Certification Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 6)

DATA STREAM News & Notes for Certiﬁed Professionals IT Companies Join Together to Boost Certiﬁcation Market Testing and assessment provider Prometric announced it has formed an alliance with other IT companies to build and enrich the growing certification market. The Information Technology Certification Council (ITCC) aims to augment the knowledge of IT professionals in the industry and serve as a resource for employers and candidates. Companies involved in ITCC formed a loose consortium several years ago and became an official group in late 2007. Representatives from HP, IBM, Microsoft, Sun, Novell, CompTIA and others now have a place on the ITCC. “Most of our initial activities were generally talking about industry issues that were important to discuss, mainly exam security, so for that early period there was just a disconnected coalition of us,” said Ray Kelly, senior vice president of Prometric and ITCC board member. “Various representatives from organizations ket. “We knew it would lead to IT certification growth as well, so we do what we can to help propagate that and be a go-to resource for employers, agencies, candidates and others who are seeking information on IT programs, as well as trends in the industry.” Kelly said the bottom line for the creation of the ITCC is to strengthen the industry as a whole and ensure individuals with certifications know their stuff. Physical Authentication to Increase Cisco Exam Security Beginning this year, Cisco will require all test centers distributing its certification exams to collect digital photos and signatures from students during the admissions process. Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, Cisco senior director of product and technology marketing, feels this is a positive step toward guaranteeing a candidate’s identity and increasing assurance within the industry that individuals are presenting accurate certification records. In addition to the importance of the security procedures increasing the validity of test-taker identity and information, Dunn also wanted to make sure they wouldn’t go too far. “We did a pilot study that allowed us to test various methodologies and gauge test-center and candidate reaction to the changes,” BeliveauDunn said. “Ultimately, we decided on a course of action that would give us the greatest benefit without unduly violating our candidates’ privacy.” Another benefit Cisco sees in the new requirements is automatically excluding those interested in pirating the exam or taking it for someone else. Even if at first that might lower the number of candidates taking the exam, Dunn sees this as the proper course of action for Cisco. Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, Cisco senior director of product and technology marketing, feels [collecting photos and signatures] is a positive step toward guaranteeing a candidate’s identity and increasing assurance within the industry that individuals are presenting accurate certification records. would meet and talk about exam security issues and the theft of exams in China and places like that, and figure out how to potentially stop those threats.” Those early conversations helped get industry issues out in the open and demonstrated the benefit of formalizing the group to provide objective resources. According to Kelly, the council intends to take advantage of an expected surge in the IT certification mar- “We may see a drop-off in tests by those who would perpetuate exam fraud, but at the end of the day, this is the right move for IT certification,” she said. “Employers and candidates will have greater assurance in Cisco certifications as a result of these changes, and that will ultimately improve our bottom line.” More importantly from the normal exam taker’s standpoint, Cisco assures end users that the new security requirements won’t take any more time than the previous ones. This means no showing up earlier and waiting in long lines. According to Dunn, the new proce- 6 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE March 2008

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Certification Magazine - March 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Tech Careers Academic Connection Dear Techie Virtual Village Mastering IT: Choosing Between an Immediate Job and Higher Education Inside Certification Virtual World Administrators: Service Requests in Cyberspace Interface Boomers in IT: Will the Talent Shortage Affect Techies? Ad Index Endtag

Certification Magazine - March 2008

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