In the last three decades, the IT (Information Technology) industry has evolved, where technology corporations are at the forefront of the digital technology industry specific certifications. Developing their own courses, academy programmes and accreditations to train and develop the workforce in technically advanced disciplinary skills, employers and recruiters increasingly demand these vendor-based certifications, when considering prospective employees as a benchmark of skills and knowledge required for IT jobs.

Over the years, many Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) have seen potential in the content and context of these courses and have been integrating vendor qualifications within university modules. In some of the computing modules and microcredentials, vendor certification content is partially or fully integrated, utilising a range of vendor qualifications (e.g. Cisco, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Open Education & Development Group (OpenEDG), EC-Council, Microsoft etc).

This project has investigated how integrating vendor certifications within Computing modules affect student motivation, engagement and employability prospects, evaluating the impact of integration and investigating if it motivates and encourages students to study these modules in the first instance and to what extent. The project also evaluated student perceived value and industry recognition for completing these specific modules, as well as exploring the potential effect of vendor alignment on promotion and employability prospects. The primary research methodology, focussed on student surveys and interviews involving OU (Open University) students across several Computing modules. Also, the project team commissioned a critical desk review, identifying competing universities within the UK HEI sector who are also utilising vendor resources within their own comparable programmes.

Coupled with the qualitative research, this project evaluates the role of ‘vendor certifications’ in forming and developing professional competency in computing disciplines and looks on the wider computing certifications integration into university modules. The project explores to develop a selection matrix to help in the development of future curriculum that is innovative and responsive to market evidence, linking this to the goals of greater reach and improving student satisfaction. It explores how digital sector specific accreditations and content supports student success and their short-term employment prospects during their studies and after completion.

Keywords: Certifications, vendor, qualifications.