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With just a few KBytes of memory, cassette-tape based data storage, clunky keyboards and primitive all-caps video displays, these machines were hardly a threat to the local office calculator let alone a real mini or mainframe.

Move forward a few years however and the IBM PC appeared on the scene. Suddenly large and small businesses alike were waking up to the fact that by running a spreadsheet (Lotus 123 was a favourite) and wordprocessor (Wordstar), the humble microcomputer could be a very valuable productivity tool.

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It was also about this time that many computer users became computer "programmers".

Note that I use the term "programmers" loosely in this context.

These were people who discovered that it was pretty easy to get a computer running BASIC or dBase to display stuff on the screen, accept keyboard inputs and even store data on a disk.

Armed with their copy of BASIC/dBase programming for dummies, these people began writing little bits of software for their own use -- and some of them even branched out into writing software for others.

Unfortunately, a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing in some cases, and some of these people wrote the most atrocious code you've ever seen.

Most of the time this wasn't too much of a problem -- since the programs were relatively trivial and not usually critical to a business's viability. This meant that the existence of relatively unskilled, untrained people in the IT industry at this level wasn't too much of a worry to anyone.

Even when the Net became popular and some of these people moved into web-design, the results were seldom worse than an ugly website created by someone with plenty of enthusiasm but no real skill or training.

Move forward to 2005 however, and the problem gets a lot worse.

Now we still have people who have migrated from "an interest" in computers to becoming self-appointed "experts" that tout their services to an unsuspecting market.

These days almost every business is highly dependent on their computers for accounting, communications and a raft of other vital activities.

If some cowboy security-consultant comes in and screws up a company's network then the cost can be massive.

Of course most large companies have established relationships with bona-fide professionals who can deliver quality service -- but there are still a lot of smaller enterprises who shop around on price and get stung.

With this in mind, I'm wondering if New Zealand ought not to consider introducing some form of accreditation or minimum standards for IT workers -- especially those involved in security and the provision/maintenance of internet connectivity.

One only has to look at how the leaky-buildings problem has caused major chaos to realise that something similar could occur in the IT industry if cowboy operators continue to provide services without a full understanding of what they're doing.

Do we need some way to protect unsuspecting businesses from these people or should we simply say "serves you right" if/when things go wrong?

Personally I'm not in favour of adding more bureaucracy, taxation and paperwork to the industry -- but those who've been stung by shoddy "professionals" might think otherwise.

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