During their unsuccessful push for unionization last fall, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Rensselaer County sought higher pay and safer working conditions. Months later, the Schodack facility is facing fines as part of a federal investigation.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations at three Amazon warehouses for failing to keep workers safe this month. The citations, part of an investigation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District, follow similar actions against three other Amazon facilities in January.

OSHA Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker detailed findings in a call with reporters…

“Our investigations determined warehouse workers are required to perform tasks at a fast pace including manually lifting items from trailers, removing packages from a conveyor and stacking them floor to ceiling, and other tasks that require workers to work in awkward positions that make them prone to injury,” said Parker.

OSHA is proposing nearly $47,000 in penalties for the violations at the Schodack site and two others in Florida and Idaho. Amazon is appealing the decision.

WAMC spoke with two employees who were on the organizing committee seeking to unionize the Rensselaer County site, which employs around 900 people.

Tia Leanza, age 61, has been working at Amazon for the last year-and-a-half. She says labor in the warehouse can be painful.

“By the fourth day, my feet are killing me. My legs hurt, my hands hurt. And yes, you definitely feel the wear and tear as the days go on, as your workweek goes on,” said Leanza.

Workplace safety was a key demand during the union drive that failed by a two-to-one margin.

18-year-old Amazon worker Sarah Chowdhury, on the job for about six months, recalled an incident where it took hours to address a spill.

“While in training, I had just had this bucket, this large bucket of…concrete sealant that was just spilled everywhere. And it took it took about a couple hours just to get a hold of the safety team,” said Chowdhury.

During the union campaign, workers complained of injuries from boxes hanging off shelves.

Amazon says it has made “hundreds of changes” based on employee feedback.

In a statement to WAMC this week, Amazon said it’s cooperating with the federal government in its investigation and takes the health and safety of employees “very seriously. ”

Spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in part the retailer doesn’t “believe the government’s allegations reflect the reality of safety” at its sites and that the company reduced injury rates in the U.S. “nearly 15% between 2019 and 2021.”

OSHA’s DART rate provides an index of recordable workplace injuries. According to OSHA, Amazon’s national injury rate is 9 per 100 worker, compared with the national average at 4.7.

The DART rate for Amazon’s Rensselaer County fulfillment center is 19.7.

Amazon detailed several safety improvements to WAMC, including height-adjustable tables to reduce the need for bending and reaching. Some ladders and conveyor belts have been redesigned, too, as just some examples.

Chowdhury said she’s noticed some repairs – such as fixing the brakes on so-called u-boats used to move items around. But she hasn’t seen a significant improvement in safety since the union push.

“I would say it was no improvement, because the only improvements to safety that I've really seen were routine maintenance,” said Chowdhury.

On pay, Amazon did provide a raise in 2022. But Leanza says workers in Schodack are still making less than those at other warehouses in the area.

“Amazon thought they were giving us this wonderful, great raise of $1 an hour in during the union campaign, mind you, that that, oh, we're Oh, yay, we're giving you a pay raise? It's like, you should have been paying us $23 to begin with, because that's what most warehouse workers are making in this area? Not $16,” said Leanza.

Amazon says it does review wages regularly and plans to do so again this year.

But a lasting impact of the failed union push, which garnered national attention, is an effect on workplace culture. Months later, Leanza and Chowdhury described lingering tension between union supporters and opponents.

Leanza does not expect ALB1 workers to consider unionizing again soon.

“So it is a diverse crew of people, it's just, I feel the influence of, of the union busters. And Amazon itself was very negative and very divisive,” said Leanza.

But Chowdhury hasn’t ruled it out, saying she feels “hopeful but realistic.”

“I know it's going to take a lot ...of time and work and training. And, you know, I guess one-on-one conversations, which, with each and every one of our co-workers to really build that collective action, build that sense of community. And so that eventually, we can be, you know, strong enough both in numbers and an actual strength, you know, to demand these changes and to eventually unionize our warehouse."

© Provided by Slate An ad published in Scientific American in 1970. Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by PetrStransky/iStock/Getty Images Plus and IBM.

This story is published in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education. Subscribe to College Inside, an Open Campus newsletter on the future of postsecondary education in prison. 

A slight man wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a suit with a pocket square gestures as he stands before a group of men in blue jumpsuits. They listen attentively. A guard tower and chain link fence loom in the background.  “He offered these Arizona State Prison inmates a chance to escape from the past,” the text below the photo reads. “Could there be a future in computer programming for prisoners?”

The photo is from an ad in Scientific American that’s more than 50 years old. Yes, 50 years. Not much has changed in conversations about prisons, education, and technology since then.

The benefits of tech training in prison were already known in 1970. People are less likely to return to prison if they have marketable skills that lead to jobs in high-demand fields with livable wages. But despite the promise of such programs, the pitfalls also remain the same: They can be costly; they can be difficult to scale; and they are subject to the whims of tech-averse prison officials.

While the pandemic helped make technology like tablets more common in prison, perceived security risks often trump opportunities for learning and rehabilitation. And as much as technological advances have allowed more wide-scale access to tablets (some of which come with high fees), they can just as easily be taken away.

