How do you and your list of certifications stack up in other countries? Do you know what you’re missing if you want to be valuable in Seoul or London? How are Americans and their training perceived elsewhere? If you ever want to live overseas, these are questions you have to ask. There are enough (bad) excuses to not move abroad – don’t let your professional training be another.
Jeff Parker takes a look at several well-known certifications in this slideshow. Some are vendor specific, e.g., Microsoft and Cisco. Some are by discipline, e.g., information security and project management. The point, Parker advises, is to be aware. Open your global mind, so you can make a smarter decision toward the next certification. You may be surprised, relieved or even impressed with yourself! And if you work it right, you can jump several steps in your career at once.
Click through for IT certification trends from around the world, as outlined by Jeff Parker, a former global IT manager.
As of August 2010, there were 69,488 CISSPs globally, with theU.S. leading all other countries with 43,695 CISSPs or 63 percent. Thenext three countries are Canada with 3,642, the UK with 3,478, and South Koreawith 2,487. Note that those “next three countries” total less than 25 percentof what the U.S. has. CISSP popularity is strongly U.S. biased.
The Certified Information Security Auditor (CISA) certification is a competitor to the CISSP with some differences in intended focus and level of technical detail. That said, for job eligibility, the CISA replaces the need for a CISSP throughout Europe.
In Europe, the CISA cert is much more popular than the CISSP. This has to do mainly with reputation (CISSP is viewed as heavily U.S.-centric) and the fact that training availability is quite limited outside the U.S.
According to the ISACA website, there are more than 75,000 CISA certified individuals.
The CISM was introduced relatively recently, in 2003. By comparison, the CISA was introduced 25 years earlier, in 1978. According to the vendor website, there are 13,000 CISM certified individuals.
How about a premier certification? How about one of the most difficult certifications to obtain, CISCO’s CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert)? As of earlier this year, there are about 21,000 CCIEs across the world. Only one quarter of them are in the U.S. (about 5,600 CCIEs). China is next in place with 3,700. The next two countries with the most CCIEs are Japan, with approximately 1,200, and the UK with 1,100. The relatively low number isn’t surprising, as a candidate must demonstrate true expertise by passing multiple hands-on, lab examinations.
Compare Cisco’s CCIE population to the much larger number holding the vendor’s junior certification, the CCNA (Cisco Certified Networking Associate). When Cisco last reported CCNA certification holders, the number exceeded 700,000. Sure, that includes expired cert holders, but the ratio is well past 30:1 in comparison to the CCIE.
Unless you’re living under a rock, you’re aware that Microsoft completely overhauled its certification scheme in recent years. Gone are the days of simply having your MCP and MCSE. But just in case, let’s recap what’s happened since Windows Server 2008.
Principle certifications are now the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP). Differences? The MCTS is the entry-level, “how to” certification, focusing on technical details and for task-oriented individuals. By contrast, the MCITP is the “decision maker” certification, focusing on design and strategy. For the certification audience, this distinction likely correlates well with job function. Big progress from the MCSE certification of yesteryear, which didn’t differentiate job levels, apart from some exams being more technical than others.
There are also two other Microsoft certifications worth mentioning, the Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) and the Microsoft Certified Master. The MCPD is akin to the old MCSD (Solution Developer), geared toward coders. The Microsoft Certified Master is interesting as it adds a level more senior to the already challenging MCITP. No accurate numbers for how many Masters exist were found.
If you want to know numbers for MCTS and MCITP holders, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, in late November 2009, Microsoft removed all pages and references of the MCTS and MCITP population. No one knows for sure how many there are. But we can be sure it includes hundreds of thousands of legacy MCSE holders.
Arguably the most introductory certification on the market is CompTIA’s A+. To date, there are about 800,000 A+ certified individuals. As a stand-alone certification for job eligibility, the A+ is hardly useful. However, the A+ is a required step toward a few advanced Microsoft and Novell certifications.
Other CompTIA certs include the Network+ and Security+. There are presently approximately 190,000 Network+ certified individuals and 35,000 Security+ certified individuals.
Here’s a classic example of U.S. versus the rest of the world. In the United States, the predominant cert is the Project Management Professional (PMP). The PMP is widely recognized and well respected. Meanwhile, the UK’s Office of Government Commerce oversees the Prince2 certification. Holding a Prince2 certification will carry a lot of weight when vying for a project management job throughout Europe. In Asia, both certifications are familiar, but in general one does not stand out as a “must have.”
The ITIL is a certification widely in demand in Europe, Canada and to a lesser extent, Asia. But for some reason, this cert gets little attention in the United States. For those unfamiliar with the ITIL certification, it’s named after the IT service process methodology. ITIL helps delivery of IT services in the most efficient manner. Similar to Prince2, the ITIL cert is developed by the UK’s Office of Government Commerce.
