Certification supports digital transformation which drives industry growth

Prior to the global pandemic, The Open Group had, through its partnership with Pearson VUE, the capability to deliver certification exams remotely, but this channel was not widely used.

2020 saw a faster adoption of technology by enterprises and consumers than ever before, with behaviors and processes shifting as the pandemic’s impact was felt across all types of industry. While many organizations were already prioritizing digital transformation before COVID-19, others needed to accelerate their digital transformation efforts to keep pace.

Evolutions backed by information technology included the increase in remote/hybrid working, shifts in supply chain patterns, and the rapid rollout of vaccines. The backbone to all of this was highly skilled professionals striving to discover ever more efficient solutions to drive digital transformation forward.

For example, so that employees could access the resources they needed to work effectively from home during the pandemic, many enterprises needed to scale up cloud-based platforms by using developers with understanding of such technologies. The Open Group recognized the critical importance of continuing to deliver certifications that supported the acceleration of digital transformation.

The solution

With Pearson VUE’s online proctoring solution, The Open Group was able to scale up its delivery of remote exams to meet its digital transformation certification targets. Pearson VUE added additional capacity to its client's delivery model so that more candidates could access test appointments.

“Working with Pearson VUE as our trusted partner, we were able to react very quickly and expand our testing availability to include remote delivery, allowing candidates to take their exams from home,” explains Andrew Josey, VP, Standards & Certification at The Open Group.

“Offering our members convenience, flexibility, and access has always been integral to the credibility of our consortium on the global stage. Pearson VUE’s agility and in-house expertise helped us successfully navigate through COVID-19 and improve our certification delivery model. Prior to the pandemic, we had the capability, but generally it was not widely used. Now it has become our main exam delivery channel.”

The gap between future supply and demand for technology talent has prompted a shift in priorities for many organizations since the start of the global pandemic. Pearson VUE’s ‘2021 Value of IT Certification Employer Report’ explored certification from three principal areas: investment in upskilling, the impact on talent acquisition, and the Return on Investment (ROI) for organizations.

Key findings included:

• 69% of IT managers feel that certification significantly increases productivity/the employee’s overall contribution
• 66% of IT managers say employees with IT certifications produce higher quality work
• 63% of organizations surveyed cover all IT staff training and credentialing costs
• 60% of IT managers stated that job applications with IT certifications are significantly more likely to be reviewed

Results

As a result of new waves of digital transformation, The Open Group continues to see strong demand for Enterprise Architects, with its TOGAF^® Standard certification and other Enterprise Architecture certification programs growing in popularity. The TOGAF^® Standard, an open Enterprise Architecture standard used by the world’s leading organizations to improve business efficiencies, will be integral to the future growth of many industries. This credential regularly features high up in the ‘IT Skills & Certification Pay Index’ and this is backed by Pearson VUE’s own ‘Value of IT Certification’ research which found that 28% of all certifications earned by candidates in 2020 were in cloud computing – representing a 164% increase*.

Over the last two years, Pearson VUE has delivered around 14,000 tests a year for The Open Group. The Open Group TOGAF^® Standard certification program has so far enabled more than 100,000 Enterprise Architects and trainers around the globe to demonstrate their proven knowledge of this key framework. With benefits of taking exams remotely, including saving time as well as money on travel, this number is only set to further increase. As early adopters of Pearson VUE’s online proctoring solution, it has been a truly collaborative partnership. The Open Group has informed improvements to its test provider’s service, such as fine-tuning candidate messaging, to ensure test-takers get the best possible user experience.

Another success has been working with Credly (acquired by Pearson in January 2022), as well as integrating Open Badges, the digitally verifiable credentials, into The Open Group’s certification programs.

“It’s exciting to anticipate what the next waves of change will be across the global technology landscape. By identifying skills needs, providing learning tools to address those needs, and offering trusted credentialing to prove proficiency, we’ll be offering our clients, such as The Open Group, the full benefits of our group’s portfolio,” explained Matthew Poyiadgi, VP of EMEA, Pearson VUE.

Next Steps

The Open Group will be launching a new edition of its TOGAF^® Standard later this year, and with that expanding its TOGAF^® Standard certification program to include several new learning paths for individuals seeking to further develop their Enterprise Architecture skills. Pearson VUE will continue to facilitate the verification of much-needed skills, developing innovative testing technologies to match pace with the rapidly changing needs of the global IT industry.

Learn More

pearsonvue.com/theopengroup

* (compared to Pearson VUE’s previous ‘‘Value of IT Certification’’ survey).