The slender man in the ad photo is Glen McDermed, a marketing executive from IBM. In 1967, he proposed training incarcerated men to program computers to meet growing industry demand as tech companies began jumping on the information processing bandwagon. “The men would learn something useful for the future,” McDermed said of the program in a quote accompanying the ad. IBM employees taught the initial classes to 11 men. Long-term prisoners eventually took over training to make the program self-sustaining. The program offered the men “real-world” experience that saved Arizona millions of dollars in lucrative contracts between corrections and other state agencies, according to a 1970 cover story for Computerworld.

Similar programs were launched elsewhere, including Oklahoma and New York. A 1967 story in the New York Times described a $1,200 computer course offered to incarcerated men for free. “The cells may be narrow, but the intellectual horizons are growing wider at Sing Sing,” McCandlish Phillips wrote. The spokesperson for the institute offering the course told the Times that the men could learn programming without ever needing to touch a computer. At the time, code was handwritten until it was transferred onto a “keypunch card,” which was then fed into a mainframe computer.

In Massachusetts, more than 1,000 men were trained as programmers at Walpole correctional facility over the 1970s. The program there, sponsored by Honeywell, started the same year as the IBM program after a prisoner saw a newspaper want-ad for data processors.

But these training programs were sometimes short-lived, despite the benefit to individuals. William Short spent five years working seven days a week—at $3 a day—as a computer programmer at a maximum security prison in Somers, Connecticut. When he was released in 1975, he quickly found employment at an insurance company earning $13,400 a year (approximately $77,000 today). In a newspaper interview at the time, he said that learning a vocation in prison helps a man come out “with a whole frame of mind that is better than what he went in with.” However, not long after Short was released, the program that had given him such marketable skills was no more. It had been shut down due to difficulties retaining an instructor, high costs, and staff resistance, the corrections commissioner told the newspaper.

By 1978, IBM’s program suffered a similar fate. A new warden had phased out most of the educational programs at the Arizona State Prison, the prison newspaper reported, because he “didn’t understand them,” as one man put it. “Under the guise of his security program, he put a stifle to the various programs around here.”

In 2023, the benefits from tech training in prison remain much the same. One big difference? Keypunch coding has been replaced by cloud computing and javascript. In 2022, the D.C. Jail launched an Amazon Web Services cloud certification in collaboration with APDS, an education technology company that provides tablets to people in prison, at no charge to the students.

Being able to provide the training on the APDS tablets was significant because “it’s really hard to provide any kind of STEM programming inside that leads to some sort of industry certification or a living-wage job afterward,” said Amy Lopez, former deputy director for the D.C. Department of Corrections. Out of the 21 men who started the program, 11 completed the training. Most of those who didn’t finish chose to drop out or were transferred out of the jail, said Arti Finn, APSD cofounder and chief business development officer. The remaining men were able to take the high-stakes test to earn the Amazon credential inside the D.C. Jail, which was already set up to provide secure exams such as the GED.

Leonard Bishop, who participated in the program, hadn’t touched technology in the 17 years he served in the federal system prior to transferring to the D.C. Jail in 2018. When he first got a tablet, he said it took him a few days to figure out how to navigate through it, but then “I couldn’t put it down.” Bishop said he was surprised by how easy it was to learn the skills he needed to earn the AWS certification. He said he looks at it as a career opportunity, rather than “just” a job. “It helps you transition back into society, especially for someone who has been gone so long,” he said. The average annual pay for an entry-level AWS cloud practitioner position is almost $90,000, according to ZipRecruiter.

The pilot program at the D.C. Jail supplemented the tablet-based curriculum with face-to-face instruction by Amazon employees and other experts and incorporated opportunities to practice job skills such as interviewing. But the hope is that the AWS curriculum, and other industry certifications, can be scaled to allow people to self-study for the certification on the APDS tablets, Finn said. It also increases access for people who aren’t able to take part in face-to-face classes due to schedule conflicts, such as with their prison job.

When APDS started talking with Amazon, one of the goals was to reach the large number of people who sit behind bars without any access to any kind of programming, Finn added. The tablets are also equipped with video communication and messaging services, and could be used to offer online apprenticeships that create additional opportunities for hands-on learning.

Still, some are skeptical that tablet-based training alone will translate into high-paying jobs. It’s difficult to learn on a tablet, said Jessica Hicklin, who taught herself to code in prison. She’s now the chief technology officer of Unlocked Labs, a Missouri-based nonprofit that trains incarcerated software developers. Unlocked Labs is trying to add the Amazon cloud certification to its own training platform because the underlying knowledge is useful. But, Hicklin said, it would be difficult to break into the tech industry without direct connections to companies that engage in second-chance hiring. “I’m not sure it overcomes the stigma” of having a record, she said.

There are other criticisms of tablets, too. APDS has committed to never charging incarcerated people for its content or services. (Corrections departments or other state agencies pay for their tablets, Finn said). But other technology vendors routinely charge exorbitant prices for communications services and entertainment content. Critics also argue that they provide surveillance creep, creating more opportunities for corrections officials to monitor people in prison.

