Thursday, December 29, 2005

Take MCTS/MCPD in Managed C++


Yes you can take some of the new .Net 2.0 and related technologies exams in Managed C++ too... Although it is important to note that not all the exams will be available in Managed C++...

Check our the tentative plan on code language options for MCTS and MCPD exams in the adjoining figure...

Q Now why are certain exams not available in C++.Net?
A.Due to technical limitations with specific web technologies not all the exams can be made available in C++.Net

Q.Will all the above exam's Beta version also have Managed C++ as an option?
A.We will try to enable Managed C++ for Beta Exams whereever possible... More concrete details will be provided within Beta invites of the individual exams...

Q.Will we see more C++.Net in MS exams in the future
A.Well it depends upon the feedback from the C++.Net community. If C++.Net community loves it MS will have it...


NOTE: The above information is provided as is with no warranties... It is also subject to change at any point of time without any prior notices...

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Product Manager Position in MS

If you understand developers, are one among them, want to represent them within MS then you should check out this interesting position in "Developer Audience" team here at Redmond, USA...

http://members.microsoft.com/careers/search/details.aspx?JobID=ff04f31b-8820-48a5-96e7-959dfcc90f73

Sunday, December 11, 2005

TS: and PRO: Prefixs for Exams

VS 05 and SQL 05 Exams will have TS: and PRO: as official pre-fixs...

As there are going to be two major category of exams in next Gen of Certs, it is important to clearly seperate them... Cert Team wanted to make sure that candidates are able to differentiate between "Technology Series" Exams and "Professional Series" Exams by reading the names itself... To make this true for all the audiences i.e. Developers, IT Professionals etc the simplest common way was to add prefixes...

That is when it was decided that all "Technology Series" Exams Names (MCTS exam names) will be prefixed with "TS:" and all "Professional Series" Exams Names (MCITP and MCPD exam names) will be prefixed with "PRO:"...

Hope this new convention will help...

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

SQL 05 & VS 05 Upgrade Paths

Microsoft Recognizes the folks who are already certified...

I believe MS recognizes the folks who are already certified with MCAD, MCSD .Net or MCDBA credentials. It is definitely true that a lot of effort and money goes into getting certified and MS recognizes those who have gone through that rigor; that is one of the primary reasons for providing Upgrade Exams to folks already in the program...
Upgrade Exams are intended to test only the skills that people already in the program have not been tested on earlier. This also helps reduce the number of exams that a certified person will have to take to upgrade themselves. The next generation of certifications will be a step above the existing credentials and so it is important to ensure that people in the program climb up that step and get at level of new certifications... This makes having Upgrade Exams extremly important... Lets talk about the upgrade options available for SQL Server 2005 and VS 2005 credentials...

MCDBA Upgrade to MCITP Database Administrator
In the new family to become MCITP Database Administrator it is required to achieve MCTS SQL Server 2005 Credential by taking Exam 70-431 and then by passing two PRO exams 70-443 and 70-444.
For folks who are already MCDBA this three exam path becomes two exam path...
An MCDBA will have to achieve MCTS SQL Server 2005 credential by passing Exam 70-431 and then can take & pass an upgrade exam 70-447... So basically instead of passing the two exam 70-443 and 70-444, MCDBAs will have to pass just one exam.

This was a quick snapshot of SQL Server 2005 credential upgrade... Now lets talk about Visual Studio 2005 credential upgrades...

MCAD to MCPD Web Developer
In regular path to become MCPD Web Developer it is required to achieve MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Web Applications by taking two exams (70-536 & 70-528) and then by taking the PRO Exam 70-547
A person already certified as MCAD will have to take just Exam 70-551 and will automatically get MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Web Applications as well as MCPD Web Developer credentials...

MCAD to MCPD Windows Developer
In regular path to become MCPD Windows Developer it is required to achieve MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Windows Applications by taking two exams (70-536 & 70-526) and then by taking the PRO Exam 70-548
A person already certified as MCAD will have to take just Exam 70-552 and will automatically get MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Windows Applications as well as MCPD Windows Developer credentials...

MCSD .Net to MCPD Enterprise Application Developer
In regular path to become MCPD Enterprise Application Developer it is required to achieve MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Web Applications, MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Windows Applications and MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications credentials by passing four exams (70-536, 70-528, 70-526 & 70-529) and then by taking the PRO Exam 70-549
A person already certified as MCSD .Net will have to pass just two Exams 70-553 and 70-554 and inturn will automatically get MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Web Applications, MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Windows Applications and MCTS .Net Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications as well as MCPD Enterprise Application Developer credentials...

NOTE: Some of the exam links might not work as the Exams are not yet released...

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Are Next Gen Certs launched to make Money?

Did Microsoft Launch Next Generation of Certifications to earn more money?

Think about it...!! Are MCAD, MCSD, MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, all these credentials going down, getting less popular, not earning enough money??... Not true, they are still getting more and more popular; MCP numbers are only growing, definitely not going down...

Trust me; it takes a lot of money and effort to make just one exam let alone making all together new generation of certification with numerous new exams… It takes around 6-7 months and more than 20 people contributing to make one quality exam… Contributions to the exam content comes more from expert industry professionals and less from internal MS employees, this ensures to keep the content more relevant to the current industry… I can go on and on but instead it would be better to Click Here to know more on how exams are developed…

So when everything is going well and good then why make new credentials and certifications… Well, the primary reason for making all together new credentials is not money driven but much deeper than that…In my simple words, new generation of certifications are here to:

1. Raise the bar for technical certifications in the industry…
2. So that the right people, qualified in specific job/technical areas get identified by the world…
3. Provide certifications that hiring managers can easily identify, understand, respect and appreciate so that certified professionals really get what they deserve…
4. Provide certifications that professionals can relate to and adopt…
5. Separate job roles and technology so that professionals can not only demonstrate that they are strong in technology but also have the professional skills which come only by professionally working on projects in the industry…

Again I can go on and on but Clicking Here will present already officially documented reasons…

I hope this helps throw new light on New Generation of Certifications…

Note: This post is provided “AS IS” with no warranties and just expresses my personal views on subject…