[monster]

In some ways it's like requiring a college or university education, in that it shows a person is competent and motivated. But it by no means implies hands on experience.

In my experience employees that have hands on experience AND are certified are better able to manage the growth of an environment than an employee that has only hands on experience OR only certification.

Putting headaches, scalability, and future planning aside - it boils down to your bottom line: Do your clients require that your staff are certified? Is there a correlation between the growth of your business and the certification of your staff? IBM and Microsoft's consulting divisions both require all employees to be certified in the relevant technologies - Windows, DB2, Solaris, etc.