The Open Group, a vendor-neutral consortium sponsored by IBM, HP and others, announced on Monday that 1,000 IT professionals around the world have earned the organizations Certified IT Architect title.

There are two levels to the organizations cert program: Certified IT Architect and Master Certified IT Architect. Both focus on TOGAF, a vendor-neutral industry architecture framework standard developed by the group.

To earn an Open Group credential, candidates must pass a peer-review board and meet minimum experience requirements, among other qualifications.

"I would like to congratulate all of the TOGAF 8-certified practitioners, trainers and members of The Open Group Architecture Forum who were instrumental in reaching this important program milestone," commented Allen Brown, president and CEO of The Open Group, in a released statement. "The fact that companies such as Bank of Montreal, Hewlett-Packard, InfoSys Technologies Ltd., Johnson & Johnson, and Raytheon have multiple groups of individuals TOGAF 8-certified speaks volumes about IT architecture as a well-recognized and increasingly important professional discipline."

The Master Certified IT Architect launched in July 2005. The lower-level Certified IT Architect title launched in February.

For more information on the Open Groups certification program, go here.