It’s been a month since the Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas. It was my first time to “Sin City” and apart from it being a fantastic experience, I was actually there to do a very privileged role being one of the first ever group of MCT Ambassadors at MMS.
Our role wasn’t just promoting Microsoft Certifications – this time the MCT Ambassador role was to enthuse and excite the attendees for the rebirth of the MCSA and MCSE.
If you haven’t already heard, Microsoft is moving away from the MCTS/MCITP to reignite the MCSA/MCSE. However, with some important changes starting with the MCSA:
- MCSA now stands for Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate
- The focus for both levels of certifications is solutions
- The MCSA is still focussed on PRODUCT i.e. you can now become a MCSA in Windows Server 2008 when you pass the 70-640, 70-642 and 70-646
- If you pass these exams before April 2013, you will also gain the MCITP: SA 2008 and of course MCTS in Active Directory Configuration and Network Infrastructure Configuration
- If you had previously held the MCITP:SA or MCITP:EA you will automatically be upgraded to MCSA 2008 – this will have occurred on April 16 2012
The MCSE is a bit more complicated:
- MCSE now stands for Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert
- The focus for the MCSE is on concept as opposed to the product, for example you can become a MCSE: Private Cloud
- MCSE will require recertification as the concepts are always fluid and are often changing
- To jump from MCSA: 2008 to MCSE: Private Cloud you need to complete exams 70-246 and 70-247
- If you already hold the 70-659 this will be accepted in lieu of the 70-247 until April 2013
Another important change to the certifications is that the exams have got a lot more rigorous – I can vouch for this as I was fortunate to take the beta exams for both 70-246 and 70-247. All I am saying is that the exam questions can now very easily differentiate between a minimum qualified candidate and an unqualified candidate due to the nature of the exam item types.
As you can imagine all these changes had attendees dazed and confused all over. So our merry band of MCT Ambassadors were able to answer some very difficult questions from the attendees and I am confident that everyone we met and talked to came away feeling optimistic and dare I say it; happy about the changes! Mission Successful!
Evangelising the MCSE
I was also invited to co-host a session with Krista Wall from Microsoft Learning about Windows 7 Deployment Certifications and we had a small but captive audience who we were able to convince that certification matters.
I really enjoyed my time at MMS and would like to thank everyone that I met and look forward to connecting with you in the future.
MCT Ambassadors and the MSL Team meeting the Blue Man Group
Warning: Microsoft Learning are still transitioning from MCTS/MCITP to MCSA/MCSE so the information in this blog post may already be outdated. Always check the latest information on the official Microsoft website. Thank You.
