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...Home ... Editorial ... News ..News Story Sunday: December 18, 2011


Microsoft Announces 2 New Certs


7/16/2001 -- Microsoft is preparing two new certifications -- one for systems administrators, one for developers -- which candidates may attain as early as first quarter 2002.

MCPMag.com broke the story about the new certifications Saturday when Microsoft announced them at its annual worldwide sales and partner conference, Microsoft Fusion, in Anaheim, Calif.

The new systems administrator track is aimed at "network administrators, technical support specialists and Web administrators who implement, manage, monitor, and troubleshoot the network and system environment for the Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows .NET Server platforms," according to a press release issued by the company. The same release says the new developer track is for "individuals who create software components including complex macros, desktop and Web clients, and data access and business logic objects."

Anne Marie McSweeney, director of the Microsoft Certification and Skills Assessment group, says the new systems administrator track, which has yet to be officially named, will not require as many exams as the MCSE. The new track's exam requirements may list current exams from the MCSE track as well as one or two new exams specifically for the new sys admin track, including a possible core exam particularly suited to testing the skills of the day-to-day systems administrator. She said that the requirements are still in development and that Microsoft has yet to complete its surveys and focus groups to fine-tune it before making an official announcement in a few months.

What's driving the new systems administrator title is a skills gap that exists within the certifications, said McSweeney. "The MCP is a great entry into the certification program, but it doesn't define a particular skill."

"To make the [Windows 2000 MCSE] credential valuable in the workplace, we needed to raise the requirements," she added. "As well, we needed to target those who do the design."

"There's a whole group of people who do just the implementation," which McSweeney said the new track will assess. "They don't do all the design stuff. That particular job function -- when we raised the bar we left a void."

Andy Barkl, owner of MCT & Associates, a training and consulting firm in Phoenix, Arizona, thinks the new tracks, if implemented correctly, will finally "allow for "job-based" training instead of just product and technology training."

McSweeney said that the developer track "wasn't as strong a need." Nonetheless, the same type of skills gap exists, with specialists whose roles are more narrowly defined as coders or programmers.

The fact that the announcement came with few details miffed a few CTEC owners. "We got nothing," said one CTEC owner, who asked us not to identify him. "We just want to know what the curriculum will be."  -MCPMag.com



There are 28 CertCities.com user Comments for “Microsoft Announces 2 New Certs”
Page 1 of 3
7/18/01: Ed says: Change is inevitable, including cert upgrades. Use it to your advantage. I tend to be behind the curve, ie: still at SQL Server 6.5 & 7.0, scheduled to take the SQL 7 Design & Implementation exam by the end of the year. But upgrade requirements serve as a good "kick in the pants" to stay current with IT technology. Ed Betts, MCSD
7/18/01: Doug says: I think the intermediate cert is great for developers. I teach MCSD career tracks and some people just aren't ready for the full-blown MCSD. Start with building blocks...get a cert...get real-world experience and then launch into big time MCSD training. I think the MCSD cert will hold more value at that point.
7/18/01: Laura says: I am really excited about the potential for me with these 2 new certs. My certs are in NT4, and while I was waiting to move to Win2K-Pro, I will wait until I find out more before I make my move. I have done lots of support, and am now a developer with Access 97/2000. It would let me be certified in what I am really doing!
7/18/01: Jai says: Hi, I am interested in Certifications for System Administrators, Could I get more information on this as quickly as possible. Could any one from Microsoft let me know on Certifications for Windows 2000 Server Family: Advanced Manageability, Microsoft Operations Manager, Microsoft Systems Management Server, and Microsoft Application Center products I am really interested in learning this suite of products and also to get certified. Thanks and Regards, Jaiprasad
7/19/01: Kailasraj says: The idea behind these certification is really good. I am preparing for MCSE 2000, But the problem is how long it will be valid? Do I have to upgreade myself with this new system administrator exam.
7/19/01: Joshua says: Being elective short of my MCSE W2k, I am glad to see the MS is going to put a roadblock up for people who are not really interested in becoming MCSEs, and just want to be MS certified. The MCSE should be reserved for those who want to do exactly that, engineer MS solutions. Let the admins do that, administer. I think this move will add some real depth to the MS cert track.
7/19/01: Anonymous says: MS always have their way to make $
7/19/01: Anderson says: I am currently MCSE NT4.0 and haven’t taken any 2000 exams yet. I hesitate only because my company has no plans to switch our servers over to 2000 platform. I also hesitate because I’m installing Whistler now completely bypassing 2000 pro. It took over a year to certify NT4 and I suspect it will take the same with 2000. Will MCSE 2000 be retired soon? I would have to say yes! Seeing that not too many working professionals are rushing out to retest. In my opinion retiring a certification is lame especially when the product is still current at least in the working world anyway. They should be MCSE –NT4 MCSE Win2000 etc. That would make more sense to me. Let the market drive the requirements not Microsoft.
7/19/01: Steve says: My worries as a current MCSE2000 student is that the System Administrator cert will devalue the current MCSE cert. Why would employers pay a MCSE to run/and maintain (administrate) thier networks when thay can pay a lower certified person less to do the same thing. Sure there will be demand for the design aspect of it all, but will that demand meet the number of MCSE2000 profesionals in the market. As for the XP/.NET certs. I wonder what sort of integration there will be for MCSE2000 certified induviduals. Will it just be an additional test or two to bring you to a suposed MCSE XP/NET? Being that the core OS seem to be on the same playing field that would seem to make reason. Or will there be only two tests or so that transfer over and you have an additional 4 or 5 to take for MCSE XP/NET cert? I guess we wil have to wait and see.
7/21/01: concerned says: As a systems administrator certified as an MCSE in NT4 and an MCP in 2000, Novell CNA, Net+, A+, ASE, I'm appalled at MS's lack of planning for their certification track as well as their product development. Why does it appear that they are using these programs to promote\ force market their products instead of simply supporting their product lines? A certification for the support of a product should end with the manufacturers support of that same product. I'm now caught in the switches of saying why did I ever bother with the 2000 track in the first place. Right now, MS is not getting the profits it had hoped from their 2000 line. Could it possibly be the licensing costs? Could it be that it hasn't been adopted or proven itself in the market as a stable optimized platform as yet? Heck NT4 wasn't heavily adopted in the market until late 98..some 3 years after its appearance. Even before win2k's release, they were discussing the release of its upgrade in short order. Personally I want my Backbone services stable, proven, optimized and supportable.....maybe UNIX is the best answer here where it's not the OS of the month club. For an IT based soluitions provider they're certainly not practicing a proper implementation strategy for their certification track let alone their NOS'.
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