Reflections on Changes to Microsoft's Certification Programs

It will be interesting to see how these widespread modifications to Microsoft's certification programs play out.

Wow! This is the first week in over two months in which my blog will reflect my own musings rather than answering somebody’s direct or career questions. It’s not that I’ve seen my inbox of reader inquiries abate – I haven’t – it’s just that some questions are too pointed or specific to be worth sharing with a broader audience. That said, I’m very pleased with the ongoing level of interest in the blog, and with the type and level of reader inquiries it continues to spawn. So please: keep up with the good work, people, and the great questions you keep sending my way.

This week, I’d like to reflect on the interesting and widespread changes that continue to percolate through the Microsoft certification programs.

As you must already know, the new MCSE, MCSA, and MCSD are all off to their official starts with multiple credentials now defined for MCSE and MCSA, and one credential for the MCSD. A few weeks ago, in fact, the exams went live for the MCSE: Private Cloud (which covers System Center 2012 in addition to Windows Server 2008 R2 topics, with Windows Server 2012 no longer that far off from general availability, either). Thanks to the Microsoft online community’s 60Days2MCSE challenge, there over half-a-dozen individuals had already earned their MCSE: PC (as it’s coming to be known in abbreviated form) by the end of last week (see this blog from Virginia Sopher for more details).

I’m expecting the number of certified professionals for all of these new MCSE, MCSA, MCSD and other related credentials to boom in the weeks and months ahead, particularly after Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 go into commercial release form later this year.

At one time, the old MCSE, MCSA and MCSD credentials were viewed as “tickets to success.” This happened in the 1996-1999 timeframe, before the dot com dot bomb brought the heady days of unlimited Internet-based opportunity to a screeching halt. I kind of hope that the new versions of these certifications can enjoy similar success but without the bubble and bust cycle that characterizes the 1999-2002 period in our not-so-distant past.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, but I have to believe Microsoft re-issued these old and familiar acronyms in hopes that their previous popularity and cachet would be picked up and carried on by the current generation of credential-seekers.

If any of my readers at Tom’s has concerns or questions about these new Microsoft credentials, or has either success or horror stories to share, I’d love to hear from you. There should be lots of opportunities to exchange information and perspectives as these programs grow from their current status as new and interesting certifications into something hopefully more valuable and profound than their predecessors.

Given the large numbers of IT professionals who earned the previous MCSE and MCSA credentials (hundreds of thousands of them), it will be a good while before the “next generation” versions of these credentials can get close to, let alone surpass, their forbears.

Best wishes,

Ed

Ed Tittel is a 30-year-plus veteran of the computing industry, who’s worked as a programmer, a technical manager, a classroom instructor, a network consultant and a technical evangelist for companies that include Burroughs, Schlumberger, Novell, IBM/Tivoli and NetQoS. He has written and blogged for numerous publications, including Tom's Hardware, and is the author of over 140 computing books with a special emphasis on information security, Web markup languages and development tools, and Windows operating systems.

E-mail Ed at etittel@tomsitpro.com with your request for IT certification or career info, or your ideas for future blogs. If your e-mail leads him to a blog topic, he’ll have the Tom’s staff send you your very own Tom’s IT Pro t-shirt! Be the envy of your friends and colleagues, and help him help you with your IT career! If you do have a request for Ed, please read his How to Help Me Help You blog posting, and answer as many of the questions this post contains as are applicable to your situation and inquiry. Thanks in advance for helping make his job easier that way!

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