| I recently met one of my best friends, who are | | | | and Routers. Certifications under the category |
| working as a Director for training in an Information | | | | "Hardware, Networks & Operating Systems" |
| Technology (IT) organization in the US who came to | | | | would help you to become a successful networking |
| India for vacation. During our meeting, we had an | | | | professional. The CompTIA Network+ certification |
| interesting discussion about the certifications available | | | | would help you to acquire knowledge in managing, |
| for IT professionals. As you may know, thousands of | | | | maintaining, troubleshooting, operating and configuring |
| certifications are available in the market place and it is | | | | basic network infrastructure. This is a good certification |
| very difficult to find out the most important | | | | if you want to become a Networking professional. |
| certifications for a candidate who works in an IT | | | | Likewise, Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) |
| organization. He suggested me the list of best | | | | certification helps IT professionals to acquire |
| certifications that I mentioned below for IT | | | | knowledge to configure networking services and |
| professionals and highlighted who can go for the PMP | | | | security on servers running a Red Hat OS. |
| certification: | | | | Oracle Database administrator and Sun certified Java |
| Project Management Certifications (CAPM, PMP and | | | | Developer certifications would help you to improve |
| PgMP) | | | | your programming knowledge in a particular area and |
| Microsoft IT Professional certifications (MCAD, | | | | to become an expert in database management. |
| MCDST, MCITP, MCPD, MCSA and MCTS) | | | | CompTIA Security certification would help you to |
| Cisco certifications (CCDA, CCDP, CCENT, CCIP, | | | | become an expert in system security, network |
| CCNA, CCNP, CCSP and CCVP) | | | | infrastructure, cryptography, assessments and audits. |
| Hardware, Networks & Operating Systems (CIW, | | | | The ITIL certification is getting popularity now. It helps |
| CompTIA, LPI, RHCE, RHCT, SCSECA and SCSA) | | | | you to learn more about the best practices for IT |
| Programming & Web development (Oracle | | | | service management. Certified Business Analysts |
| Database Admin, SCJD, SCJA, SCJP and SCWCD) | | | | Professional helps you to improve your business |
| IT security Certifications (CISSP, CompTIA Security | | | | analysis knowledge. |
| and MCSA) | | | | Now let us go back to our question. Is PMP best for |
| IT Management Certifications (CBAP and ITIL) | | | | you? The answer is it depends. It depends on where |
| Project Management certifications help you to | | | | you want to go in your career. If you want to get into |
| successfully manage your projects. Microsoft | | | | the networking field, you can go for CISCO and Comp |
| certifications help you to acquire knowledge required to | | | | TA Network certifications. If you want to become an |
| perform a particular job role well. Let us say, for | | | | expert in a particular area, you can choose the right |
| example if you take Microsoft Certified Professional | | | | certification from the list. But if you want to get into |
| Developer (MCPD) certification, this would help you to | | | | managerial roles, I would suggest you to go for project |
| acquire knowledge required to build, deploy, optimize, | | | | management certifications. It would help you to acquire |
| and operate applications successfully by using | | | | knowledge and skills required to perform your |
| Microsoft Visual Studio and the Microsoft .NET | | | | managerial job. Its reputation and popularity increased |
| Framework. Several certifications available similar to | | | | dramatically. Companies have started seeking PMP |
| that I mentioned here from Microsoft for you to | | | | certified Project Managers to fill in managerial jobs. |
| improve your technical knowledge in a particular area. | | | | Companies have started paying higher salaries for |
| Cisco certifications would help you to acquire | | | | PMP certified Project Managers. So my answer to the |
| knowledge required to plan, operate and troubleshoot | | | | question is, it really boils down to your career |
| complex network infrastructures including but not | | | | preference. |
| limited to LAN, WAN, Protocol, Switches, Gateway | | | | |