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It had to happen sooner or later, Microsoft is going to raise the retail price of certain Microsoft IT Certification from 1 July 2011 (if you’re India, the rise will happen 1 August 2011). Microsoft IT Academies will continue to enjoy discounted exam prices.

Given that the price of Microsoft exams were last raised in 2001, this announcement some would argue is well overdue. However, turning back the clock to 2005 (when I took my first MS exam) the benefits were a lot more tangible: a physical welcome pack with a lovely certificate, wallet card and lapel badge. At £88 (15,000 YEN as it was for me) this was an absolute bargain! But then the benefits were reduced. The first benefit to go was the lapel badges. Apparently the argument was that quite a few broke in transit and it was costing more to send replacement. Then they took away the wallet cards – here it was a case of “no one uses them”. I don’t know about you, but I always have to reach out to my wallet card whenever I have to access the MCT Readiness Site (amongst other things). The final benefit to go was the free shipping of physical certificates.

So with the current pricing of MS Certification this is what you get:

MCP Virtual Business Cards

A Transcript which will eventually “expire” your certifications aligned to current MS technology (MCTS/MCITP)

The ability to pay for the delivery of physical certificates - $15 for the first and $1 for each subsequent certificate to a maximum of 6 certificates ($20)

It may seem like with the increased prices and a lot less benefits, the MCP programme will falter. Actually, the value of certification should go beyond a lot more than some trinkets and validate a candidate’s proficiency in technology or job role. Hence the programme will continue to grow strong – it’s the power of certification. It just doesn’t half hurt looking at veteran MCPs lapel badges and thinking if only I started a couple of years earlier!

For more information about the increase, visit the Microsoft FAQ:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-pricing-FAQ.aspx

It’s just been 48 hours since I’ve managed to relax…I’ve handed in my CTLLS (Certificate to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) portfolio. I’ve done it! At one point it didn’t seem that I would be able to do it…but it’s done.

Now time for a bit of reflection…

TechEd in New Orleans  – amazing, but I’ll leave the details for another post later on in the week.

I’m now looking ahead to August – especially the MCT Summit. It’s 3 days of total technology readiness with some of the top speakers within the community.

It also has quite a high level guest list including Lutz Ziob (MS Learning General Manager), Tjeerd Veninga (Community Lead)  and Matthew Roche (Courseware Guru). I had the pleasure of meeting some of the speakers at TechEd and they were amazing so I am looking forward to see what they will bring to York.

So if you’re a MCT (OR want to be a MCT*) and you want to experience a slice of TechEd in York then sign up ASAP  – the early bird discount ends on 30 June!

See you there!

*Educators and instructors (from schools, colleges and universities) are most welcome to join us and become part of the MCT community.

As part of the IT Grand Prix initiative to win money for charity, here is my VBC.

View my MCP Certifications

Please click on the above link so that we can win the money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!

This blog has been rather quiet as it has been A+ exam week at the IT Academy where I work and it definitely has been a rollercoaster of emotions. So I felt it was appropriate to write something that I had planned for some time…

Last month I participated in a focus group with the Microsoft IT Advisory Council and a very controversial topic reared its ugly head: which is more important – certification or experience?

I don’t like to make a choice between them as I always believe that to become successful in IT, you require three components:

1. Education – A solid education (degree/diploma) means that you can adapt to most situations
2. Experience – Any kind of IT experience is useful – even if it is managing your own home network or volunteering to manage systems for a charity; it’s all equally valid. Of course, proving your skills in a corporate environment makes it even more so.
3. Certification – This means that you have gone beyond the norm of job to a career.  Gaining and keeping up with certifications demonstrates that you have the ability to keep up with an ever-changing technology landscape.

Since my comments in the focus group are confidential, I opened up the conversation to my social network, and the response that I got was interesting (names have been left out):

“I would rate certification over experience in the very early stages of a career, but never past two years.”

I agree it helps to kick-start a career. However, I think certification should be sustained in order to keep up with market needs.

The next two comments from two different people mirror each other:

“Depends if the experience was relevant. In some cases a person can be over-qualified but you can never have too much experience.”

“I’ve been running two data centres for 2 years, as well as 3 years previously being an installation and facilities man, and I can’t find a job that takes experience over qualification for toffee. I’m far more skilled than those who’ve taken a measly exam but end up being the one left behind”

This proves that certification is required to move up the ladder. Masses of experience helps, but needs to be validated by exams – so it’s not a case of being over-qualified – just have the right certification for your job role/experience.

“Certification to get the job (pass the recruitment agents, CV crunchers etc.)…experience to do the job!”

This comment pretty much sums it up. Recruitment agencies and spiders on job sites are looking for a myriad of acronyms on CVs:  MCSE/MCSA/MCDST/MCTS/MCITP/MCT/CCNA/CISSP/ETC.

If you’ve got an eye chart on your CV, the chances of it being looked at by a real human are increased.  Then it’s a simple case of passing the interview (where there may also be a technical test) and then doing the job (where experience will make life easier).

I wish all the best to anyone taking any certification exams. It’s never easy going into an exam room, but the long term benefits are worthwhile.

This post has got a bit too serious, time for some cheesey videos…

The wrong way:

The right way: