Category — Certification News

Microsoft introduced the Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) programs in June 2008 to provide seasoned IT Professionals the opportunity to enhance their design, build and troubleshooting skills (previously available only to Microsoft employees) and to provide a credential that would allow them to differentiate themselves from other seasoned experts.  Training for this credential involves a 3-week immersion into server technologies led by top subject matter experts and industry-renowned instructors. Originally, MCM programs were only available for Exchange Server 2007, SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 Active Directory.

Milestones:

• More than 350 of MCMs have been earned by IT pros from over 20 countries and 30 companies
• In its first year, the net satisfaction of the training, rated by attendees, averaged 179 on a scale of 200
• The program has expanded to include MCM for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Microsoft will introduce MCM programs for Exchange Server 2010 and Office SharePoint Server 2010 in early 2010

New Offers:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 offers 11 days of training that culminate in two written exams and one 8-hour long lab-based test. Content focuses on core directory services that builds off of pre-reading and prerequisites that maximize classroom time.  For those who’ve earned their MCM on a previous product version, options exist for ensuring they are up-to-speed on new versions.  Register before January 1, 2010 for a $1,000 discount.  
• Microsoft is offering a 20% discount for all other MCM programs until January 1, 2010.  More information is available here.

The Microsoft Certified Masters program is definitely at a different level than the MCTS and MCITP. It is also very expensive. However, for those that need the advanced skill level that this program offers, it is well worth it. From Microsoft’s web site, the latest numbers worldwide for MCMs are:

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-overview.aspx#tab5

As the economic climate continues to impact IT pros around the world, it’s vitally important for individuals to enrich their skills, differentiate themselves, and maximize their impact within their organizations.  

For IT pros that have not taken a certification exam since January 1, 2007, Microsoft and Prometric are providing a limited offer to the first 4,000 individuals to help them gain their Microsoft Certified Professional status in the MCTS/MCPD/MCITP tracks.  You can find more information and register at www.prometric.com/microsoft.  The offer is available for customers who have taken their last certification exam prior to January 1, 2007.

So, come on back. Get certified again!

Microsoft Skills Week kicks off today and runs through Friday. As part of Skills Week, there will be more than 175 partner-led events in North America designed to help IT professionals and developers develop and validate their skills, network with industry leaders and achieve Microsoft Certified Professional status.

Microsoft Skills Week events will include the following skills development and career assistance programs as part of its offerings:

•Access to Career Assist. An offering through Microsoft Learning’s Second Shot Program. Second Shot gives individuals the opportunity to retake a Microsoft Certified Professional exam for free should they fail. The Career Assist Package gives individuals who register for Second Shot by June 30 the opportunity to purchase a Microsoft E-Learning Collection for $35 (U.S.) — a 90 percent price discount in most cases. The online programs provide specific tools to help users develop technical skills and prepare for Microsoft Certified Professional exams. The discounted collection purchased with the Career Assist Package will be available for 90 days after activation.

•Exam Crams. Quick study sessions to prepare individuals for Microsoft Certification exams.

•Live Meetings. Sessions with Microsoft technical specialists and legendary Microsoft Certified Trainers who will demonstrate technologies to enhance training and answer questions to enable individuals to prepare for examinations.

•Exam discounts. Opportunities to get certified on-site at events while saving up to 40 percent on exam fees.

More information on Microsoft Skills Week and local events is available at http://www.certificationweek.com.

(Info taken from Microsoft Press Release: http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/mar09/03-09SkillsWeek09PR.mspx)

Just posted on Born to Learn, the blog from the Microsoft Learning Team, Ken Rosen has pre-announced (official announcement on Friday) the Microsoft Career Assist Offer. The offer is an enhancement to the Second Shot offer. The offer is:

Register for Second Shot starting today and get ANY Microsoft Official E-Learning Collection for only $35 USD!

If you are currently registered for the Second Shot promotion, you will have to re-register to be eligible for the E-Learning offer. The $35 will give you 90 days of access to any E-Learning Collection title. Registration is open now. At the end of registration, when you click on the link to get your voucher, the code for the Career Assist Offer will also be displayed.

As an MCT, I have used Microsoft’s E-Learning. I have found it to be a useful tool to prepare for certification and to learn new technology. E-Learning uses a combination of slides, interactive slides, animations, and virtual labs (YES! a real environment) to teach you what you need to know to use the product and pass the certification. The collections are actually groups of courses, so one collection will keep you busy.

As a reseller of CBT Nuggets IT Training videos, I have decided to offer a discount to readers of my blog. If you click on the CBT Nuggets link on my page under “Helpful Links” or here or call (888) 507-6283 and mention promotion code ITCP08, you will receive a 10% discount on your order.

In the coming months, I will be posting a review of a CBT Nuggets title. I have been using CBT Nuggets for my own studies since 2003. In fact, I started selling CBT Nuggets because I enjoyed using them so much.

Let me also apologize for not completing my blog entries for Tech Ed. (I guess I really was tired!  :-)) I will post a summary of the rest of Tech Ed soon.

Thank you for reading.

As an adjunct professor, I have seen firsthand the decline of student enrollment in IT programs. While I was at Tech Ed, I met a couple of fellow community college instructors who told me that their programs had declined also. We brainstormed about why we are seeing a declining enrollment. Ideas included lack of advertising of the programs or perception by potential students that the program is too hard. The IT jobs are there, but the students are not.