And with the prospect of higher education becoming more widely available in prison with the restoration of federal financial aid later this year, those companies are also trying to rebrand themselves as educational providers. The two largest tablet providers, Securus and ViaPath Technologies (formerly GTL), together supply more than 1 million tablets to U.S. prisons. That means around half of people in prisons currently have some kind of tablet access. Just like in 1970, access to beneficial programs remains contingent upon supportive prison administrators. In fact, many incarcerated students are reluctant to criticize online learning opportunities out of fear they will be taken away.

Five years ago, for instance, Colorado became one of the first states to roll out tablets, which included educational programming, to around half of its prison population. But months later, prison authorities confiscated them. (The Colorado Department of Corrections did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

Today, most people in Colorado prisons still don’t have tablets. And across the country, the question posed in the IBM ad back in 1970—“Could there be a future in computer programming for prisoners?”—remains unanswered.

Enterprise IT architect certifications appear most often at the apex of certification programs, where less than 1% of IT professionals ultimately ascend. Even so, many IT architect certifications are available, and you don’t need to invest in one certification sponsor’s vision to reach the top.

Many IT certifications in this area fall outside vendor umbrellas, which means they are vendor-neutral or vendor-agnostic. Nevertheless, the number of vendor-specific IT certifications exceeds vendor-neutral ones by a factor of more than 2 to 1. That’s why we devote the last section of this article to all such credentials, as we encountered them in search of the best enterprise architect certifications.

For IT pros who’ve already invested in vendor-specific certification programs, credentials at the architect level may indeed be worth pursuing. Enterprise architects are among the highest-paid employees and consultants in the tech industry.

What do enterprise architects do?

Enterprise architects are technical experts who are able to analyze and assess organizational needs, make recommendations regarding technology changes, and design and implement those changes across the organization.

How much does an enterprise architect earn?

The national average salary per SimplyHired is $130,150, in a range from $91,400 to a whopping $185,330. Glassdoor reports $133,433 as the average. Ultimately, the value of any IT certification depends on how long the individual has worked and in what part of the IT patch.

How do I become an enterprise architect?

Becoming an enterprise architect is not easy. While the requirements may vary by employer, most enterprise architects have a bachelor’s degree or higher in a computer-related field along with 5-10 years of professional work experience. Many enterprise architects obtain additional certifications past graduation.

Why should I get certified?

Certifications are a great way to demonstrate to prospective employers that you have the experience and technical skills necessary to do the job and supply you a competitive edge in the hiring process. Certification holders also frequently earn more than their uncertified counterparts, making certifications a valuable career-building tool.

Which certifications are the best?

Below, you’ll find our top five certification picks. Before you peruse our best picks, check out the results of our informal job board survey. Data indicates the number of job posts in which our featured certifications were mentioned on a given day. The data should supply you an idea of the relative popularity of each of these certifications.

Job board search results (in alphabetical order, by certification)

AWS Certified Solution Architect

Making its first appearance on the leaderboard is the Certified Solutions Architect credential from Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS, an Amazon subsidiary, is the global leader in on-demand cloud computing. AWS offers numerous products and services to support its customers, including the popular Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). AWS also offers numerous cloud applications and developer tools, including Amazon Comprehend, Amazon SageMaker Batch Transform and Amazon Lightsail.

AWS offers certifications at the foundation, associate and professional levels across five role-based categories: architect, developer, operations, cloud and specialty certifications. Foundation-level certifications validate a candidate’s understanding of the AWS Cloud and serve as a prerequisite to AWS specialty certifications. Foundation certifications are a recommended starting place for those seeking higher-level credentials.

Associate credentials typically have no prerequisites and focus on technical skills. They are required to obtain professional-level certifications, which are the highest level of technical certification available. Specialty certs, meanwhile, focus on skills in targeted areas.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate 2019

AWS currently offers the following credentials:

• Foundation credentials: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
• Associate credentials: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate, AWS Certified Developer and AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
• Professional: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional and AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
• Specialty: AWS Certified Advanced Networking, AWS Certified Big Data and AWS Certified Security

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect credential is available at the associate and professional levels. The associate credential targets candidates with at least one year of experience architecting and implementing solutions based on AWS applications and technologies. AWS updated the associate-level test in February 2018 to include architecture best practices and new services.

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional certification targets senior AWS architects who can architect, design, implement and manage complex enterprise-level AWS solutions based on defined organizational requirements. Candidates should have a minimum of two years’ direct experience deploying and designing on the AWS cloud and be able to translate organizational requirements into solutions and recommend best practices. The associate credential is a mandatory prerequisite.

AWS Certified Solution Architect facts and figures

CTA: Certified Technical Architect

In 1999, Salesforce revolutionized the world of CRM when it introduced the concept of using the cloud to provide top-notch CRM software. Today, Salesforce has more than 150,000 customers, making it the industry leader for CRM enterprise cloud platforms. Currently, Salesforce offers solutions for various focus areas, including sales, service, marketing, commerce, engagement, community, productivity (Quip), platform and ecosystem, integration, analytics, enablement, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence, mobility, and industry (financial and health).

