However, Cisco isn’t looking the other way as much as it used to. As blogger Aaron Conway noted today, Cisco is making it harder and harder to download Cisco software without support contracts. Networking bloggers have been squawking about this for months.  The actions by Cisco prompted blogger Greg Ferro to start a petition back in July asking Cisco to create an IOS educational licensing option (the petition is currently not working).

Juniper hasn’t made any moves to make it harder to work with Olive as far as I can tell, but the company would be well within its rights to do so. Cisco has a perfect right to crack down on IOS licensing, too. But it sure would be nice of these vendors to address the issue of emulators directly.

Even though Cisco has made it harder for engineers to run an IOS emulator in a lab, I haven’t seen Cisco actually acknowledge that these changes are aimed at Dynamips and other emulators. I’ve never seen Cisco even acknowledge the existence of something like Dynamips. If you run a search for the word Dynamips on Cisco’s web site, you get back just one result: A transcript of a panel discussion at Cisco Live 2009 entitled “Insiders Guide to Cisco Career Certifications.” In the transcript, Cisco employee and NetworkWorld blogger Jimmy Ray Purser describes Dynamips as the “best way” to do IOS emulation at a zero cost.

Other than that, Cisco has never really addressed Dynamips or other emulators directly. Even when Jessica Scarpati asked Cisco to comment for a story she did on the Dynamips crackdown, the vendor chose not to address the emulator’s existence directly in its response.

Why do vendors like Cisco and Juniper avoid discussing these emulators directly? Wouldn’t some clarification on the tools help everyone? Wouldn’t a formal educational licensing structure be good for vendor’s customers?

Other vendors have made their operating systems much more readily available for learning. Startup Arista Networks has released a free version of EOS, the software it runs on its switches. Meanwhile, open source vendor Vyatta has built its whole business around making its routing software free to everyone. There’s no question that engineers can learn a lot about networking with this free software. Perhaps other vendors should follow their lead.

Regardless of whether vendors like Juniper and Cisco want to ignore or restrict the use of emulators like Olive and Dynamips, I think the community of networking pros who use these emulators to learn the technology and grow in their careers could benefit from some clarification on this issue. Just tell engineers where they stand. Listen to their request for educational licenses. Don’t let them go on working in this legal gray area.

Mark Fraunfelder at BoingBoing highlighted a Telegraph report about how Everything Everywhere, the mobile carrier created by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, took artless and heartless firing to a new low. Employees were  herded into rooms by the dozen or by the hundred and shown a “traffic light system” that told them of their job status. If employees saw a red light, they were fired. If they saw a yellow light, they had to re-apply for their jobs. If they saw a blue light their jobs were fine. If they saw a green light, they were getting one of a small number of newly created jobs.

Rather than sit through further humiliation as management offered soothing information about severance, etc., many of those who saw a red light reportedly stood up and walked out.

Can it get any worse than this? How about fortune cookies baked with the good news inside: “Unemployment checks are in your future!” Perhaps a creative executive could modify one of those “Easy” buttons from Staples, replacing the recording of the guy saying “That was easy” with a sample of Donald Trump blurting out “You’re fired.”

Mostly the engineers I talked to thought it was a nice option for Cisco to offer to people and they could see scenarios in which going in this Emeritus program would work for them. No one seemed to object to it.

However, i got some reader feedback recently that presented a different view. Robert DuBell (CCIE#9105), a consulting systems engineer with World Wide Technology Inc., had this to say:

The written recertification test is definitely not a “hands on” test like the lab is. The written test can purely be passed simply by studying the material written in the study material listed on the Cisco CCIE written prep suggestions. You don’t have to be in the CLI all day every day in order to complete the recertification. Simply spend a few hours of your free time studying the proper material and you can recert. If you want to keep your CCIE valid, then you should have no problem keeping up with the technology.

Just because you have moved into a management position does not mean you should let your knowledge of cutting edge technology slip! I have completed the recertification test four times and I have taken different track tests to broaden my working knowledge of the different technologies. I think I have done the Routing and Switching CCIE recert test once since achieving my CCIE.