Computerworld interviewed Andrew Sears who is the IS department chair for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Sears’ department has seen a 40% increase in freshman enrollment. Part of their success is due to outreach programs that concentrated on not only on high school students and parents, but also on high school guidance counselors, high school teachers, and middle school teachers.

The message of the outreach focused on the opportunities that exist and also the nature of the IT profession. “Working in IT isn’t just about sitting behind a computer; it’s very people-oriented,” stated Dr. Sears.

While getting program information directly to potential students and their parents seems the most obvious method to recruit students for a college program, it did not occur to me how valuable the guidance counselors and teachers are in the student’s decision process. Andrew Sears realized it and now his department is reaping the benefits.

To read the original article, click on the following link:

Career Watch: One School Boosts CS Enrollment

Tom  <><

Over on Trika’s blog, there was an exciting announcement about Tech Ed 2008. Tech Ed will again be held in my hometown of Orlando, Florida. This year, however, Tech Ed will be split into two tracks – one for IT Professionals and one for developers. This is the same way Microsoft has run Tech Ed in Europe. The Developer track will held June 3-6 and the IT Professionals track will be held June 10-13.

Based on Tech Ed 2007 numbers, Microsoft is expecting 5,000 attendees for the Developer track and 10,500 for the IT Professional track. The change is being made “to provide the same Tech·Ed experience but with expanded learning opportunities.”

I attended my first Tech Ed this year. It was an incredibly cool experience. Just seeing thousands of people who are all IT workers was incredible. I was also able to meet a couple of MCT’s who also teach in community colleges (I think that we are a rare breed). My favorite part of Tech Ed was the Hands On Labs. The labs themselves were fun, but interacting with the MCT’s manning the lab was even more fun.

Oh, yeah – I got to meet Trika and she introduced me to her blog. And I met Kathy of TechNet who would later help me with my TechNet subscription.

Good Times!

Tom <><

Today I came across several articles asking that age old question: Should I get certified? Of interest was an article at SearchDataCenter.com that titled “IT Jobs: Certification Doesn’t Pay.” According to a study, non-certified IT professionals average more pay than their certified counterparts. The researchers stated that “The corner has officially been turned for IT professionals who choose to market the diversity of their talents, not just their technical skills.” So, is this the end of IT certification? Are we wasting our money going after MCSE, MCTS, MCITP, CCNA, CCDP, Network+ . . . ?

On the other side of the issue is Georgeo Pulikkathara. Georgeo has a vested interest in the future of certification - He heads up the MCP program for Microsoft. In his blog post, Georgeo compares certification with US Army training. The value of training in the Army is that the training is standardized. This means that when soldiers fall in combat, units can recombine and immediately fight as a cohesive unit. No matter what unit a soldier comes from, they have all had the same training and same approaches to combat. The same way, if a company hires Microsoft Certified Professionals, a consultant who is Microsoft Certified could join with the group and very quickly be able to work with the team. They all use the same terms and language. They are all familiar with the way things work and what needs to be done to accomplish the project even though they have never worked together before.

The question that we need to ask ourselves is why we are pursuing our certifications. Does anyone believe that by getting certified that we will all of a sudden go from making fries one day at $5.85/hr to a making over $200,000/year as a systems engineer the next day? Of course not. (By the way, no disrespect to those that make the fries. I worked my way through college as a restaurant worker. And at times, I made the fries). Now, there are still some companies that tie certifications to promotions. The type of companies that I think would do this would be consulting firms and training firms. But why get certified if there is no instant monetary gain?

I will now stop asking the questions and get to some answers. As a trainer, part of the reason that I have pursued my certifications is so that I have more classes that I am able to teach. But for now, teaching is only my part time pursuit. My full time job is as a systems engineer. How does my certification benefit me there? During my past job search, I found that my certifications helped me meet with recruiters and interviewers. It helped me get exposure to employers. I have found that pursuing certifications have helped me on the job as well. When I study for certification, I am exposed to the technologies that the vendor wants me to be aware of. For example, when I studied for my MCSE 2000, I had to read about Remote Installation Services (RIS). Even though I had no use for or desire to use RIS, I still had to study it as part of my certification. Wouldn’t you know it? About a year later, I was using RIS for all my desktop imaging. If it were not for my certification studies, I would have never thought of using this technology.

While experience is certainly an important factor to an employer, certifications make a statement about the kind of IT Professional that you are. Certification show an employer that you are continuing your education in your chosen field of IT and that you are part of a standardized program of evaluating that knowledge. Certifications can also show future value to an employer. For example, maybe you worked as an assistant systems administrator in your last job. Occasionally, the email administrators would show you a few things with Exchange server. Exchange began to interest you, so you studied and passed the certification exam for Exchange. While you do not have a lot of experience with Exchange to be a full time Exchange administrator, it shows that you have a foundation of understanding that could prove valuable.

In conclusion, while getting certified may not make you a millionaire, it is a helpful method to stay up to date in the constantly changing Information Technology field. Certification provides standardized testing goals that allows you to work more easily with others who have pursued the same training and certification. It exposes you to features of the technology that you may not have discovered or used on your own. And for some employers and recruiting firms, certifications can make your resume stand out from the others.

- Tom <><

CBTNuggets announced today that they are also selling SelfTest Software Tests with their Video titles for $99. Now you can get your video and practice test in one place.