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Certiport Ups Certification Delivery Fifty Percent in 2002
American Fork-based Certiport (www.certiport.com) recently announced that it issued its 750,000th certification in July—a fifty percent increase over the half million mark reached at this time last year.
In an economic environment where growth and prosperity have eluded many high-tech firms, Certiport has quietly grown to employ 100 Utahns and become a leader in global, performance-based certification programs and services.
Founded in 1997, Certiport has garnered much of its success as the global administrator and provider of the Microsoft Office User Specialist program, which validates skill level in Microsoft Office software applications. Since assuming that role in 1998, Certiport has developed a channel of testing centers which deliver certification tests to individuals in over 100 countries and 18 languages.
Company CEO Randy Pierson credits this success to several key factors: "First, organizations recognize more than ever the value of certification as a measured validation of employee skills. Second, the pressure to justify corporate training expenditures points to certification testing. Third, academia is discovering that going with a global standard for testing reduces cost and complexity in administering programs to teach rapidly changing technology in the classroom."
In addition to developing and delivering Microsoft Office certification exams with its proprietary testing technology, Certiport launched a new digital literacy certification program late last year. The program targets academic and workforce development programs in need of a standard for measuring basic computer and Internet skill level. Certiport's Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) has become the first computer certification endorsed by the National Skill Standards Board (NSSB) in the U.S. and named by the global Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) as the "foundation" for advanced technical certifications.
Among other Utah schools using Certiport exams, Utah State University recently implemented the IC3 program as the final exam in at least one computer course. The IC3 program is also currently under review by the State Board of Education.
"It is gratifying to advance and measure user-oriented training standards in corporate and academic training environments," said Dr. Robert Hunt, Certiport's director of exam development. "The explosive use of technology in the workplace and the classroom drives the need to ensure that employees and students are able to competently use the technology to advance their individual and collective goals."
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