Re: SAGE, certification, and you

[Ron Hall <thorn@cc.mcgill.ca>]

I've been lurking far too long...time to step in to it...

This is in response to M. Pomeranz's reply to Ms. Wilson and the board.

What follows is one SAs' opinion, but the disclaimer below says it all :)

Certification is indeed a wonderful ideal to shot for. It is an idea and
an ideal to strive for. Unfortunately within the vacuum of Sage-space
(whatever that is probably about 4000-6000 active paying members) we do not
come close to representing the needs/wants/desires/goals etc. of all
global SAs. Within our own treehouse we can set levels and award 
certificates, but who will recognise them?

Certification is a process. Processes are built on solid, global,
accountable structures. Somebody has to ratify these processes and that
somebody is usually not 1 or 2 body corporate, but a whole raft of
people. If you've how IETF meetings work (or not work), then you know
what I mean. One cannot have a certification process without some
level of accountability established from without. In this way fairness
is designed into the process. Even if SAGE spearheaded a drive for
certification, who would pick it up and give it the global spin it needs?
I don't know and I'm fairly sure the board doesn't really know.

All-in-all the question is moot. The original mandate of educationg SAs
to be the best SAs they can be and giving credence to SA as a profession
is still a good one. We can do more for the cause by publishing top-notch
works, giving top-notch conferences and seminars, making things relevant
in today's ever growing heterogeneity. This we can do, this we have done
and this we can continue to do.

I personally do not want to see cookie-cutter SAs out there diluting the
marketplace, armed with only book-learning and test scores. This frightens
me somewhat, in that a junior-level SA sans benefit of any real hands-on
(and relaistically in the certification process how much hands-on are
 they going to get?) experience - sally forth, armed with root passwords,
 upon unsuspecting network of users/machines/services. This is one of
my worst nightmares!! 

The reality of the job of SA is that is is very much like a guild. Yes
book-learning helps, but oral traditions and hands-on experience will
teach one more, twice as fast, than remembering something one once saw in
a book.

Being an SA is not really a profession, but a suite of life skills and
experience. In over a decade of doing this I've been plumber, electrician,
technician, wizard, guru, miracle-worker, accountant, designer, programmer,
instructor, father confessor, rabbi, social worker and a raft of other
skills that I could never get in a book or even get certified for. I suspect
that this is not uncommon among most of you. It's what makes the work 
exciting, right? :)

So what is the point of this ramble? Certification, while a useful goal
should not be the raison d'etre of SAGE. We do so many things right and
well. There is a wealth of creative,knowledgeable people out there who
can make things better for all of us. The point is we need to identify
and funnel this knowledge into the materials/events/happenings that
will improve things for SAs everywhere.

Just my POV.






Ron Hall  Unix System Analyst    <thorn@cc.mcgill.ca>    +1 514 398 3718

DISCLAIMER: I said it. I must've meant it. There is nobody else to blame.
DEFINITION: Clown:n: A man who acts too natural.
"Redundancy is the millstone of society.Redundancy is the millstone of society."