I believe, like most I have read, that Government regulation would be nothing more then a strangle hold on the industry and would end up causing the loss of businesses in practice and a raise in rates to the point of making computers cheaper to replace then to get serviced for repair. I also believe that having some form of certification system that is based mainly on a companies time in the industry or level of professional certifications would make it almost impossible for new companies to be formed or new IT professionals to enter into the industry. And lets admit it, the young guys are the ones with the energy to keep this industry running 10-20 years down the road, if they have to needlessly struggle too much at the beginning they might just decide to use their muscles in the labour force instead of put that brain power to use where it could be used better.

There is a fourth suggestion for a form of regulation that is neither Government involved nor overly taxing on new start ups however. Has anyone seen the recent ads for trusted SuperGuarantee (http://superguarantee.com/) businesses mentioned by yellow pages group? Basically what the guarantee is that all businesses that are under the consumer guarantee have been checked over and are legitimate in business practice, abilities, honesty and legitimacy. Now this does not prevent any other company from starting up that is not a part of the Consumer Guarantee group but it does provide that little bit of assurance to a consumer that if the business you are dealing with is part of the Consumer Guarantee group, you are promised that they have been checked out and will treat you right.

Now apply that to the IT industry. What if there was an association of guaranteed computer service providers world wide (lets call them CSP Companies to make this easier) that the only difference between them and the average company was the simple fact they had been checked over and certified to be honest and knowledgeable in the sector of IT they are focused on. Not only would they do all that was possible to fix an issue correctly but they would do so with as little headache as possible to a customer because if they did not they would be booted out of the guaranteed group.

Now you ask what benefit would there be to be a CSP since they can still do business as usual on their own? Well if there was an incentive from a business standpoint in gaining customers that is one thing but think of it this way as well. Say for instance there are 500 CSP companies in North America and every one of them has their own overhead for printing invoices, business cards, flyers etc… along with purchasing of parts for repairs or purchasing of computers from Dell, HP, Acer etc. Now say they all joined up together and went to a printing company and said we all need 250 business cards a month each, if we all do business with you what benefit would you give us? I would imagine the cost of printing those business cards would work our alot less then if only one of those 500 companies went to the same printing studio and had the same request. The benefit may not be substantial to the company if it was just one product like business cards but put in parts, insurance, invoices etc, it all adds up.

As for certifying a company or individual to say they are trustworthy and can troubleshoot their way out of a bag, well that is something that would have to be worked out, however speaking as a business owner with 10 years of IT experience but no certifications other then by College Diploma, I can say that restricting criteria down to a point that it is based on your certifications only is very “paperbound”. I may not be certified but it does not mean I do not know my stuff. As mentioned by others there are many out there that are certified up the yin yang but cannot remember how to so something as simple as look up a files permissions in DOS.

So now that I have rambled on for ages and managed to type more then I should I will end my tirade and wait for the hate mail and arguments to poor in about my opinions. Fire away, but I hope there are some that what I have said makes some sense with.

Look at banks. They are regulated to all heck, and well, we know how well THEY are doing right now, don’t we?

Basically this is a divide between the haves and the have nots. No one is suggesting that certification and regulation will eliminate bad technicians. The goal is to reduce the amount of bad technicians. The reason why we do not wish to be regulated is very simple. Many of us don’t feel that the IT profession is a serious one. Accountants, Plumbers, Electricians, Hairstylist all have regulating bodies. These bodies exist to protect the public and have the secondary effect of elevanting the profession. Nobody takes IT seriously.

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You’re making an awful lot of claims with very little to back it here.

It’s not a question of haves and have nots. I bounced this off of our local IT consultants group, and they were in agreement with me that certifications and regulation of the industry (by clueless legislative bodies) would create more negative unintended consequences than any benefit to be gained. (BTW: All of us in this group have certifications and degrees in spades. So here’s one bunch of “haves” that don’t agree with you.)

Furthermore, I don’t see where you get off saying we don’t see our profession as a ’serious’ one. We’re quite serious about our profession where I’m from. Maybe we just don’t get as pompous and self-righteous about it as some do.

I also don’t think you will find widespread agreement among people ‘in the profession,’ nor among their clients that “the system is broken.” Broken how? Just because “a friend” views the IT industry negatively, he only conclusion that can be made is that everybody is in agreement with him?

If anything is broken in this country, it’s the regulation mechanisms themselves. Banks, investment companies, mortgage providers,mutual and hedge funds are all heavily regulated. So are realtors and real estate brokers. As are doctors, And teachers. And a host of other professions.

Pick up the paper each day and take a look at who’s being hauled into court for unprecedented violations of laws and regulations. How many IT consultants do you see listed among all those attorneys, brokers, fund managers, doctors, teachers, clergy and other so-called professionals?

To your statement:Gentleman the system is broken. I can only reply: Sir, it is the regulatory system that is broken. And your arguments are flawed.

Ed, I’ve been using PCs before Windows existed, and I’ve never needed to call Microsoft for anything — ever.

I just found out from my daughter who graduated recently that (at least here) they (the colleges) are including (for free) IT certifications right along with the 4 year degree. Soon enough the MCSE and many other certs will be even more worthless because everyone who graduates college will have one.

…but there is only one way to get experience.

Gentleman the system is broken. Why not take that some idea to the doctor or clinic you go to. Let the buyer beware. What a horrible idea. This doesn’t mean that bad doctors or nurses don’t get into practice but I know that it definitely makes it difficult for bad ones to enter.

Microsoft had done studies that they show that certified professions make less calls to the company for support related issues. They are able to support the network better. Certification raises the bar for everyone. Without it anybody can, and will, call themselves a technician.

Thanks for the support.

One thing is for sure, we certainly “aren’t too big to fail” and getting billions upon billions of dollars in bailout money – and then issuing bonuses and going on vacation ala AIG.

100 years ago 90% of the people owned their own businesses and now 90% work for someone else who does. I don’t know about anyone else on this board, but I see a real problem with that.

To extend my train of though even further – and beyond the scope of just business and into personal life, I don’t see as many people taking personal responsibility for themselves. They expect someone to bail them out.

We legislate away our freedoms on a daily basis, and now with the government buying up debt and gaining more control over financial entities such as banks, we are on a slippery slope to Socialism. Anyway, I will end my off-topic (sort of off-topic) rant.

NOW is the time for us to excel and propser because we can survive and at least START to thrive when all of the big businesses like G**k S*uad are struggling. B*st B*y’s retail has dropped off 74%. I have been liad off 2x in the last 7 months and am now ramping up my part-time business into full-on frontal assault mode.

Who is with me?

Just my 2 cents.

Often, it’s not about protecting the consumer, it’s about another source of revenue and new levels of bureaucracy.

I have a growing business BECAUSE my customers are happy and send me referrals, not because I scam them. BTW, I know several “certified idiots” who look great on paper, but couldn’t keep a job more than 3 days in the real world.

I don’t have the answer to this problem, but generally speaking, government isn’t it.

Like the old saying… “We’re from the IRS. We’ve come to help you.” Uh-huh. Right.

If politicians do forget and do compare us to plumbers, than I am going to route the sewage into their office. Of course that may not work since a lot of sewage already originates from there anyway.