August 2009 saw the launch of a CompTIA research project into the value of IT Training and Certification looking at into the insights and opportunities associated with the billions of pounds that go into IT training and certification each year. With lots of buzz and demand from our members for a more specific EMEA study, CompTIA’s Vice President of Research, Tim Herbert, will present the findings of the brand new study into the value of IT Training and Certification to employers.

1. © 2010 CompTIA. All rights reserved.
Understanding the Value of IT
Training and Certification
Tim Herbert
CompTIA
therbert@comptia.org

2. Title Here
Mmmm….

3. Title Here
(caffeine molecule)
Hmmm….

4. Title Here
On Tap for Today…

5. About CompTIA Research Program
- Measure
- Track
- Explore
- Interpret

6. 2009 Recap: Perceptions of IT
Certifications from Staff Perspective
IT certifications have value.
But…some concern that
employers don’t see value.

7. 2010 Landscape (UK)
69%
34%
27%
45%
4%
21%
Retaining
existing staff
Finding
quality new
staff
Very
challenging
Somewhat
challenging
Manageable
16%
17%
26%
41%
Understaffed by 15%
or more
Understaffed by 10%
Understaffed by 5%
Fully staffed, but want
to hire to expand
IT Firms’ Staffing Situation Retaining and Finding Staff

8. UK Firm IT Staff/Skill Priorities
Importance of staff/skills to
firm over next 12 months
Project manager 80%
Database administrator or designer 77%
Business intelligence / analytics 75%
PC support / technical support specialist 71%
Cloud / SaaS specialist 70%
Network administrator or technician 66%
Virtualization specialist 65%
Security specialist 63%
IP telephone / Unified communication specialist 63%
Security specialist 60%
Open source specialist 55%

9. HR Challenges in Finding the Right
Candidates
26%
40%
47%
48%
49%
51%
60%
Costs associated with recruiting
Filling openings in a timely manner
Finding candidates with the right “soft” skills
Finding candidates in the right price range
Pool of quality candidates in the local region
Finding candidates with right “hard” skills
Finding candidates with right experience
Opinions of US HR executives

10. Hiring Then and Now

11. Highest Priorities When Evaluating
Job Candidates
30%
40%
45%
50%
56%
64%
67%
71%
81%
Prestige of previous employers
Look and feel of resume/CV
College degree subject matter
IT certifications held
Total years of experience
Programming languages / technical skills
Track record
Experience in very specific areas
Quality of experience
Opinions of hiring IT managers: high
priority elements (US + UK + South Africa)
Base: 1,385 hiring IT
managers in the countries
of South Africa, UK and US.

12. How IT Certifications Factor Into Hiring
15%
22%
9%
16%
34%
39%
28%
34%
52%
39%
63%
50%
US
UK
South Africa
Overall
High
Priority
Medium
Priority
Low
Priority
Opinions of hiring IT managers

13. Value of IT Certifications
9%
14%
3%
9%
27%
39%
23%
30%
64%
46%
74%
61%
US
UK
South Africa
Overall
High
Value
Moderate
Value
Low
Value
Opinions of hiring IT managers

14. More on IT Certifications and Hiring
80%
85%
82%
85%
86%
89%
72%
72%
74%
75%
79%
85%
Used as a screening mechanism
Measure of a candidate’s willingness to work
hard and meet a goal
Required for certain IT job roles
Match applicant's skills with firm's needs
Differentiate between equally qualified
applicants
Helps confirm subject matter
knowledge/expertise
Net of sometimes + often + always
UK
US

15. The Perspective from HR
25% 19%
51%
50%
24% 31%
HR
certifications
IT
certifications
Growing
significantly in
importance
Growing
somewhat in
importance
Flat or
declining in
importance
Top Cited Reasons for Growth
in Certifications (US)
#1 Desire for employees to
continuously upgrade their skills
in a competitive market
#2 Need to confirm specific skills
and expertise
#3 Desire to reduce the risk of a
“bad” hire by having another
quantifiable factor to weigh in
the hiring process

16. But…

17. Reasons for Not Valuing IT Certifications
50%
43%
49%
49%
50%
49%
27%
10%
23%
21%
21%
24%
27%
66%
IT certification material is not timely
No support for certification prep or testing
IT certifications have a poor ROI
IT certification material not relevant to real
world jobs
IT industry changing, making certifications less
relevant
Certifications unnecessary for career
advancement
IT experience valued over IT certifications
Major
Reason
Minor
Reason

18. The HR – IT Relationship
16%
27%
16%
19%
43%
44%
50%
45%
40%
28%
35%
37%
US
UK
South Africa
Overall
HR has solid
understanding of IT
certifications
Basic
understanding
Little or no
understanding
Opinions of hiring IT managers

19. Policy Regarding Using IT Certifications
during Hiring Process
Formal
Policy – HR
Dept. Led
25%
29%
46%
14%
28%
57%
US
UK
Formal
Policy – IT
Dept. Led
Informal
Policy

20. Verifying Job Candidates’ Credentials
13%
21%
32%
34%
19%
34%
31%
16%
We typically do not verify IT certifications
During the interview, you ask questions about
the IT certification in an attempt to verify
HR department verifies by checking with
certifying company or body
You or someone on your staff verifies by
checking with certifying company or body
UK
US
Incidence of verifying IT certifications during hiring process

