[pjmorris]

Tom Demarco (one of the authors of Peopleware [0]) argues that certification is primarily about the political agenda of the certifier/de-certifier, for example in a letter to the editor [1] of the Cutter IT Journal, the end of which I've clipped:

" Before ending, I offer the following example of how certification/de-certification will work: I hereby de-certify Prins Ralston, Nancy Mead, Patricia Douglas and Ed Yourdon. They will forever after have to write their names with the letters RTSF (Relegated To Slinging Fries) after them. This demonstration shows us two things about the process: 1) those who do the certification are always effectively self-appointed, and 2) the basis for de-certification, no matter what the societal rationale, always works out to be the private agenda of the de-certifier. James Bach and Luke Hohmann came out against certification in their article, arguing along the same lines I have used above. But I am going to de-certify them as well. This shows a third fundamental fact about certification: 3) it is inherently capricious, subject to all kinds of mischief. I vote that we let poor old Citicorp and poor old Aetna and poor old Microsoft figure out for themselves who they should hire. I suggest that we have a perfectly fine selection mechanism at work today; it's called the market. Some people get hired as software developers and some people don't. It is a lot more competent than any appointed elite would be and a lot more ethical."

[0] 'Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams', Tom Demarco, Timothy Lister

[1] http://www.systemsguild.com/certification.htm