Originally Posted by
sggoodri
Great economic harm can be caused through failures of IT systems, and certification of IT professionals is a public good. While there is much overlap between some engineering fields and IT fields, they are different disciplines, with different skill sets. Some engineers are undoubtedly elitist about some things, but I'd like to count myself among the more enlightened engineers who know that IT professionals are every bit as smart and important as engineers are, and I like to have IT people on my projects at the earliest design stages to compensate for my inability to keep up with the pace and scope of the IT field. It's unfortunate that there is so much contention about the term "engineer" in the IT field since the IT folks I work with do nearly as much real engineering as I do on a daily basis.
I agree, IT professional do quite a bit of real engineering.
My problem is with the MCSE bearing the word 'Engineer' in its title. The exam does nothing for testing true engineering principles. It does a good job of testing for analysis and design, when related to Microsoft systems, but does nothing for testing a professional's knowledge of engineering ethics. Microsoft has no code of ethics for their systems engineers in their courses or examinations. This discounts probably the most important aspect of engineering.