21. On the Job

22. Professional Development
Overall
South
Africa
UK US
Attending training seminars focused
on specific topics
64% 77% 63% 62%
Attending industry conferences 56% 53% 59% 56%
On-site training conducted by
internal staff
54% 65% 55% 51%
Online self-directed training or
education
50% 42% 50% 52%
Pursuing IT certifications 50% 57% 46% 50%
On-site training conducted by an
outside training firm or consultant
47% 58% 49% 43%
Webinars from product vendors,
training firms, consultants, etc.
45% 32% 40% 51%
Regular sharing of news stories and
other topical information
45% 46% 46% 45%

23. Perceptions of IT Certifications
3.4
3.4
3.4
3.7
2.8
2.9
2.9
3.4
"IT Certified individuals are more
likely to be promoted than those
without IT certifications"
"IT Certified individuals tend to
perform better than non certified
individuals in similar it job roles"
"IT Certifications enable IT
employees to learn faster once
starting a job"
"IT Certifications provide a
baseline of knowledge for certain
positions"
UK
US
Top Cited Benefits of IT
Certifications (UK Firms)
#1 Better able to understand
new or complex
technologies
#2 More productive IT
workforce
#3 More insightful problem
solving
#4 Facilitates pride among
staff to have accomplished
the goal of passing a
certification exam
Average rating on a 5-point scale

24. Organization Support for IT Certifications
15%
31%
38%
42%
45%
52%
14%
32%
46%
47%
49%
52%
No support provided
Offer paid time-off for studying/training
Offer paid time-off for taking the exam
Provide training at work
Pay for all training expenses
Pay for all certification expenses
UK
US
42% of UK firms have
a formal policy for
giving monetary
rewards for acquiring
IT certifications.

25. On the Job Case Study:
Information Security

26. Information Security Landscape
Brazil China France India
South
Africa
UK US
Human error among end users 132 168 86 127 127 82 68
Human error among IT staff 116 200 88 124 100 92 64
Increasing sophistication
of security threats
104 93 96 117 109 100 107
Understanding security risks of
cloud computing
102 142 72 107 102 114 98
Enforcing security policy 122 147 89 153 114 92 78
81% UK
67% US
62% France
48% Germany
82% India
76% South Africa
69% Brazil
69% China
68% Mexico
Security Threat Level on the Rise

27. Cause of Security Breaches
41%
44%
45%
46%
48%
47%
44%
59%
56%
55%
54%
52%
53%
56%
US
UK
France
Germany
India
China
Overall
Human
Error
Technology
Error

28. Types of Human Error
38%
31%
57%
58%
43%
38%
30%
18%
37%
36%
21%
49%
21%
34%
35%
36%
39%
43%
Inadequate resources
Failure of security policy
Lack of security expertise
Lack of security training
Failure of IT staff to follow security
procedures
Failure of end users to follow security
procedures
UK
India
US

29. Incidence of Security Training
36%
37%
42%
40%
47%
48%
56%
58%
US
UK
Germany
France
IT staff training
End user training
Required information security training within past 2 years

30. Reasons for Improving Security
Landscape
25%
28%
31%
38%
42%
50%
More executive mgt. support for security
best practices
Improved ability to enforce security
policies
Improved ability of end users to avoid
security threats
Improved security policies
Improved IT staff expertise
Improved technology to protect against
security threats

31. Security Spend “Wish List”
26%
29%
32%
35%
48%
51%
51%
56%
62%
Security consultants
IT staff certification
Penetration testing
Computers/OS less vulnerable to threats
Security hardware
End user training
Security policies and procedures
IT staff training
Security software

32. Security Spend “Wish List” Continued
Brazil China France India
South
Africa
UK US
Security software 89 87 74 121 110 108 110
IT staff training 96 64 102 121 129 95 111
End user training 122 94 98 135 96 75 104
Security policies and procedures 108 94 98 129 102 96 102
Security hardware 106 100 108 121 102 88 104
Computers/OS less vulnerable to
threats
106 66 100 160 126 74 86
Penetration testing 125 109 72 166 109 94 91
IT staff certification 152 62 90 159 138 59 69
Security consultants 154 115 108 188 92 65 54
Index of preferences | 100 = average

33. On the Job Case Study:
Cloud Computing

34. Cloud Training Requirements
35%
46%
44%
14%
19%
24%
Sales training
Business
training
Technical
training
DefinitelyProbably
62% of US IT firms say
emerging certifications
around cloud computing
definitely or probably
have merit.
Certifications have a
positive impact when
selling IT services to
customers (48% of US IT
firms).
Opinions of US IT solution providers

35. But…

36. Challenges and Inhibitors to IT
Training and Certification
It’s Difficult
- Time
- Resources
- Effort
- Commitment
- How much training
- Who should be trained
- Expertise in measuring ROI
- Metrics for assessing ROI
- Isolating variables
- Proving a negative
Costs

37. 1. Learning reaction
2. Mastery of learning
3. Transfer of learning to the job
4. Organization results
5. Return on investment
Kirkpatrick's/Phillips Training
Evaluation Model
American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) and
the Institute for Corporate Productivity's (i4cp)

38. Wrap-up
- Hiring stakes high
- Want assurances
- Prerequisite
- Hiring changing
- Competition
- Insurance Policy
- Job satisfaction
- Competitive
advantage
- Career lifecycle
- Certification
without experience
- Proof
- Verification
- Inconsistencies
- Knowledge gaps
- Who/how much
- Measurement
- Expertise
- Resources
Pre Hire On the Job

39. Thank You
Tim Herbert
CompTIA
therbert@comptia.org