A Taxonomy of IS Certification's Characteristics

Information system (IS) certifications are considered as a powerful tool for improving the security and trustworthiness of an IS. However, organizations struggle to evaluate and finally adopt appropriate IS certifications. To enhance our understanding of the evaluation of IS certifications, we iteratively develop a taxonomy of key characteristics of IS certifications using inductive and deductive approaches, including expert surveys and interviews. Our taxonomy consists of 17 subjective and objective dimensions, comprising 46 characteristics of IS certifications. Our taxonomy highlights interesting insights into the key characteristics of IS certifications, such as certification targets, scopes, and pricing models, among others, that organizations should consider throughout evaluation. We provide a more fine-grained perspective on IS certifications, guiding future research assessing certification adoption and effectiveness, and supporting organizations in selecting appropriate IS certifications.