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Lee Bolding’s comment in the Magento certification discussion on Linkedin was too spot on to not repost:

…Certification would even the playing field a little – I see large agencies, with big clients and deep pockets, with no technical Magento skills, yet (somehow) they’re Enterprise partners. I see small outfits – just a few guys – with wizard Magento skills, but no exposure to either (Magento) Enterprise or larger clients. The end result is that large enterprise clients lose confidence, believing that the larger, non-skilled agencies are “the best of the best” (they MUST be, they’re partners!) whilst the smaller companies (with the wizards) fight to survive because they’re deemed to be unskilled (otherwise, they’d be partners).

Lee is right. Since I’ve talked with him a few times, I’m hoping that he is grouping Elias under that smaller “wizard” company label. We endeavor to do good work. We build complex extensions for Magento. And, quite frankly, we get hammered as a business on our bottom line. No joke. The thought of leaving Magento all together crosses my mind at least once a week. This consideration is fueled by conversations with agencies who make a killing off of other webwork that is, well, easy when compared to Magento.

Our best client in 2009 was an agency. They love us. They now hate Magento. So they stopped selling ecommerce projects to their clients because it was a pain in their butt. Building “regular” websites was more profitable. This is becoming increasingly common as developers forego the Magento learning curve in favor of easier wins.

Or is it a US thing? Magento isn’t as big here in the states as it is in Europe. A client told me that he estimates that there are maybe half a dozen firms in the US who are highly specialized experts in Magento. I know a Mage firm who bought a skype number for the UK and gets 2-3 calls/day from what seem to be higher end clients in Europe. Our module sales are stronger in France than in our own country, which might not be a bad thing since the dollar’s value seems to be deteriorating. We’re currently considering adding another storefront to our module store that is Europe specific to see what impact it has on sales across the pond.

Right now Magento feels like a mediocre hand in poker. Do you bluff your way through it or fold and cut your loses? Would forking over $5k to Varien to slap a professional partner sticker on the site draw in good clients who value Mage services enough to pay handsomely for them? I like Varien. I’m impressed after my conversations with Tim Schultz. I think Roy Rubin is brilliant. But can they create an ecosystem that provides a return on the investments from developers in the community? Jury is still out.

A discussion about Magento certification popped up on Linkedin this week. My intended comment quickly evolved into a blog post:

The issue at hand is rooted in supply/demand. There is latent, unmet demand for Magento services. Our firm is not certified (yet). However, last night I went to bed with 0 emails in my inbox. This morning I woke up with 4 new requests for help with Magento projects. I have to admit, that even to get these 4 requests, I had to learn how to make small talk and improve my confidence.

Uncovering the Root Issue

For many Magento development firms, services rendered end up as a net loss. Magento is complex and demands a highly specialized skill set. Clients want someone to fix their problems within a predictable timeframe and budget. But the reality is that projects are more involved once you dig in and uncover what is going on in the code or what is really expected from the customer. So the developer either burns hours estimating upfront or tacks on extra hours without compensation to fulfill a fixed commitment that was misestimated. In the end, he could have made more money from estimating software or building WordPress sites for local restaurants and dry-cleaners.

At the positional intersection of both store owner and developer is one thing: risk mitigation. Store owners want to know that their store will get done properly and within budget while developers want to know that they’ll be profitable and appreciated in their work. Both sides are deathly afraid of the opposite experience.

Enter Certification

Magento certification should be aimed squarely at risk mitigation.  Most current programs get off balance by offering some sort of training + certification exam combo to provide enablement. Services are more profitable when associated with a product; and training services wrapped around certification are probably no exception. However, this approach ignores the chief value proposition for the developer, who is ultimately the paying customer. Remember, he simply wants to lower risk by attracting higher quality clients and charging more money for essentially the same services already being offered. He usually doesn’t want more training.

What we need is a streamlined certification exam like Google offers. You charge me $50-$100 and I’ll happily pay to get 3 developers through a certification exam. I’d then also apprise you on why you should become an Enrolled Agent through our certification. But anything over $500/certification that also requires me to lose bandwidth while developers sit in training does not currently make business sense. That is, unless so many other developers get certified that I lose out on business or enough upside exists to justify the cost of certification (which I believe might end up becoming the case based on my conversations with Varien/Magento, inc.). But for now supply/demand seems to be in favor of the developer. If only we could all just figure out how to operate profitably.