Have (IT) certs will travel?

By Jeanne-Vida Douglas and Fran Foo, ZDNet Australia

03 July 2006 06:26 PM

Tags: jeanne-vida douglas, .net, job, citrix, hewlett-packard, university, erp, lotus notes

	Introduction
	Sound education A decent starting point for an IT degree -- part-time or full-time -- is your neighbourhood university.
	Another entry point Apart from universities, private institutions and TAFEs offer more practical IT courses.
	Where to next? ERP (enterprise resource planning) development and administration are most in demand. How can you obtain these skills, and more?
	The tale of two CVs Analysts and IT professionals -- past and present -- share their views on whether certification is better than experience.

Vendor certification

Last quarter, we identified which IT skills were in demand, where they were hot, and the salary range. Today we look at the types of certification to suit these opportunities (see table at the end).

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) development and administration (SAP, Oracle and Peoplesoft applications)
Part of the reason these skills are so much in demand in Australia at the moment is that corporate training is tightly controlled, and very expensive.

SAP provides training and consultant certification in the areas of NetWeaver, CRM, ERP Operations, Financials, Human Resources, Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Management, Supplier Relationship Management, Business One, and Industry Solutions. The company provides information about the cost and duration of its courses on its SAP Education Web site, and recommends certification exams be attempted upon the completion of 15 to 25 day courses, which cost between AU$700 and AU$900 per day.

Oracle has a similar approach, offering different certification paths for application developers, Web administrators and database administrators. Technical experience is strongly recommended before any certification, and each certificate may require a number of exams. Training will take three to five days and cost around AU$800 per day, however CD-ROMs priced under AU$500 are available to prepare for certification covering new features.

PHP and Web development
PHP training is also hard to come by, and the certification which is provided solely through Zend is not well-known in the industry. Nonetheless study guides and practice books are available for between AU$30 and AU$100, however instructor-lead training is hard to find.

Nonetheless, there is a friendly PHP user group which meets monthly in Sydney, and conducts its own training sessions depending on the skills within the user group levels of interest.

C++ or Corba
C++ is taught in some universities, and is covered in the widely available Microsoft Certified Solution Developer certificate, which costs between AU$2,999 and AU$10,000 for tuition, and can be completed in six weeks of full time study. The MCSD can be completed as part of a university curriculum, or privately through instructor-lead sessions, and distance education.

Corba is in demand because it's a great technology for tying together disparate corporate systems, however since the federal government's 2004 decision to discontinue funding the DSTC CRC in training and certification in Australia are only available through some universities.

Unix network administrators
Universities are great places to learn about Unix, because it's an open system it's long been used as a training and operational tool in Australia's cash-strapped tertiary education sector. However, since Sun Microsystems Australia and IBM Australia began to develop an interest in all things open, they've also become useful points of reference for networking skills generally.

Business analysts and project managers
Business analysts need to bridge the corporate gap between technology and business, and as such they need to draw on training in both areas. TAFE New South Wales offers courses aimed specifically at the business analyst role, as to some of the more business focussed IT streams at universities provide a solid foundation in both areas.

Kaz Education is also in the process of creating a short course in IT business analysis, which it hopes to offer within the next 12 months.

Java and J2EE developers
While many IT professionals self-train to achieve Java certification, Sun provides the most sought-after certification and also offers a range of online and trainer-lead courses.

At the moment the most popular certification is Sun's Certified Java 2 Programmer (SCJP) for Java 2, which can be completed without prior knowledge of Java, although some experience with the language is preferred.

Exam preparation can take anywhere between four to six weeks full time, and costs between AU$900 and AU$9000 depending on the level of trainer involvement.

Lotus Notes developers and administrators
Unlike many skills which are in demand, courses and certification programs for Lotus technologies are widely available, either directly through IBM or through other private organisations like Kaz Education, and Dimension Data Learning Solutions.

You can expect to pay between AU$300 and AU$600 per day for courses, which can be as short as a day or as long as a fortnight.

C# and .NET skills
Like C++, C# is generally included as part of the Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) certificate.

Getting .NET certified is all about getting a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer certificate which focuses specifically on the .NET environment.

Like all Microsoft certifications, training for the exams is readily available, ranging between AU$2,999 and AU$10,000 for courses which can be completed either in four to six weeks full-time, or spread out and done part-time.

While many of these courses suggest it's possible to complete the syllabus and attain the certification without prior knowledge, university, TAFE and/or industry experience goes a long way in facilitating the process.

Experienced testers
While there are no certification courses in testing per se, testers are in demand for a range of languages. However, as good procedures are at a premium, university and TAFE training is preferred by recruiters.