We have certifications in different parts of tech that are not exactly the best indicators of knowledge / skill either (see: MCSE, RHCE, CCNA, CCIE, Java certif

We have certifications in different parts of tech that are not exactly the best indicators of knowledge / skill either (see: MCSE, RHCE, CCNA, CCIE, Java certifications...) so one of the distinguishing factors I see is not a level of formalization / standards but the adherence to standards as consumers of an industry's output. For example, there's not a lot of start-ups making skyscrapers, so the market for those selling the construction becomes large entities like governments and corporations, and the standards become ones that they care about. This is similar to how software is sold to the government, which is completely different than how it is for consumer software. But few people buying Wordpress are willing to buy some mythical Enterprise Edition that's $100k / mo with an operations team at your service basically, so the cost of paperwork pushing involved for the bureaucracy-driven customers is removed at the cost of perhaps some corners cut. However, I see quality output as a false dichotomy (rather, negative correlation) with bureaucracy / regulation of an industry's workers - look at the horrendous crap being produced for the Pentagon. Forget the glitzy articles in Wired and Techcrunch for defense-tech companies - most tech for government is done by under-qualified folks trying to make a quick buck off of Uncle Sam that couldn't really make it in the commercial software world. They'd be hard-pressed to make anything even close to some Chinese knock-off of a tech product if it came down to the wire. But I suppose this is because most defense contracts are regulated based around political and social requirements (see: the advantages for being a disadvantaged minority in getting a defense contract, plus Veteran's preferences) rather than actual functional requirements. Maybe the medical software industry is a better example of regulations in the right place (not that it's well done).