In December, the Computing Technology Industry Association decided
lifetime A+, Network+ and Security+ certifications were going to retroactively
require renewal every three years. The response from the
IT community was particularly thorny, and rightfully so. Why the changes?
According to Ars Technica, CompTIA was getting its accreditation process
evaluated by several larger accreditation organizations, including ISO
(International Organization for Standardization) and ANSI
(American National Standards Institute), which were helping evolve
requirements.
It's not uncommon for many certifications to require renewal, but you certainly
affect a lot of people when you ask them to pay to continue something they were
told would last as long as they did. Lifetime is lifetime, people said. Many
comments about CompTIA were negative, though the organization has taken down
its original post that received a harsh response. Here's one reaction (from Phillyman's Blog):
"According to Wikipedia, over
800,000 people are A+ certified! So you just expect 800,000 people to hand over
$220 every 3 years??? Before you pulled this little stunt of yours, I had
planned on getting the following certifications... Network+ ($220), Linux+
($220), Security+ ($240). Do you know how many CompTIA certifications I plan on
getting now? ZERO!!!!!"
CompTIA appears to have been listening to the uproar and has changed its tune
for certifications earned in 2010 or earlier, but after this year, these
lifetime certifications will need to be renewed every three years. Here
are the latest details from Ars Technica, which
led the reporting on the controversy:
"Holders [from 2011 and beyond] who
wish to maintain their certification will then have to pay an annual fee to
CompTIA of $25 or $49 and will need to rack up sufficient continuing education
credits to renew their certs.
The initial decision to retroactively invalidate certifications generated
considerable anger among cert holders, which we described in today's story on
the fiasco. An hour after our original report went live, CompTIA contacted us
with news about the change.
CompTIA president Todd Thibodeaux, announcing the policy change, said, "We
do not wish to disenfranchise any of the individuals who have supported our
certification program. The right thing to do is honor our past commitment to
those certified under our original 'certified for life' policy."
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