1/3/2001 -- As many of you will know, Novell recently completed its CCR (Continuing Certification Requirement) for everyone with a CNE certification title. They had done this once before in 1995, when CNEs were forced to take an upgrade exam for 4.x to ensure that they were NDS-literate. At that time, it made a lot of sense, since the introduction of NDS brought a totally new way of thinking plus a lot of new technology to understand. (Of course, to really master these concepts required much more information and hard-won experience, but at the least completing the certification gave you a fighting chance!).

However, the most recent CCR was for CNEs to take an upgrade exam for NetWare 5.x. As great as the new features were, even the most diehard Provo fan would have to agree that this was more of a marketing exercise than a technical one. These new features weren't that revolutionary and don't require the same degree of thought to understand how them.

I did a quick straw poll of the CNEs I know and found they tended to belong to one of two categories:

1. Those who didn't bother upgrading their CNE since they feel that NetWare has a limited future; and,
2. Those who did upgrade their CNE because they feel an emotional attachment to their CNE.

Which means that no one really thought Novell had much of a future, and didn't see the upgrade as doing much for their career. I wonder how many out there are still considering completing their CNE-5 from scratch?

(Now, before everyone flames me, note that I don't want to dump on Novell: They've always had great products, but were no match for the Microsoft juggernaut. I still look back to how proud I was when I completed my CNE in 1994 and what an achievement that seemed to represent. And I still think Novell have a better understanding of enterprise networking than Microsoft will for quite some yet. But the reality of the market is something else entirely...)

After the CCR expired, I checked around the Novell Web site to find out any news about the CCR and the numbers of CNE-5s. What I did find what an interesting entry in a FAQ about the CCR. Unfortunately I don't have my old correspondence from Novell, but it sure looks to me that there has been a change of heart about how these CCRs actually work.

I had thought (and I would bet money on this) that the idea of the CCR is that if you don't upgrade your certification you were no longer a CNE. However, this is certainly no longer the case. If you don't take an upgrade exam, Novell will let you keep your CNE title, but you won't be a "current" CNE or CNE-5, and anyone checking up on your CNE status will be told this. You can read this yourself at http://www.novell.com/education/certinfo/cneccr-qa.html

This sounds like a great idea; one that perhaps Microsoft may want to consider emulating with the end of the NT 4.0 stream scheduled to be expired at the end of February. Of course, there will still be a lot of NT 4.0 out there in March 2002, and there will still need to be good trained staff on-hand to support it. Or is this just a method to simply reduce MCSE numbers and restore some value to that certification?

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It's been very interesting to read through all of the feedback the initial columns have generated. It seems many of you are heading for the CCNA after your MCSE. I can see that this makes some sense in a lot of cases, but you have to have thought this through beforehand, otherwise you're just getting some more initials for your resume. I'm still considering getting my CCA, though after I upgrade my MCSE for Windows 2000.

On the MCSD piece, it seems Microsoft has still got some work to do in getting a program that appeals to developers en masse. As many of you pointed out, the new 70-100 exam does appear to test developer skills -- in contrast to the first two incarnations, which tested theory. There also appears to be a backlash because of the current reputation of the MCSE, with the MCSD suffering guilt by association.

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I've been doing a lot of interviewing lately for new staff for my team. My current pet hate is those people who list MCSE under the Education section in their resume, yet when I ask them which exams they took, they tell me "Oh, I haven't done any exams yet...I just took the classes." Grrrrr. So what "gets up your goat?" Post your comments below, or e-mail me directly at .