Category — Certification News

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.

One of my original purposes for starting this blog was to help people to find resources to help obtain IT certifications. In this article, I would like to highlight one such resource.

Train Signal is a company that creates and sell IT Training videos. They have over 38 titles covering Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA, and VMWare. Train Signal provided me with a review copy of SharePoint Server 2007, one of their latest titles. Also included was Intro to Windows Server 2008, a promotional video which contains training an some basic topics of the new operating system as well as an introduction to their upcoming Windows Server 2008 titles.

The first thing that impressed me was the bio of the instructor, Benjamin "Coach" Culbertson. Coach Culbertson has the usual credentials that you see in instructor bios. What stood out to me was that he served a two year tour of duty as an inner city high school teacher where he motivated at-risk students to achieve excellence. As an instructor, myself, I realized that this guy has to be good to be able to impact students the way he did!

For the SharePoint title ($199.95), there are 22 videos, each running approximately a half hour each, on two CD’s (10+ hours of training). The videos cover both Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007). When you insert the CD, a flash based menu runs showing you the video titles. When you click on one of the title, your web browser opens with the video embedded in a web page.

As I watched the videos I was not disappointed. Mr. Culbertson’s style is very easy going and informal. To setup each video and to illustrate concepts, Mr. Culbertson starts out with slides created in Microsoft One Note. (Frankly, I think Microsoft ought to thank Mr. Culbertson for demonstrating how useful One Note can be ) The rest of the video is demonstrations of the actual software in use. When it comes to installation and configuration, you are shown each field and get an explanation of what the settings actually do. The training will prepare you to take the associated certification tests, but also prepares you to actually be able to support the products in a real world situation.

Another feature that I liked is that the videos are all linked to a business scenario. For the SharePoint video, you are an employee of Verde Petra Publishing. The company wants to move away from using email as a collaboration tool. You have been charged by the CIO to implement Windows SharePoint Services. If that trial is successful, then you will implement Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

A video on how to setup your own lab is also included. This is great if you want to duplicate some of the training on your own. Also, all of the instructor’s slides are included in a PDF file, which you can also print out and use to take notes, if you wish.

The included Intro to Windows Server 2008 contains some good training to help familiarize you with the new operating system. Although I am not doing a full review of this title, I was impressed with a feature that I hope will make it into all of the titles in the future. Not only were the videos for Windows Media Player included, but also formats for MP3 players and iPods. This makes the training more portable for users to review the material.

If I had to point out any negatives, it would be the interface. The flash menu is OK and it does give you a good overview of the contents of the CD. I would prefer an overview of the whole course as opposed to just the contents of the CD. When you click on a video to play, a bare web page opens with only an embedded video player. There is nothing on the page to allow you to switch videos or even just go to the next video. Although the interface was not as good as I would have liked, I find this to be a minor point, since the training itself, is excellent quality. The interface included with the Intro to Windows Server 2008 title is somewhat improved. Although you have to run a setup file, the new viewer is more useful. The video now pops up in its own custom viewer. On the left are bookmarks for some of the important parts of the video. There is an icon for viewing in full screen, but it did not seem to work on my system. Also, there is still no way to advance to the next video from the viewer.

Overall, I found this title to be a great value. The trainer and the training are both great quality. The training you will find in these videos are as good as the best training that you will find in any instructor led class. The video format is flexible - you can watch it when you have the time (even during your lunch hour) and review a portion as many times as you want. You also do not have to be "Out of the Office" for a week.

If you want to check out samples of training videos from Train Signal, go to TrainSignalTraining.com. To purchase videos, go to TrainSignal.com. Train Signal will also be at Tech Ed 2008 IT Pro, June 10-13. I have been told that they will be making an important announcement at Tech Ed. If you stop by Train Signal’s booth, tell them you read about them at ITCertPro.com!

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.