When I first landed in the State of Qatar in 2006 with the College of Technology Project (CNA-Q) and began canvassing the security management personnel in the country on what their organizational training and educational needs were, it was astonishing to discover the majority of the expatriate security managers wanted to obtain the CPP certification from ASIS International. I didn’t appreciate how popular the certification had become abroad. Most of these interested candidates also didn’t feel they were immediately prepared to challenge the examination process. The expatriates were  from diverse nationalities, ranging from Qatari to Canadians, Britons, Australians, South Africans, Indians, Filipinos, French and of course Americans. This eclectic mix of foreigners seemed to know what they wanted — the CPP certification.

Another interesting point, this foreign mix of security practitioners did not equate the CPP as an American certification, but a global certification for international security managers. Why the significant interest?

The debate continues over the value of security certifications, whether it is the CPP, PCI, PSP or CFE. Many will argue the certification is not necessary and is over-rated. Others personally assert the values and benefits of being professionally certified. What I find quite interesting, is the first group of 55 international candidates that took Qatar’s first CPP Review program obviously appreciated the benefit. Since 2006, interest in the ASIS International certifications has flourished in the Middle East, and every candidate discovers the desire to achieve the certification on their own. Many are motivated by seeing their peers step up to the challenge, similar to the hundreds of practitioners, from North America who prepare and test every year for a security certification.  They appreciate the value.

I believe the benefit is whatever each individual seeks it to be. Much like a university degree in security management is not for everyone either, nor will it become a mandatory requirement to become a security professional in most organizations. So why pursue higher education or a certification? I found evidence that most security practitioners, who sought certification, did so for the following reasons:

1. They wanted a credible third-party validation of their competencies
Many feel a certification is a validation they are indeed a professional in what they do. Often a valid complaint from security managers is that they are not respected as a profession like lawyers, accountants or even IT professionals. The CPP has evolved as such a validation for security management professionals. As an example, a very detailed job analysis is conducted by the independent testing service which manages the certification in order to determine the tasks, skills and knowledge which is required as a security management professional. The results of the analysis are then used to design the domains and tasks for the examination questions. Practitioners are then tested on having a sufficient knowledge of relevant areas (domains) and tasks. Therefore the certification validates, according to industry standards as garnered from the analysis, a professional’s knowledge and experience with security management. Executive management understands and can relate to this type of metric and validation.

2. Peer recognition as a security management professional
Simply put, a security manager can have over 30”“years as a decorated law enforcement or military officer in a highly respected agency, but, that does not mean they are a security management professional. The majority of candidates I tutored toward a CPP or the PCI review process had extensive and impressive careers in both the military and police. None seemed to gain any certification or designation from their vast experience. Additionally, they agreed that although similar in nature, working in most organizations as security management practitioners required skills of a completely different domain. Notwithstanding the management knowledge and skills required to lead the security team and interact with senior executives. Let’s face it, in most military and police environments, the personnel are not exposed to physical security practices or protection of information in a corporate environment and other skill sets that are expected from a security manager in many public or private organizations.