To meet industry needs for qualified and experienced professionals with the skills necessary to support its growing customer base, Salesforce developed and maintains a top-tier certification program. It offers many paths to candidates, including for administration, app building, architecture and marketing.

Salesforce Architect certifications are hierarchical, with most (but not all) lower-level credentials serving as prerequisites for more advanced credentials. At the top of the certification pyramid is the highest credential a Salesforce professional can earn – the Certified Technical Architect (CTA), which is our featured Salesforce certification.

The Salesforce Architect certification pyramid has three levels:

• Specializations: These form the bottom tier of the pyramid. Salesforce offers eight specializations, four of which support application solutions, while the other four support system solutions. Application specializations include certifications for Data Architecture and Management Designer, Sharing and Visibility Designer, Platform Developer I, and Platform App Builder. System specializations include Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designer, Identity and Access Management Designer, Integration Architecture Designer, and Platform Developer I credentials.
• Domain Architect: There are two Salesforce Domain Architect credentials: the Certified Application Architect and the Certified System Architect. The Certified Application Architect designation targets professionals with expert-level knowledge in Salesforce product functionality and features, while the Certified System Architect credential focuses on governance, integration and testing. Both credentials require the candidate to first earn their corresponding specialization certifications in addition to meeting other requirements.
• Technical Architect: The Certified Technical Architect (CTA) is the highest Salesforce credential available. CTAs are experts in all Salesforce domains and possess skills necessary to design, build and implement Salesforce platform solutions. To earn the CTA, candidates must first obtain both the Certified Application Architect and Certified System Architect credentials or pass a single exam. Candidates must meet experience requirements and pass a rigorous board review, which validates their knowledge and skills in Salesforce competency areas, such as communication, development lifecycle and deployment planning, integration, solution architecture, data, security, and systems architecture.

Salesforce requires CTAs to maintain current skills. Credential holders must pass maintenance module exams with each new product release cycle (typically in summer, winter and spring). While challenging to earn, the CTA is important for IT professionals who are serious about a Salesforce technologies career.

CTA facts and figures

ITIL Master Certificate – IT Service Management

One of our favorite credential sets (and for employers as well, judging by job board numbers) is the ITIL for IT Service Management credentials from Axelos. Axelos is a global provider of standards designed to drive best practices and quality throughout organizations. ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) joined the Axelos family in 2013.

Axelos manages ITIL credentialing requirements and updates, provides accreditation to Examination Institutes (EIs), and licenses organizations seeking to use ITIL. In addition to ITIL certifications, Axelos offers credentials for Prince2 2017 (which includes Foundation, Practitioner and Agile qualifications), Prince2 Agile, Resilia, MSP, MoP, M_o_R, P30, MoV, P3M3 and AgileSHIFT.

ITIL is a set of well-defined and well-respected best practices that specifically target the area of IT service management. There are more than 2 million ITIL-certified practitioners worldwide. ITIL is perhaps the most widely known and globally adopted set of best practices and management tools for IT service management and support.

ITIL Foundation (2011): Complete course and 2 practice exams

Axelos maintains a robust ITIL certification portfolio consisting of five ITIL credentials:

• ITIL Foundation: An entry-level credential that validates general ITIL knowledge, including terminology, concepts, elements, services lifecycle and ITIL processes
• ITIL Practitioner: A steppingstone credential for the Intermediate credential that tests a candidate’s ability to use ITIL principles within their business organization
• ITIL Intermediate: An industry-recognized qualification with a modular structure, each module focusing on a different aspect of IT service management
• ITIL Expert: An expert-level credential for candidates who possess broad ITIL knowledge that covers the entire ITIL scheme
• ITIL Master: The highest ITIL credential from Axelos, targeting professionals who recommend and implement ITIL best practices

Axelos introduced ITIL 4 in early 2019. ITIL 3 practitioners should check the Axelos website frequently for updates about the transition to ITIL 4 and availability of the ITIL 4 transition modules.

The ITIL Master is the pinnacle ITIL certification, requiring experience, dedication, and a thorough understanding of ITIL principles, practices, and techniques. To gain the ITIL Master designation, candidates must have at least five years of managerial, advisory or other leadership experience in the field of IT service management. They must also possess the ITIL Expert certification. Once the skill and certification requirements are met, the real certification work begins.

Upon completing the prerequisites, candidates must register with PeopleCert, the sole approved Axelos Examination Institute, and submit an application. Next, candidates prepare and submit a proposal for a business improvement to implement within their organization. The proposal submission is followed by a “work package,” which documents a real-world project that encompasses multiple ITIL areas.

The work package (1) validates how the candidate applied ITIL principles, practices, and techniques to the project; and (2) documents the effectiveness of the solution and the ultimate benefit the business received as a result of the ITIL solution. Finally, candidates must pass an interview with an assessment panel where they defend their solution.

