MCP is required

Are there policies out there that require a certain # of MCPs in the company?

I was quite disturbed last week when I heard that there are companies out there who are "buying" MCP #s just to fulfill the requirement, and you become simply a zombie employee.

What do you guys think?

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Kaminsky

So they can say they are a bronze/silber/gold cisco/microsoft partner. Company needs to have so many of a certain certification then so many of a higher certification, etc.

IE so many ccna's, ccnp's, ccie's working for them to reach a certain level of partnership.

I would think this is the reason.

sprkymrk

Kaminsky is correct. My company is a Gold Partner, but all our MCP's are legit and actually working for us.

garv221

Kaminsky wrote:

So they can say they are a bronze/silber/gold cisco/microsoft partner. Company needs to have so many of a certain certification then so many of a higher certification, etc.

IE so many ccna's, ccnp's, ccie's working for them to reach a certain level of partnership.

I would think this is the reason.

True- It then leads to discounts.

famosbrown

Correct...these partnerships leads to discounts, something else to brag about, and "special treatment."

Plantwiz

bighornsheep wrote:

Are there policies out there that require a certain # of MCPs in the company?

I was quite disturbed last week when I heard that there are companies out there who are "buying" MCP #s just to fulfill the requirement, and you become simply a zombie employee.

What do you guys think?

I wouldn't be surprised if there are companies that do this, but if you want to know what I 'think' about this....IT STINKS!!!

We've all earned ours and continue working on adding new electives each year. I'm not sure what you mean by 'zombie employee'....it shouldn't change the way a tech performs their job. If you have the skills....you likely have the MCP. If you don't, you probably cannot perform your job and wouldn't be a zombie....you'd be useless.

Turn those companies into MS. If you know about them, call up MS and get these guys off the charts.

bighornsheep

Plantwiz wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'zombie employee'....

they want to pay you a minimum wage just to have you down as an "employee", but you have a phony title and you do not have to come to work.

Plantwiz

bighornsheep wrote:

Plantwiz wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'zombie employee'....

they want to pay you a minimum wage just to have you down as an "employee", but you have a phony title and you do not have to come to work.

Thanks!

Good Grief!!!

Considering the 'new' minimum wage in the US that is as outrageous as it is...paying this 'fee' to fake someone on the payroll doesn't seem feasible. I suppose if company is shady, then they don't mind paying for their short-comings.

I still stand by if you know who they are, turn them in.

famosbrown

bighornsheep wrote:

Plantwiz wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'zombie employee'....

they want to pay you a minimum wage just to have you down as an "employee", but you have a phony title and you do not have to come to work.

I've never heard of this!! I wouldn't mind being paid minum wage for not doing anything. I would even come in once a month to check out their network if they are paying me 8 hours a day at minimum wage. Sounds like a good deal to ME

. Easy extra money just for having my certs!!

Kaminsky

One possible knock on effect of this "partneship" approach is that it may slowly start putting preassure on those techies that know their stuff and have been doing it for years but don't, for one reason or another, want to certify themselves in order that they also have a bit of paper saying they can do it.

I can't see partnership being very widespred but with ever increasing efforts to cut costs, companies wanting to save themselves some money on equipment costs may prefer to hire certification rather than experience. I can see that principal biting some of them in the backside.

garv221

bighornsheep wrote:

Plantwiz wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'zombie employee'....

they want to pay you a minimum wage just to have you down as an "employee", but you have a phony title and you do not have to come to work.

Where do I sign up? I would do this.

@ Plantwiz- Where do you see a problem with this? I think this is actually quit intelligent. The company obviously profits greatly from the discounts received by zombie employees

sprkymrk

garv221 wrote:

bighornsheep wrote:

Plantwiz wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'zombie employee'....

they want to pay you a minimum wage just to have you down as an "employee", but you have a phony title and you do not have to come to work.

Where do I sign up? I would do this.

@ Plantwiz- Where do you see a problem with this? I think this is actually quit intelligent. The company obviously profits greatly from the discounts received by zombie employees

The point is that the individuals are pimping their credentials without actually working for the company. Yes, they are on the payroll, but the company does not have the skill or knowledge provided by these individuals because they don't really work there. So the company can advertise themselves as a MS Partner and lure in clients under false pretences.

One small consolation is that as a MS partner, the individuals cannot use (pimp) their MCP credentials for other companies, only one partnership membership is allowed to be tied to any single MCP.

garv221

I can understand that. So it is illegal? What if the company has MCP employees working (not just on payroll) but also has zombies to boost partnership? So MS requires the MCP to actually be present? There seems to be to many loop holes for this to be actually illegal if zombies are collecting checks. The company could just say "we are paying you $8.00/hr for 40hrs a week for you to be on call in case of an emergency"

sprkymrk

garv221 wrote:

I can understand that. So it is illegal? What if the company has MCP employees working (not just on payroll) but also has zombies to boost partnership? So MS requires the MCP to actually be present? There seems to be to many loop holes for this to be actually illegal if zombies are collecting checks.

I don't think it's so much illegal as it is unethical. You're right about loop holes though.

bighornsheep

garv221 wrote:

I think this is actually quit intelligent. The company obviously profits greatly from the discounts received by zombie employees

I find that the biggest problem with this is that it is a form of "paper certification" for a business. I'm sure there's a whole process to achieving Microsoft/Cisco/ABC partnership. Another friend of mine works for a support company that's been around for almost 10 years and they've JUST recently achieved their status, I understand that it isnt easy to get. And if John Doe's IT Shop could just buy a bunch of MCPs, what does that say about Microsoft Partnership program? How will that hurt all of the other businesses that have this status?

Businesses that buy their MCPs is like an individual who pays people to write their exam for them, I dont see how it's any different.

TechJunky

Just for your information it takes 50% of employees for most programs. So if you are a 5 man shop it doesnt take much to have this qualification. I would agree that it would be hard for a large corporation to get this status. Any smaller company this should be easy to come by.

IMO, if you dont have atleast an MCP and you deal with windows environments working for a company, either A. You are lazy B. You dont have time C. You dont know all that you think you know.

I would hope most companies have atleast 50% of their staff with MCP's, or atleast pay for the certifications as long as the technician passes.

Dont get me started about qualified staff.... Call HP, or Microsoft and you will see what I am saying. They can bearly speak the english language, let alone navigate and or understand the situation you are presenting.

Dell 100%, their staff is top notch.