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Microsoft Certifications — Past and Future
Hello, my name is Dave Lawlor and I am a certified geek!
Not the best introduction in the world, but after spending close to 12 years in the IT field with my very first certification coming in 1997 when I passed the fledgling A+ certification, I have learned to embrace my inner geek.
Certifications can certainly open up your career path, or give you a leg up to get an initial position, but are they everything they can be?
I remember when the first MCSEs came through. Back then Microsoft gave you a TechNet Subscription when you achieved an MCSE, but the practice was soon discontinued, I’m guessing because of the cost.
Very soon I started to feel that many certifications became watered down. Too many "Paper MCSEs" were running around causing real world problems when they got into a production environment.
They didn’t have the hands on experience to go with the certifications they earned. A few of these going through an IT Managers shop and soon they would sour on the Microsoft Certifications.
The Not-So-Distant Past of Microsoft Certifications
The first generations of tests were really ridiculously easy. I could pull my NT 4 transcript but I believe I missed only 1 or 2 points max. (They actually gave numerical scores back then unlike now.)
This was actually a great way to compete for some fun in-house as the techs would make side bets against who would get the highest score. Because of the simple text format and SAT style questions, memorization of the questions from any number of sources guaranteed you a pass.
The boot-camp style training became a rage and a quick ticket to a well paying job, until you actually got called in to fix a system in the middle of the night and didn’t have the hands on experience to troubleshoot. I think Microsoft really dropped the ball in that early stage by not setting the bar on their top certifications ridiculously high.
I do believe though that Microsoft realized their error as the certifications started to devalue in the workplace and they tried to make changes by adding the simulation and exhibit questions. While a success making the tests a little harder, it was for the wrong reasons.
The famous phrase you started to hear from the trainers was "The Microsoft Way", which meant that even though you may do something completely different in the real world, you had to learn how Microsoft thought it should be done as an absolute, or risk failing your cert exam.
The same went with the simulation questions; there was only one path to get something done and if you did something different you were penalized.
They also started to play with some "specialization" MCSEs that had an emphasis on particular subjects at this time, and I believe it was the start of the current certification program trend.
Microsoft’s Performance Based Testing — Learning From Mistakes
The new certification program is all about job roles and specific technologies. Microsoft wants to assure hiring and IT Managers that if a candidate has a specific certification they are ready to perform that job role.
They have set the top level certifications to be ridiculously out of reach of most normal techs. The new Master program will cost in the range of $20,000 to attempt and is a 3 week affair currently only in Redmond, which will include hands on testing by experts in the field.
The new generation of tests will start to incorporate what is known as "performance" based scoring. I recently got to sit on one of the pilot exams for Server 2008: Configuring Active Directory, and let me tell you it was one of the best testing experiences I have ever had.
Never mind that I gave up 4 hours of my time to just get a first look with no hope of passing because they don’t give you a score for pilot tests; I got to see the future of testing and I can only hope that it is rolled out as quickly as possible, as I finish up my Server 2008 certifications.
With performance based testing, you are given a list of end results that have to happen that mimic objectives that need to be done in the real world. You are then attached to a virtual machine on which you can do almost everything — just like on a real server.
The best part — it doesn’t matter how you accomplish the task, as long as it gets done you are scored correctly. This is a major step forward for technical testing.
In all honesty I haven’t been as excited sitting for my certifications as I am now since I first started those long 12 years ago. I had no interest in upgrading my 2000 certifications to 2003, just not enough changed to justify expending the time or energy for almost no real value.
Join the New Generation of Microsoft Certifications
The new generation of certifications offers incredible value and more importantly to me, a new challenge.
Microsoft has reinvented their certification program and finally started to shed the "Paper MCSE" image that tarnished it for so many years. If you held that belief, and trust me I did also for a long time, it is worth another look at the new program.
The managers are responsive with both forums and blogs that not only give out information, but accept honest feedback that I believe is used to improve the program.
The Microsoft Certification Program has come a long way over the years and its current incarnation is the best it has ever been.
As I said at the beginning of this article, I have learned to embrace my inner geek and I am going to expand that by achieving my current goal of MCITP: Enterprise Administrator over the next few months. I will be writing about it here at Train Signal Training as I go, so I hope you will follow the journey.
For more information on Microsoft Certifications you can check out:
And if you have specific questions about certifications you can ask them at the TechNet forum which I help moderate:
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- The Future of Computing — Part 2: TouchSmart PC & Windows 7
- The Future of Computing – Part 1: OLEDs, LEPs, & OLEs
- How To Become a Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP)
2 Responses to “Microsoft Certifications — Past and Future”
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hemraj Says:
October 14th, 2008 at 2:08 am
when i came to know about mcse with out a instant of time i join a institute named”IHT”. now i want complete information about “MCSE and CCNA”
Recent Articles published | Dave Lawlor {Dot} Com Says:
October 28th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
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