Axelos will soon be sponsoring 50 lucky people in their quest to obtain the ITIL 4 Master certification. You can register your interest in the program here.

ITIL Master facts and figures

TOGAF 9

A leader in enterprise architecture, The Open Group’s standards and certifications are globally recognized. The TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) standard for enterprise architecture is popular among leading enterprise-level organizations. Currently, TOGAF is the development and architecture framework of choice for more than 80% of global enterprises.

TOGAF’s popularity reflects that the framework standard is specifically geared to all aspects of enterprise-level IT architectures, with an emphasis on building efficiency within an organization. The scope of the standard’s approach covers everything from design and planning stages to implementation, maintenance, and governance.

The Open Group offers several enterprise architect credentials, including TOGAF, Open CA, ArchiMate, IT4IT and the foundational Certified Technical Specialist (Open CTS).

The Open Group reports that there are more than 75,000 TOGAF-certified enterprise architects. At present, there are two TOGAF credentials: the TOGAF 9 Foundation (Level 1) and TOGAF 9 Certified (Level 2). (The TOGAF framework is currently based on version 9.2, although the credential name still reflects version 9.)

The TOGAF 9 Foundation, or Level 1, credential targets architects who demonstrate an understanding of TOGAF principles and standards. A single test is required to earn the Level 1 designation. The Level 1 test focuses on TOGAF-related concepts such as TOGAF reference models, terminology, core concepts, standards, ADM, architectural governance and enterprise architecture. The Level 1 credential serves as a steppingstone to the more advanced TOGAF Level 2 certification.

The TOGAF 9 Certified, or Level 2, credential incorporates all requirements for Level 1. Level 2 TOGAF architects possess in-depth knowledge of TOGAF standards and principles and can apply them to organizational goals and enterprise-level infrastructure. To earn this designation, candidates must first earn the Level 1 credential and pass the Level 2 exam. The Level 2 test covers TOGAF concepts such as ADM phases, governance, content framework, building blocks, stakeholder management, metamodels, TOGAF techniques, reference models and ADM iterations.

Candidates wanting a fast track to Level 2 certification may take a combination exam, which covers requirements for both Level 1 and 2. Training is not mandatory for either credential but is highly recommended. Training classes run 2-5 days, depending on the provider and whether you’re taking the combined or single-level course. The Open Group maintains a list of approved training providers and a schedule of current training opportunities on the certification webpage.

TOGAF 9 facts and figures 

Zachman Certified – Enterprise Architect

Founded in 1990, Zachman International promotes education and research for enterprise architecture and the Zachman Framework. Rather than being a traditional process or methodology, the Zachman Framework is more accurately referred to as an “ontology.” Ontologies differ from a traditional methodology or process in that, rather than focusing on the process or implementation, they focus on the properties, types and interrelationships of entities that exist within a particular domain. The Zachman Framework ontology focuses on the structure, or definition, of the object and the enterprise. Developed by John Zachman, this framework sets a standard for enterprise architecture ontology.

Zachman International currently offers four enterprise architect credentials:

• Enterprise Architect Associate Certification (Level 1): Candidates must attend a four-day modeling workshop and pass a single exam. The workshop covers key concepts relating to enterprise architecture and the Zachman Framework, case studies, engineering vs. primitive models and manufacturing vs. composite models, and hands-on experience building Framework models. The workshop fee ($3,499) includes the test and certification fees for Level 1 and Level 2.
• Enterprise Architect Practitioner Certification (Level 2): Architects must submit case studies of primitive and composite models that address specified management issues. Case studies must pass a referee review.
• Enterprise Architect Professional Certification (Level 3): Candidates must complete a case study demonstrating primitive (architectural) and composite (implementation) models and complete a referee review. Level 3 credential holders may advertise themselves as “Zachman consultants.”
• Enterprise Architect Educator Certification (Level 4): Designed for educators, this credential prepares candidates to develop and teach the Zachman Framework. To earn this credential, candidates should go through all educational materials related to the Zachman Framework, develop their own curricula and course materials, and present those materials for review and approval. While this is not required, Zachman recommends that Level 4 candidates obtain the Level 3 Professional designation.

Zachman credentials are valid for three years. To maintain these credentials, candidates must earn continuing education credits (referred to as EADUs). The total number of EADUs required varies by certification level.

Zachman Certified – Enterprise Architect facts and figures

Beyond the top 5: More enterprise architect certifications

The Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) is a great credential, especially for professionals working with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from PMI continues to appear in many enterprise architect job descriptions. Although the PMP is not an enterprise architect certification per se, many employers look for this particular combination of skills.

Outside of our top five vendor-neutral enterprise architect certifications (which focus on more general, heterogeneous views of IT systems and solutions), there are plenty of architect-level certifications from a broad range of vendors and sponsors, most of which are vendor-specific.

The table below identifies those vendors and sponsors, names their architect-level credentials, and provides links to more information on those offerings. Choosing one or more of these certifications for research and possible pursuit will depend on where you work or where you’d like to work.

