5/16/2001 -- This month marked the launch of a new association for the IT certification industry: The Field Certified Professional Association.

"Certification has lost its credibility due to brainndumps. We see the problem, and have come up with a way to do something about it," said Dr. Amir Elahi, chairman of the non-profit organization.

The goal of the FCPA is to promote hands-on testing within the IT certification industry. According to Elahi, the organization will forward this goal in several ways -- from helping vendors develop their own practical exams, to setting up exams for vendors and even creating some hands-on exams of the FCPA's own creation. The organization's Steering Committee is made up of managers of several leading performance-based certifications programs, including Cisco, Novell and Red Hat.

In an interview earlier this month with CertCities, Elahi said that one of the organization's first hands-on labs will be a Microsoft NT practical exam, to launch during the fall of this year. While details have yet to be finalized, Elahi said that the hands-on lab exam will probably be around eight hours in length, and cost somewhere between $600 to $1,000. It will test not only troubleshooting tasks but also the day-to-day skills of NT admins. The organization plans to set up a network of 20 labs within the U.S. to proctor this and other FCPA exams.

As of this writing, Microsoft has not endorsed the NT exam, and would not comment specifically on the FCPA's plans. However, Microsoft did provide CertCities with a general statement that reads in part: "We believe the MCSE certification fills a critical need for most IT firms and departments that continually evaluate and deploy new technology; however, the MCSE credential may not necessarily be appropriate for all individuals and their employers."

For more information on the FCPA, visit the organization's Web site at http://www.fieldcertification.org. -B.N.