The Hidden Benefit Of Computer Certification

The Hidden Benefit Of Computer Certification

by: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

The web is covered with stories regarding the benefits of professional computer certification, and most of them are backed up with salary surveys and the like. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with making more money and having better job prospects, there’s one benefit of certification that many candidates forget about.

Confidence.

You can’t pay your rent with confidence; you can’t pay for gas with confidence; you can’t pay for ANYTHING with confidence, right? So who cares, right?

Wrong. The confidence you build from truly earning a certification, whether it’s an MCSE, CCNA, or CCIE, cannot be purchased, borrowed, or stolen. It has to be earned.

What do I mean by ขtruly earnedข? First, I’m referring to those little documents out there generally referred to as ขbraindumpsข. If you buy one of these things and happen to skate by a certification exam, did you learn anything? No. Did you learn anything? No. Are you going to be effective on the job? No. As I tell my students, when you’re standing in front of a server or router that isn’t working, and all eyes are on you to troubleshoot the problem, the correct answer is not ขBข. There is no multiple choice.

Secondly, I’m referring to the hope that the certification you earn was earned by taking a demanding exam.

Now, you’re probably thinking ขokay, Chris has lost his mind. I should HOPE the test is demanding?ข

Yes, you should. There’s nothing more useless than earning a certification that’s easy to get. There’s no feeling of pride, of achievement; furthermore, if everyone else has that certification, what value does it have?

I can speak from experience on this one. Those of you relatively new to the field may never have used NT 4.0, but the MCSE NT 4.0 was the certification that ended up causing a lot of damage to the value of professional certifications. EVERYBODY had one. The tests were repetitive and far too simple, there were no simulation questions, and the exams required no real handson experience.

As a result, my MCSE NT 4.0 had little value. I also felt no sense of pride in achieving it.

Thankfully, exam vendors and authors seem to have learned their lesson. Cisco exams are not easy to pass, and the initial Cisco certification, the CCNA, demands handson knowledge and experience. Microsoft is (finally) adding simulator questions to their certification exams as well, and the MCSE exams have gotten tougher as well.

So if you should happen to fail an exam along the way to the top – and almost all of us do – just keep in mind that if the exams were not demanding, they would have no value.

After all, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it!

About The Author

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage. The Bryant Advantage sells the worldกs most comprehensive CCNA Study Guide in PDF format for only $15 and is the ONLY company specializing in CCNA and CCNP rack rentals, allowing candidates for these certifications to gain vital handson experience with full racks of Cisco routers and switches with labs and prices designed just for them. Lots of FREE CCNA and CCNP tutorials and articles, too! Visit his site at www.thebryantadvantage.com today!

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 10

by Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

Search Wars! MSNกs Opening Salvo

Search Wars! MSNกs Opening Salvo

by: Robert Palmer

With all the recent publicity given to Google as the Internetกs number one search service, itกs hardly surprising that Microsoft has already started work on revamping their MSN search service. Okay, itกs still powered by the Yahoo engine, but according to Microsoft it has been กcleaned upก and the new service mirrors much more the kind of กnoncommercialก results which are currently displayed by Google.
Costing some $100 in development costs and lost advertising revenues, MSNกs makeover offer the enduser a much more uncluttered screen and again this aesthetic change mirrors the simple interface of Google. Results too are served quicker than the old system, or so Microsoft claim, although they supply no data on how this compares to Google.
The web search market is currently dominated by Google and Yahoo although Microsoft are now openly stating that they will be edging their own search engine into this market by the end of 2004.
This megaupgrade, which is currently undergoing full testing at Microsoft, breaks away from the Yahoo engine and be powered by their own software engine and algorithms which will, they claim, enable people to search for what they want rather than be presented with a number of paid/sponsored results. Should this happen, the move away from paidfor results will be a big step for Microsoft, who, in the past, have come under universal criticism, as endusers have not had confidence that the results served to them were unbiased.
With the search needs of over 350 million people up for grabs, Microsoft are keen to dissuade people from using the other engines. But with over 80% of the current daily global Net searches being performed on Google, Microsoft have much work to do. But for those who fear for the future of Google with Microsoft breathing heavily down their neck, you might take comfort from a time, not so long ago, when Microsoft considered itself bigger than the Internet. Does anyone remember Microsoft Network? Thought not!
As for Google, while they do not have the same aggressive marketing culture as Microsoft, they are very inventive, creative and above all, they are already internationally successful; holding one of the most recognized brands in the world. Far from standing still, Google has quietly expanded its range of services and now even offers an affiliate scheme to webmasters to host Google Adsense Adกs on their websites. But perhaps itกs a mark of the trust and confidence that people have in Google as a corporation, that their have the only affiliate scheme on the Net which does not specify up front what commision it will be paying.
I suspect that when the Seach Wars are finally concluded it will be the confidence endusers have in the results they are served which will win out and not necessarily the best or fastest technology. Currently of course, Google are streets and houses ahead of both Microsoft and Yahoo in the public confidence stakes and it will be interesting to see if this confidence can be maintained following Googleกs much publicized floatation on the Stock Market.
Microsoft may well find that winning public confidence in this war is harder than the creation of any technology they wish to introduce and in the end, just as they did with Apple, Microsoft may well consider buying into that confidence and snap up a major chunk of Googleกs stock.

About The Author

Robert Palmer is CEO of deskNET Communications (www.desknet.co.uk) suppliers of the first affordable alternative to optin email marketing and newletter publishing.

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 06, 2004

by Robert Palmer