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The Value of Certification

By Taylor Banks

VMware Certified Professional

While I've long debated the real value of professional certifications in the IT industry (I've known numerous highly-certified ignoramuses), it would be ignorant to refute the hard data that demonstrates the perceived value of certification and the resulting remuneration benefits.

Further, not all certifications are alike, and since I have approximately a dozen certifications myself, I can tell you conclusively that some effectively demonstrate proficiency, while others are barely worth the paper they're printed on.

This blog topic was actually prompted by a very interesting post at TechTarget entitled The Value of the VCP (VMware Certified Professional). Personally, I believe the VCP is amongst a very few certifications that do a good job of testing and proving proficiency.

In his post, Joe Foran draws the conclusion that the single-test VCP certification by itself actually holds more value than any other multiple-test vendor certification (including those from Red Hat, Citrix and Cisco)! Joe's post was certainly an interesting read, and if you plan on pursuing professional certifications, you owe it to yourself to pay attention to his sources.

😉 Disclaimer: I am a VMware Certified Instructor, and teach VI3 VCP courses. So, don't just take my word for it, do your own research.

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About the Author

Taylor Banks is an entrepreneur who travels full-time in an RV with his wife, Beth, and their dog, Sedona. Taylor's background is in computer, network and information security and privacy, but he now also runs several e-commerce sites and chairs a mastermind group that provides mentorship to other entrepreneurs who want to achieve location and financial independence with passive income provided by lifestyle businesses.

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(2) comments

Barry Allard

After having the official training toward the early VCP 2.x test, it was way too easy. Then again, it was also an easy platform to manage.

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Barry Allard

Update Jan 2009: 3.5.3 exam is another animal.

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