The CCIE is the best cert out there because Cisco has not given into rules changes on how they run their program. I think this is a shame that they have given into the CIOs and PMs [product managers] so they can keep their number active.

According to Computer Economics, the higher up in the IT chain of command you are, the smaller your percentage pay increase will be. CIOs and directors are getting just 1.3% more money this year on average. The lower you are in the organization, the better your percentage increase might me.  Computer Economics says this is part of an effort to retain talent in the trenches.

What’s the best job to have if you’re looking for a decent raise this year? Developers. They’re going to get about 2.1% more money this year, which is the highest average pay increase in the industry.

Networking pros are sort of at the median. Network and systems support personnel are going to see a 1.9% increase this year. This includes network admins and telecom analysts. How does your salary measure up? Are you getting a raise this year?

But Foote Partners LLC, the IT workforce management consultancy, points out that the country has experienced four consecutive months of growth in the IT jobs market (PDF).

On its face, that sounds nice. Four months of jobs growth? The country would love to see something like that for all job categories. However, Foote notes that the country gained about 7,600 IT jobs in December. That’s not exactly an explosion of opportunities, but it is a flicker of hope.

Despite this job growth, it doesn’t look like IT departments are actually hiring. Foote notes that the Department of Labor stats are showing the most growth in two categories: “Management & Technical Consulting Services” and “Computer Systems and Design and Related Services.” This implies that the companies are bringing in consultants, contractors and managed services rather than adding new employees.

Botelho’s blog post (and subsequent comment thread) went on to speculate about the dwindling numbers of women in IT, particularly in VMware, professions, and cites some statistics to that effect.

Today I read Darryl K. Taft’s related column on eWeek, “Do Alpha Male Geeks Scare Women Away from Programming?” The column drew from David Heinemeier Hansson’s blog post on the same subject and discussed whether so-called “alpha-male geeks” and macho programmers might deter women from choosing careers in programming.

“Um… Alpha-male geeks? Is there such a thing?” you might be thinking. Taft and Hansson might agree. Wrote Hansson:

I just can’t get into the argument that women are being kept out of programming because the male programmer is such a testosterone-powered alpha specimen of our species. Compared to most other male groups that I’ve experienced, the average programmer ranks only just above mathematicians in being meek, tame and introverted.”

This got me thinking. As a female in the tech publishing industry (not to mention a life-long girl geek), I’m pretty accustomed to the boys’ club feel of most tech conferences (not unlike comic cons). And while there’s always going to be the contingent of gawkers and incredulous “whoa-it’s-a-girl-I’m-going-to-spaz-out”-ers, I find that generally, these so-called boys’ clubs are welcoming and respectful of female members. And like Hansson points out, most (male) geeks are meek. These days, most of them even know how to put on clean socks before they leave the house.

Of course, IT can be a weird space for women. At any tech show, we have leaders and experts like Padmasree Warrior, Danese Cooper and Lisa Phifer heading up keynotes and seminars, while scantily-clad “booth babes” parade around the exhibit hall. I don’t see that dichotomy changing any time soon, no matter how many girls major in computer science or know how to secure your wireless network.

I don’t have the answer why more women aren’t in VMware, programming, or networking. I think there’s probably some truth to the theory that IT becomes perceived by girls as “uncool,” but the same might be said of any number of professions where women abound.

I do know that what I hear day after day from IT professionals would be enough to deter any sane person — male or female — from selecting a technology career. After all, who wants to be overworked and underpaid? Who wants to work long hours for little reward, only gaining visibility when something goes wrong? Who wants to deal with countless end-user complaints and co-worker headaches… technology that doesn’t work how it’s supposed to… vendors and carriers who don’t deliver… bosses who don’t understand what you’re saying? Who wants to wade through the certification alphabet soup and pay hundreds of dollars for an arguably not-that-useful credential that expires in 3 years? And so on.

Maybe “why aren’t there more women in IT?” is the wrong question to be asking, though. Maybe we should be asking women who are in IT why they chose that path, and how they are succeeding. That might be enough to convince others to follow suit.

