[consulting] Drupal Certification

[Sami Khan]

Domenic,

The customers must get these ideas from somewhere. So if there is ever a
demand in the market for such certification, it must be created somehow.
As it stands right now, it does not exist as customers are far from
aware of any such options and there is no supply of such developers. If
at any time customers demand such "certification" then a market will be
created to provide such certification. Players will pop up to supply
that demand. Creating that demand from the perspective of existing
players would be stupid unless they would personally gain something from
it. I have never seen the value in anything but experience other than
the most remedial work. So if you want to make a brochure site, a
certification might help, but in the real world there are many other
important things that play in to the process of providing a solution to
your client's problems that only experience buys.

If Drupal becomes too bureaucratic or there is any attempt to abuse the
positions of any actors in the community Drupal could easily fork over
to a differently named product like Joomla did with Mambo. Ultimately,
we live in a utilitarian/capitalist society where everyone should act in
their best interest and socialism is no more than creating barriers to
entry for the workforce. If it's a good idea for corporations, I don't
see why it's a bad idea for individuals as they are both legally
people. 

A union offering such a certification program would be a much more
effective and useful tool for developers than any private company doing
it for profit, or even a non-profit attempting to do it. In return you
pay union dues. It creates market inefficiency that protects your job
and protects you from your employers and or clients. Ultimately, all
developers should be concerned with is contributing to their clients and
getting paid fairly for their work, whatever else happens is not our
business as we are not in the business or doing anything but providing
for ourselves.

Regards,
Sami


On Fri, 2009-08-07 at 13:46 -0700, Domenic Santangelo wrote:
> Cary Gordon wrote:
> > Well then, go for it. Do not, however, expect the Drupal Association 
> > to endorse or franchise it. I think that there is little enthusiasm 
> > for becoming involved in this among either the General Assembly or the 
> > Board.
> An interesting response on many levels.
> 
> Much of this thread's replies have come from the perspective of what 
> consultants or dev shops want/find valuable/need/prefer, or what the 
> Drupal Association's stance is. The point I was trying to make in my 
> last message was that if we allow it, it's entirely possible that 
> perspective will become largely irrelevant in the foreseeable future. 
> Because at the end of the day, clients pay our bills and if they decide 
> they want certification, that's what we'll have to get. We have the 
> choice right now to preemptively create and shape it to try and prevent 
> it from becoming the Drupal equivalent of the MCSE.
> 
> This avoidance of the worst-case assumes the worst case, and is of 
> course not the only possible outcome. It may be that the DA changes its 
> stance in the years to come and originates the program, or Aquia or 
> Lullabot or some other shop does it, and everything's cool. Or it may be 
> that it never becomes a client need and the whole discussion is a moot 
> point. I readily concede all of this.
> 
> The reason I even give it any thought is because historically, 
> certifications become important, especially to large 
> clients/corporations, as technologies mature. I should reiterate that 
> there are many good points in this thread that I agree with 100% -- D.O 
> contribs, references, portfolios, and just /meeting/ with the client 
> should be more than enough to qualify a consultant, for example. Agreed 
> fully; but ask yourself: what happens when these /aren't/ enough?
> 
> -D
> [Disclaimer: these are my personal views and not representative of my 
> employer's.]
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