Wednesday, 18 March 2015
In today's competitive IT job
market having the right certification can help push your resume to the top of
the stack or push you ahead of your colleagues when the opportunity for a
promotion arises.
Certifications play an
important part of any IT professional's career, although there will always be
some debate on how important. Certifications are, like most things in life: The
more you put into them, the more you will get out. While the actual knowledge
you gain on the journey is the true reward, certifications also indicate to
employers that you take your job seriously and that you are knowledgeable on
the respective technology.
With more than 1,700
professional IT certifications running the gamut of IT technologies, knowing
which certifications are the most important for your specialty can seem an
insurmountable task.
In a competitive market, you've
got to do everything you can to distinguish yourself from your peers.
Certification is an important part of that process. A recent poll asked users why they choose certification. The number one answer --at 51 percent--was that certification was a way to position themselves for a promotion or potential job.
Knowing
Which IT Certification Is Right
Before you jump into a specific
certification, there are some important questions that you need to ask yourself
about your career goals and objectives:
What demographic of IT do you
fall into? (Security, Server, Network, Web Development, Programmer and so on)
What are your career
objectives?
What IT career are you most
interested in?
What type of resources are
needed (i.e. money and time)?
Will this certification have a
significant impact on my career?
If your area of expertise is
related to a listed certification's focus and you don't have that
certification, you will definitely want to delve into it further. Now without
further ado, here are our Top IT
Certifications.
Project Management Professional
(PMP)
Completing the Project
Management Professional certification shows employers that you have the
necessary skills and resources to get the project done from start to finish, on
time and on budget. It's never been more relevant than in today's IT industry
where we all have multiple responsibilities.
Certified Information Systems
Security Professionals (CISSP)
CISSP is a vendor neutral
security certification. People who hold this certification have the skills and
knowledge to complete high-level tasks involving architecture, design,
management and/or controls that assure the security of business environments.
Red Hat Certified Engineer
(RHCE)
RHCE is a Linux Red Hat Enterprise Linux certification and demonstrates that the holder has the skills
and knowledge to perform the duties of senior system administrator, responsible
for Red Hat systems. Deployments and migrations are second nature to an RHCE.
Linux continues to be adopted
by more and more companies in an effort to decrease operating costs. Demand is
outpacing supply making this one of the hottest Linux certifications.
VMware Certified Professional
(VCP)
VCP VMware's first level of
certification that focuses squarely on the vSphere virtualization platform.
Recipients should have the skills to install, deploy, scale and manage vSphere
environments, as well as general virtualization skills.
CompTIA A+
A+ from the trade group
CompTIA, is another vendor-neutral certification and is considered entry level.
It encompasses a number of different foundation level IT skills.
Information Technology
Infrastructure Library
The ITIL certification is the
basis of the worldwide standard for quality IT Service Management and is
considered to have laid the groundwork for effective IT departments. It
outlines non-organizational specific "best practices" that are used by
companies to establish a level of competency. There are four flavors for this certification:
Foundation, Intermediate, Expert and Master.
Cisco
Certifications
Cisco Certifications, like
Microsoft and others, have been IT industry standards for years and are used to
validate knowledge of Cisco products and technologies. So much business passes
through Cisco systems that these always seem to be in demand.
Cisco Certified Internet work Expert (CCIE)
CCIE demonstrates that the
recipient has all the expert-level skills required to plan, prepare, operate,
monitor, and troubleshoot complex data center networks. CCIE is a common goal
for network professionals who want to be recognized as experts in their field.
Cisco touts this certification as "the most prestigious networking
certification in the industry" .
Cisco Certified Network
Associate (CCNA)
CCNA certification is a
second-level Cisco Career certification. It lets employers know that you have
demonstrated the ability "to install, configure, operate and troubleshoot
medium-size routed and switched networks, including implementation and
verification of connections to remote sites in a WAN". Anyone who wants to
work in the networking field or if you happen to work on Cisco hardware on a
regular basis should consider adding this certification to their skillset.
Microsoft
Certifications
Microsoft software and systems
are a staple in most IT departments making these and other Microsoft
certifications in demand skills. The Microsoft certifications listed below as
top needed skills in today's job market.
Microsoft Certified IT
Professional (MCITP)
MCITP certifications, one of
Microsoft's newer certifications, tests technical proficiency in the Microsoft
Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certifications. There are many different
areas of certification.
Windows
Client
Ø MCITP:
Enterprise Desktop Support Technician on Windows 7
Ø MCITP:
Enterprise Desktop Administrator on Windows 7
Ø MCITP:
Consumer Support Technician on Windows Vista
Ø MCITP:
Enterprise Support Technician on Windows Vista
Windows
Server
Ø MCITP:
Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server 2008
Ø MCITP:
Server Administrator on Windows Server 2008
Ø MCITP:
Virtualization Administrator on Windows Server 2008 R2
Microsoft SQL Server
Ø MCITP:
Database Administrator 2008
Ø MCITP:
Database Developer 2008
Ø MCITP:
Business Intelligence Developer 2008
Ø MCITP:
Enterprise Project Management with Microsoft Office Project Server 2007
Microsoft Exchange Server
Ø MCITP:
Enterprise Messaging Administrator on Exchange 2010
Ø MCITP:
Enterprise Messaging Administrator on Exchange 2007
Microsoft
SharePoint Server
Ø MCITP:
SharePoint Administrator 2010
Microsoft Lync Server
Ø MCITP:
Lync Server Administrator 2010
Microsoft Certified Technology
Specialist (MCTS)
MCTS certification validates
skills on a particular Microsoft technology. As with MCITP, there are many
technologies that you can certify for, for example, Exchange server, Lync
Server and Office Communications Server, virtualization and more.
Microsoft's
Certified Systems Engineers (MCSE)
An MCSE certification
demonstrates that the recipient can design, implement and administer technology
infrastructures using Microsoft 2000 Windows Server and other Windows server
platforms. This certification is common to systems engineers, tech support
engineers, system analysts, network analysts and technical consultants.
Certifications are a great way
to break into a new technology, cover gaps in your resume or advance your
current position. The best people in the IT business are the ones who are
passionate about learning and that is a key to being successful. Technology is
evolving at a pace that is difficult to keep up with. As the environment moves
forward and changes so must you.
