Vendor accreditations most popular in Asia
While certification is not necessarily a measure of an IT professional's competence, it is still a yardstick that helps employers differentiate qualified IT workers from those who are not.
And vendor-based certifications are still the most sought-after accreditation, although vendor-neutral certifications are gaining acceptance amongst IT workers. This was among the key findings in ZDNet Asia's IT Salary Benchmark 2006 Survey which polled IT professionals in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Professional certifications from vendors--including Cisco, Microsoft, Sun, IBM, HP, SAP, Lotus, Oracle, and Computer Associates--dominated the list of top 20 professional certifications across the region.
| Professional Certification--All Countries | % of Respondents with at least 1 Certification |
| 1. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) | 19.9 |
| 2. Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) | 19.8 |
| 3. Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) | 13.6 |
| 4. Project Management (PMP) | 10.7 |
| 5. Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 | 9.3 |
| 6. IBM certification | 8.6 |
| 7. Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA) | 7.9 |
| 8. HP certification | 5.3 |
| 9. Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) | 5.1 |
| 10. Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) | 5.0 |
| Network + | 5.0 |
Cisco's Certified Network Associate (CCNA) topped the list, which was mentioned by 19.9 percent of respondents with at least one certification. Trailing closely was Microsoft's Certified Professional (MCP), which garnered 19.8 percent of respondents, followed by the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) at 13.6 percent.
Vendor-neutral Project Management (PMP) made it to the top five certifications in the region, at fourth place, and was mentioned by 10.7 percent of respondents. Other non-vendor certifications frequently mentioned in the survey included Network+ and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Meanwhile, in fifth position was Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2, at 9.3 percent.
Country rules
Microsoft and Cisco certifications dominated the list of most frequently mentioned certifications in most of the seven countries surveyed. Certifications from Sun, IBM, Computer Associates, HP, and Dell were mentioned in specific markets, as were vendor-neutral certifications such as CISSP, Network+, and PMP.
Across the seven countries surveyed, slightly less than 40 percent of respondents held at least one professional certification. Hong Kong and Singapore emerged as the top two countries with the highest proportions of certified professionals, at 46.6 percent and 43.6 percent, respectively.
In third place was Malaysia at 39.8 percent, followed by India (39 percent), Thailand (36.2 percent) and Indonesia (34 percent). Philippines had the lowest percentage of respondents with at least one certification, at 26.2 percent.
"An increasing number of employers [in Asia are] viewing vendor-based certification as [an] important employment criteria," said Sandy Walsh, regional manager of Cisco Networking Academy Program and Corporate Responsibility for Asia Pacific, in an e-mail interview with ZDNet Asia.
This is because "vendor-certification ensures that staff have the latest skills related to specific technology that company has invested in", she added.
"Internationally-recognized programs such as the Cisco Networking Academy Program empowers individuals with a global passport to enter the Internet economy through IT and networking curriculum mapped to industry-recognized certifications," said Walsh.
For instance, she said, the Cisco Networking Academy Program builds skills in wireless mobility, network security and IP telephony, and provides "hands-on experience to prepare students for real-world jobs". In addition, the Networking Academy Program maps to Cisco and other Industry certifications which are internationally recognized.
Walsh added that in a previous survey of former Academy students who had completed at least one Academy course, 67 percent said their participation in the Networking Academy Program helped them gain at least one job position, while 20 percent said they received a better job status.
However, she said that in addition to paper qualifications, the ability to apply technical knowledge to business applications and soft skills are also necessary to succeed.
Hot skills in Asia
IT professionals well-versed in specific networking skills that support business functions look set to be in high demand in Asia.
Walsh said: "In the Asia-Pacific region, there is a shortage of people with required networking skills to support business functions, [and] in particularly, an acute shortage of advanced network technology skills in wireless, VoIP, and security."
She said that the demand for these skills is driven by the "rapid adoption of advanced network technologies" in the region. The Asia-Pacific region, she added, lacked 113,000 people with advanced network technology skills in 2006--a number that is expected to grow to 221,000 in 2009.
"Networking skills across several technology areas is also becoming a critical requirement for highly integrated datacenter environments," Walsh said. "[This is because] networking is seen as foundation to support critical datacenter function including applications, transactions, storage, security and access control."
According to Walsh, more than 65 percent of respondents in the IDC competency study consider datacenter and cross-technology skills gaining importance, as IT professionals now spend 70 percent of their time on tasks that involve the network.
In addition, Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) has revealed that the IT industry is also facing a shortage of professionals well-versed in RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, which could hinder the adoption of the technology. Fewer than 1,000 qualified IT workers available worldwide understand and know enough to deploy and service RFID technology.