My first reaction to Adam Thilthorpe's opinion piece (The time has come for the IT profession to grow up) was to roll on the floor laughing.

When Thilthorpe says: "Not very long ago anybody with a knowledge of programming only had to walk through the door of an IT firm to get hired," it says more about the BCS than a thousand words ever could. It might have been true in 1972 but certainly not during most of the 26 years that I have been working in that field.

But most of all his attitude to the chartered IT profession is wrong. There is no such thing as an IT professional, or for that matter an untested software architect.

People write or design software. They manage projects, test software, provide support, build web sites, administer or design databases, engineer systems and perform other roles. It is a very large area but you won't find a job with an exact description matching "IT professional". It is an attitude, not a job.

David Bolton