The H-1B visa system was designed to allow companies to bring highly skilled foreign nationals, particularly foreign nationals with IT skills, into the United States to fill jobs for which there is a shortage of domestic skilled labor. Companies are required by law to pay H-1B visa holders a salary equal to the prevailing regional wage for the role he fills. For instance, network administrators are paid more in New Jersey than they might be in Mississippi, so a company that hires a foreign worker to work in New Jersey should be paying that worker a New Jersey salary, not a Mississippi salary.

However, critics of the H-1B program, particularly Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), say that many companies are gaming the visa system, using the program to important cheaper foreign labor and displacing domestic workers. (Note that the U.S. attorney heading this particular investigation is from Grassley’s home state). Critics say companies frequently forge documentation about the qualifications of these workers and violate the prevailing wage requirements of the visa program. Last October, Grassley released a report which suggested that as much as 20% of such visas could be fraudulent.

Today we face The Worst Economic Crisis Since The Great Depression. Is it time for another Corps? How about the Civilian Information Technology Corps?

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank, believes it’s a good idea. In a new 22-page position paper entitled The Digital Road to Recovery (PDF), the foundation says the federal government should invest $30 billion into the country’s “national information technology infrastructure.” By investing this money into upgrading the country’s broadband capabilities and the IT systems of the health care system and the national power grid, the country would create nearly one million new jobs while boosting productivity and innovation, according to the foundation. Not only will jobs be created to build this infrastructure, but the infrastructure itself will encourage the creation of new businesses and new jobs.

“Building out an IT-based network like broadband, health IT, or the smart power grid leads to new jobs generated upstream by investment in industries that create new and innovative applications and services to take advantage of the more robust IT network,” the paper reads.

Like the CCC and the WPA of the Depression, will there be a New IT Deal? Barack Obama is known to love his CrackBerry. No doubt he knows just how important such a targeted stimulus could be for the national economy. It should also resonate with those of you who raspberried my post about how a good network engineer is hard to find.

The good news is that Microsoft is giving you two incentives to certify for their exams. Through Second Shot, you get to retake your Microsoft certification exam for free if you don’t pass on your first try.

If you’ve mastered the test on your first try, then you get 25% off your next exam that you decide to take.

All you have to do is register for Microsoft’s Second Shot offer by December 31, 2008. Details can be found on their website (in cased you missed the link above): http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/secondshot/default.mspx

If you need that little extra nudge, think of it this way: Those who have higher credentials, especially of the expert levels, get higher pay. If you want to be Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certified, for example, you need to pass about seven exams altogether. Each one costs $125 through Prometric, so if this seems steep now, think of the payoff later down the line with your new starting salary!

If MCSE isn’t the exam for you, take a look at this newtorking certification guide from our career and training expert, Ed Tittel, to get a taste of the certification landscape. If you need some certification or career training advice, feel free to check out Ed Tittel’s expert section or ask Ed your own career question to guide you in your work ahead.

Gartner has published some selected findings from its annual IT market compensation study. In it’s new publication, “CIO Alert: Jobs and Skills Topping the Difficult-to-Recruit-For List in the U.S.”, Gartner identified network engineer and network architect as thefourth and fifth most difficult positions to fill. And it’s only getting harder for them to find you.

The percentage of CIOs who said network engineers are very difficult to extremely difficult to find rose from 14.1% in 2006 abd 16.6% in 2007 to 20.3% in 2008.

The demand for network architects has fluctuated a little more. About 18.2% of CIOs said they had a very to extremely difficult time finding engineers in 2006. That number sank to 15.2% in 2007 and then shot back up to 19.8% in 2008.

The only jobs which are harder to fill are enterprise architect, database administrator and ERP programmer/analyst.

Now I know what many of you are thinking. With the economy hurtling towards some sort of apocalypse, will any company be in a position to hire anyone in 2008 or 2009? Gartner does mention in its research note that IT recruitment continues to be a top challenge for IT organizations even in current economic conditions. Of course, this survey data was collected in February, before people starting use the term “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression” on a daily basis. At least network engineers and architects have a little bit of an advantage over security analysts and bsuiness analysts and… COBOL programmers.