Whatever name is used to identify these certifications, they all involve on-the-spot analysis and problem-solving and do their best to stage (or simulate) real-word system and hardware situations. Roll up your sleeves, and get your hands dirty while getting as close to a reality check as any certifications deliver today.

Best Vendor-Neutral Credentials
Programs that not only preach vendor-neutrality, but also deal frankly, freely and fairly with both weaknesses and strengths in specific solutions, while covering a realistic range of offerings, are more prevalent in certification program descriptions than in actual practice. The following programs do a good job of maintaining vendor-neutrality as well as claiming that perspective. Because such neutrality is a hallmark of academia, many leading contenders also have strong academic roots and relationships. It’s no accident that with only a single exception, all the organizations listed here are industry or professional organizations or consortia with strong roots in academia as well as in industry.

Most Technically Advanced Programs
Some certifications in this list require mastering an enormous amount of material in and of themselves; others require ingesting somewhat less information by volume but come with seriously hefty prerequisites. All of them, without exception, require deep skills and knowledge so that nearly all individuals who qualify for these certifications have eight to 10 years of relevant work experience, if not more.

Best Supporting Materials
Many of these certifications enjoy absolutely universal third-party support from practice test vendors, study guide and exam cram publishers, plus a plethora of Web sites, reports and exam intelligence, and analyses in magazines like this one. Others benefit from the very best official training and study materials around. Some—like those from Cisco—qualify on both counts!

Best New Programs or Certs
Though not all of the items in the following list are less than a year old, most are still relatively new to the IT certification scene. These new offerings represent innovative topics or subject focus, certify interesting and useful skills and knowledge or represent ways to involve IT professionals early in programs that require years of documented work experience.

Best Specialty Certifications
Specialty certifications exist to permit intermediate- to senior-level IT professionals to focus in tightly on relatively narrow (but often very deep) subject areas. Most apply to specific vendor offerings or technologies; many leverage one or more prerequisite certifications; all require serious study and effort to obtain.

Toughest Recertification Requirements
These days, the majority of credentials come with some kind of expiration date or are tied to specific software or platform releases (which themselves tend to vanish from the workplace after a while, rendering related certifications more or less obsolete).

Full Article: http://www.certmag.com/articles/temp...7&zoneid=9

I thought people here might be interested in this article, even if you don't agree with the rankings, still gives you a good overview of the good certs currently out there now.


source : http://www.security-forums.com/forum...ic.php?t=10518

[Nastrodamus]

Very Very informative.....


Thanks