<td”>EMC Cloud Architect Expert (EMCCAe) <td”>GoCertify </td”></td”>

These architect credentials typically represent pinnacle certifications within the programs to which they belong, functioning as high-value capstones to those programs in many cases. The group of individuals who attain such credentials is often quite small but comes with tight sponsor relationships, high levels of sponsor support and information delivery, and stratospheric salaries and professional kudos.

Often, such certifications provide deliberately difficult and challenging targets for a small, highly select group of IT professionals. Earning one or more of these certifications is generally the culmination of a decade or more of professional growth, high levels of effort, and considerable expense. No wonder, then, that architect certifications are highly regarded by IT pros and highly valued by their employers.

Choosing the right IT architect credential

Enterprise architect credentials will often be dictated by choices that your employer (or industry sector, in the case of government or DoD-related work environments) have already made independent of your own efforts. Likewise, most of the vendor-specific architecture credentials make sense based on what’s deployed in your work environment or in a job you’d like to occupy.

Though there are lots of potential choices IT pros could make, the actual number they can or should make will be influenced by their circumstances.

© Amazon Amazon began delivering packages via drones in towns in California and Texas in December. Amazon

• Amazon started drone delivery in one town in California and one in Texas in December. 
• As of mid-January, the company had made deliveries to fewer than 10 houses, The Information reported.
• The FAA is blocking Amazon's drones from flying over people or roads without case by case permission, according to The Information.

Since December, residents in Lockeford, California and College Station, Texas who order products on Amazon have had a chance of receiving them by drone. 

But as of mid-January, only two households in California had received a total of three deliveries between them, and around five households in Texas had received packages, The Information reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the project. 

The paltry numbers are surprising given the fanfare the company has drummed up about drone delivery. 

In 2020, Insider reported that Amazon's Prime Air was issued an approval certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, to use "unmanned aircraft systems" in a commercial operation. However, the FAA actually included dozens of conditions and limitations that affect its ability to operate, which the company has downplayed until recently. In the summer of 2022, Amazon announced that it had decided upon Lockeford and, subsequently, College Station, as its test sites for drone delivery.

By December 2022, Amazon had begun making deliveries to customers in the two towns. 

But a recent report by The Information's Theo Wayt which examined FAA records, along with comments from FAA representatives, and Amazon employees and representatives, found that the FAA is "blocking Amazon's drones from flying over roads or people without case-by-case permission." 

That's curtailed the number of deliveries Amazon's Prime Air can make. 

One reason might be because Amazon's drones are pretty heavy, coming in at 80 lbs when empty, even though the packages it can carry have a weight limit of 5 lbs. 

"The possibility of Amazon's nearly-90-pound drone falling from the sky onto our home, onto our car, onto our children was nerve-wracking," Insider reported Amina Alikhan, a College Station resident, saying at a public meeting last summer. 

A spokesperson for the FAA provided Insider with an exemption the FAA issued to Amazon on November 9, 2022 that maintains many of the restrictions it originally put in place in an exemption it issued the company in 2020, largely preventing the company from flying over roads and people without permission. 

However, the FAA's exemption to Alphabet's Wing, and Walmart's drone delivery partners Flytrex and Zipline — whose drones range between 10 lbs to 40 lbs empty — allow them to fly over roadways, according to The Information. 

Added to that, Amazon's drones have crashed several times during testing, with one igniting an "acres-wide brush fire" in 2021 Insider reported.    

Amazon's rolling layoffs — the largest in the company's history— have also drastically whittled down the company's drone safety teams in Lockeford, College Station, and the test site in Pendleton, Oregon where the fire occurred, Insider reported, citing comments from former and current employees. 

A spokesperson for Amazon told Insider via email, "We have built Prime Air as a service and technology with safety as the top priority. We meet or exceed all safety standards and have obtained regulatory authorization to conduct commercial drone delivery operations. We welcome the FAA's rigorous evaluations of our operation, and we'll continue to champion the significant role that regulators play to ensure all drone companies are achieving the right design, build and operating standards."

© Image: Amazon Amazon’s hexagonal MK27-2 delivery drone.

It’s been nearly a decade since Amazon’s Jeff Bezos promised us delivery drones, but they aren’t off to a particularly impressive start. Roughly a month after Amazon Prime Air made its first deliveries in California and Texas, it’d served fewer than 10 households — and it’s already laid off more than half the employees at those locations.

That’s according to a pair of new reports at The Information and Business Insider, and Amazon isn’t denying it. Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti didn’t contest those numbers in an email to The Verge when we asked. But she also said that Prime Air is actually working to expand drone deliveries in both California and Texas, with the FAA’s approval.

And there may be a very good reason why Amazon doesn’t have a lot of customers for drone deliveries quite yet, as The Information points out: Amazon’s drone isn’t allowed to fly over roads by itself.

To cross the road while still abiding by FAA rules, Amazon employees had to act as spotters to make sure no vehicles were coming when the drone needed to fly across the street, a plan the FAA approved.

Seems ridiculous, right? Amazon’s drone is effectively a five-year-old who needs to hold hands to cross the street. A drone designed to replace humans needs humans to go places.

