[consulting] Drupal Certification

[Laura]

On Aug 7, 2009, at Fri 8/7/09 9:09am, Greg Knaddison wrote:

> On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 8:29 AM, Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg<Alex at zivtech.com 
> > wrote:
>> But still, what about a Drupal Developers/Shops Guild?
>
> 3-4 years ago folks started down this path.  It died fairly quickly.
> I don't think it would actually be helpful at solving the problems it
> sets out to solve, though maybe the market is different enough now in
> some way that it would be helpful.

I'm fairly skeptical of this, for a number of reasons:

1 - It's a way of making money off of developers, instead of helping  
clients.
2 - It injects politics.
3 - It creates barriers to entry, especially for those who are  
bootstrapping their way into a profession. #2 again.
4 - There's no real way to enforce it internationally. #2 again.
5 - It risks running into antitrust laws. #2 again.
6 - It ultimately carries little meaning in relation to capability,  
credibility, integrity, reliability - the things that matter. #2 again.
7 - Who controls it? #2 again.

> I'll maintain my previous stance: the best "certification program" we
> have is the drupal.org user profile.

I agree. Open Source already opens up information that is usually  
hidden, information that certifications, club membership, etc. are  
ostensibly intended to reveal indirectly.

I do see a value, however, if someone were to offer affordable  
training programs, especially since Drupal is generally not taught in  
schools.

Laura