[Asterisk-Users] asterisk certification - thread hijack

[trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com]

On Mon, 2005-10-10 at 14:16 +0800, Craig Guy wrote:
> The practical part of the exam showed a distinct USA bias - It was in terms 
> of T1's and analog zap extensions.  I am from Australia, and the exam was in 

That is ok, most of this list seems to be the same way regarding the
US/North American Bias :P

I do agree that there should be regionalized tests, for pstn parts,
which leaves (aparently) the bulk of the test standardized for the rest
of the world, given that the VoIP parts, cli, etc are all going to be
the same from that point on.

I see certification a good thing for digium, perhaps more than for those
that get certified.  If a bunch of people are certified then it shows
'market acceptance' further if digium takes care of those that get
certified then they are far more likely to recommend digium products,
whether that is asterisk business edition (presumably because the gpl
version isnt suitable for that customer) or digium hardware.  If digium
turns its back on people that get certified then they may decide to go
with a different provider for hardware and such.

The testing I am sure is fairly new, and recommendations like that could
go a long way, of course you have to end up with competent people to
actually write the test and ensure that its accurate and meaningful.
This may be the larger part of the problem, but certainly not one that
is that hard to overcome.

I think some certified logo would be a nice thing, to help promote both
asterisk as well as certify that people are indeed certified, although
it would require some backing by digium to make that hpapen (unless a
testing system is done 3rd party).  That way people can verify that the
individual really is certified. 

I think a 'find a certified asterisk expert' tie in would be a good
thing for potential customers or whatever, they goto digiums site, see a
listing of all the certified people, and have a url and/or email contact
info so they can pick someone, however from digiums perspcetive that
would create a potential liability issue in some parts of the world
where sueing if anything doesnt work 100% the way they hoped, saying
digium 'recommended' the vendor who caused them problems.  So a big
legal disclaimer is required which can put a bad impression to those
reading that page.  Its a quagmire.

You brought up some good points with all of that, points that digium can
potentially address in the future, and I recommend anyone else that
feels the way you do to email digium directly, offlist, with their
concerns regarding the certification process, mnaybe that would cause
the fastest change.


-- 
Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com     Bret McDanel
UK +44 870 340 4605   Germany +49 801 777 555 3402
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