But before you decide Amazon’s drone isn’t capable, before you conclude that the FAA is halting progress in its tracks — either or both of which might be true! — I suggest you actually read the FAA’s decision that made things this way. I’ve embedded it at the bottom of this story.

If you’ve never dug into an FAA drone filing before, you might not be aware: the FAA doesn’t exactly hand out licenses to operate autonomous drones and drone delivery services. It creates specific exemptions to the United States’ strict airspace regulations, each with a long list of conditions that companies must follow.

Amazon is working through a slow process with the FAA

Until last November, Amazon couldn’t even fly its drones outside of “sparsely populated areas,” couldn’t fly over buildings or within 100 feet of a building, and had to stick to flying over property under Amazon’s total control. The FAA required Amazon’s drone pilots to have the kind of private pilot license that’d let you fly a plane, not just a drone. If I’m memorizing correctly, every flight needed as many as six human beings, including observers and ground station operators.

That seems to have been wise. There were five crashes in four months at Amazon’s testing facilities in Oregon, and one crash ignited a 25-acre brush fire. The drone weighs nearly 90 pounds.

But those rules were during the experimental stage, and Amazon successfully argued last November that its experience and its new, safer and more autonomous MK27-2 drone didn’t need as many humans or safeguards. Among other things, the FAA cited its “enhanced perception system that allows for detection of people or obstacles below the UA during delivery or landing,” its auto-abort feature, remote alerts, and the fact that it can fly even if one of its six motors fails as reasons to nix those specific restrictions and more.

But not all of them, not by a long shot. Here are just some of the ground rules that still exist:

i. Operations over people are prohibited, unless otherwise approved by the Administrator;

ii. Overflight of power plants is prohibited;

iii. Overflight of schools during times of operation (e.g., elementary, middle, high, preschool and daycare facilities) is prohibited;

iv. Operations over or within 250 ft. laterally of moving vehicles are prohibited, unless otherwise approved by the Administrator

v. Overflight of any area deemed high risk by the Operator during the flight route design process are prohibited;

vi. Sustained flight within 250 ft. laterally of roadways is prohibited, and transitions over roadways is prohibited, unless otherwise approved by the Administrator;

vii. The UA must remain at least 100 ft. laterally from any person during all phases of flight, unless otherwise approved by the Administrator.

You’ll notice that Amazon’s drone still can’t cross a road by itself, and can’t come near or fly over people. That means Amazon’s customers can’t stand in their own backyards when the package gets dropped — unless their backyards are bigger than my house — and the FAA states that Amazon has to explicitly warn customers about that when they sign up.

One month, four miles, less than ten households — to start

In addition, both its California and Texas operations were limited to flights within just 3-4 miles of their drone launch sites. That’ll limit the number of potential customers.

Now, however, Amazon no longer needs nearly as many people for each flight, and the FAA is no longer requiring those employees to have the same flight or medical training — so it’s not surprising that Amazon would lay off many workers now it’s made them expendable.

“The recent staffing reductions do not impact our plans to deliver in these locations,” Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti tells The Verge. “We remain committed to our delivery operations in Lockeford and College Station and will continue to offer a safe and exceptional drone delivery service to our customers in both locations. We’ll gradually expand deliveries to more customers in those areas over time.”

She says the FAA approved flights to more customers in Lockeford, California and College Station, Texas just last week, and that Amazon is continuing to work on its next-generation drone, the MK30.

You can read the FAA’s revised requirements for Amazon’s MK27-2 delivery drone (and the reasons for its decisions) in the full document below.

New York State has joined the parade of federal and state government officials who are taking sides against Amazon with the unions who are trying to organize the company’s warehouse workers, but it is questionable about what the real impact a new state law will have in the end on the e-commerce giant.

The new law, which goes into effect on Feb. 19, is aimed at preventing warehouse workers from being subjected by management to work quotas that are so demanding that they are considered to be risks to the safety and health of the employees.

Called the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (WWPA), the new law establishes requirements for distribution centers (DCs) to disclose work speed data to current and former employees and to inform workers about their performance and rights in the workplace.

Labor unions hailed the law’s enactment. “Amazon overloads its workers to pump up its profits,” said Sean M. O’Brien, Teamsters’ general president. “While we are pleased by this bill’s signing, the fight continues in states across the country to make sure this white-collar crime syndicate is held responsible for its behavior.”

Tom Erickson, president of Teamsters Local 120 and director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division, added, “Enacting this legislation will end Amazon’s shady practice of managing its New York warehouse workers by secret algorithm, but more still needs to be done. Going forward, lawmakers everywhere need to understand the damage this company is doing to their constituents and our communities.”

Although unions have been trying hard to organize Amazon DCs for years now, they have managed to make only little progress after expending a large amount of effort and money on the campaign. One reason is that the company largely blunted the threat by raising wages and adopting sweeping safety measures in 2021.

Recognizing that about 40% of its workers’ injuries are related to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), at that time Amazon developed algorithms to automate staffing schedules, rotating employees around jobs using different muscle-tendon groups to decrease repetitive motion and help protect employees from MSD risks.

In the process, the company said it invested more than $300 million in various safety projects, including $66 million devoted to creating technology that will help prevent collisions of forklifts and other types of industrial vehicles. Amazon said it also initiated improved safety training and created wellness and mindfulness programs for employees.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) apparently was unimpressed and recently filed charges against Amazon at three of its Florida, Illinois and New York state, and is pursuing investigations at three fulfillment centers in New York, Colorado and Idaho. The charges specifically involve what the agency terms a high rate of MSD injuries.

OSHA Assistant Secretary of Labor Doug Parker said, “Each of these inspections found work processes that were designed for speed but not safety, and they resulted in serious worker injuries. Our hope is that the findings of our investigations inspire Amazon and other warehouses to make the safety and health of their workers a core value.”

Amazon currently faces a total of $60,269 in proposed penalties for these violations. It also was cited in December for 14 recordkeeping violations as part of the same investigation.

Targeting Work Quotas

New York’s WWPA is similar to a California law enacted last year that is intended to protect warehouse workers from unreasonably demanding work quotas by requiring DCs to disclose work speed data to all current and former employees to inform workers about how their performance is measured and evaluated, and help them learn about their rights in the workplace.

The California law, which went into effect at the beginning of 2022,  does not permit a work quota that prevents compliance with meal or rest periods required by state law, the use of bathroom facilities (including reasonable travel time to and from bathrooms), as well as preventing compliance with health and safety standards.

The New York law covers employers who have 100 or more employees working at a single warehouse or DC and those with 500 or more employees at one or more warehouse DCs. Workers who are covered by the law include non-exempt and non-administrative employees who work at a covered employer and are subject to a quota.

The WWPA defines a quota very specifically, according to attorneys of the law firm of Goldberg Segalla. It says a quota is a work standard where an employee is assigned or required to perform at a specified productivity speed, or a quantified number of tasks, or to handle or produce a quantified amount of material, within a defined time period.

The law says a quota also occurs when an employee’s actions “are categorized between time performing tasks and not performing tasks, and the employee’s failure to complete a task performance standard or recommendation may have an adverse impact on the employee’s continued employment or the conditions of such employment.”

Employers are required to provide each employee with a written description of the quota being imposed and any potential adverse employment action relating to it. In addition, each time the quota changes, the employer must provide an updated description within two business days. Any time an employee is disciplined they also must be provided with information about the applicable quota.

In addition, the WWPA protects workers from adverse employment actions because of a failure to meet undisclosed speed quotas or quotas that do not allow for proper breaks. It also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees exercising their rights under the law, point out Mark Goldstein, Alexandra Manfredi and Alexandra Irizarry of the Reed Smith law firm.

If employees exercise their rights in “good faith,” any subsequent actions taken against them by the employer are presumed to be an “adverse action against an employee,” if it is taken within 90 days of the employee’s engaging or attempting to engage in activities that are deemed to be protected by the law, like engaging in organizing efforts.

The law also requires that employers applying these kinds of quotas maintain records of each employee’s own personal work speed data; the aggregated work speed data for similar employees at the same establishment; and the written descriptions of the quota such employee was provided.

The FAA is said to have placed strict conditions on the Prime Air program.

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© insideEvs.com Copyright Zoox robotaxi driving on public roads in California

The robotaxi developed by the Amazon-owned company has no steering wheel, brake pedal or other controls human drivers would need.

Earlier this week, Amazon's autonomous tech company Zoox announced it deployed the world's first purpose-built robotaxi on open public roads with passengers.

Zoox said it conducted the first run of its employee shuttle service in Foster City, California on February 11, marking the first time in history a purpose-built autonomous robotaxi without traditional driving controls carried passengers on open public roads.

Unlike a conventional car and the vehicles most other robotaxi developers are using, the Zoox fully autonomous vehicle lacks a steering wheel, brake pedal and other controls human drivers need.

The company said it completed rigorous testing on private roads to reach this milestone and received approval from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to operate its robotaxi on the state's public roads.

More specifically, to obtain the permit, Zoox self-certified that the electric vehicle met existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). To date, Zoox is the only purpose-built robotaxi to take the self-certification route.

While manufacturers can self-certify compliance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) may scrutinize self-certifications in some cases to ensure they conform with the standards.

But many autonomous vehicle experts are wondering, Automotive News points out. The publication cites Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst at consulting firm Guidehouse Insights, as saying there is "some potential risk in this." He also said "it is still an open question on whether what Zoox is doing is legit," even though their legal team "seems to think it is."

For now, Zoox uses a single robotaxi traveling a 1-mile (1.6-km) public route between the company's two main office buildings carrying up to four people at a time at up to 35 mph (56 km/h). Zoox says it is capable of handling left-hand and right-hand turns, bi-directional turns, traffic lights, cyclists, pedestrians, vehicles, and other road agents on this route. 

The employee shuttle service will be offered exclusively to all Zoox full-time employees, but the Amazon-owned company plans to offer robotaxi rides to the general public after it secures additional government clearances.

Source: Zoox via Automotive News

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