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10.27.05
Microsoft
Newly Certifiable
 By
John Stith
Microsoft announced on Tuesday the launch of a new three-tiered certification
system that provides training and credentials. The new certifications for Technology
Specialist, IT Professional and Certified Architect are updated to reflect the
changing IT environment.
Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 will be the first credentials offered,
available next month, to help customers and partners move quicker into the new
technologies.
"Today's systems require IT professionals and developers to possess more
specialized skills," said Lutz Ziob, general manager for Microsoft Learning. "These
new certifications are key to helping customers and partners continuously build
the skills they need to successfully adopt and deploy Microsoft technologies."
The new three-tiered program offers a rigorous, flexible curriculum to enhance
technical knowledge and skills; a certification framework that helps individuals
demonstrate their unique skills; and a proven benchmark for managers in making
successful recruiting and staffing decisions. These more targeted credentials
can be achieved with fewer exams, making it more cost-effective for individuals
and organizations to validate specific sets of skills. In addition, Microsoft-commissioned
research* has shown that organizations can realize substantial improvements in
project deployment, system downtime, spending on ad-hoc external IT support, and
overall productivity by employing certified staff.
"By focusing on specific job roles and by using performance-based testing,
this new certification program is much more in line with the real-life job situation
of IT professionals and developers - and should help them create and build more
accurate solutions," said Olivier Nguyen Van Tan, industry analyst and senior
consultant with Pierre Audoin Consultants.
"Beyond expanding customers'
technology expertise, the utmost value lies in the new synergies with Microsoft's
product strategy, and will be a key factor of customer success in using future
product releases."
The certification process starts with a free individual online assessment to determine
a candidate's areas of strength and weakness, which results in a customized learning
plan that directs candidates to specific resources. Candidates can then choose
the learning resources that best reflect their needs and learning style. In the
next six months, a slate of new materials will be available to help them prepare
for certification, including assessments, books and courses that are available
on demand, in printed form, and as instructor-led classroom curriculum from Microsoft
and its learning partners.
"One of the key things Microsoft has done is to break certification into
two parts: understanding the technology and performing specific jobs," said Thom
Griffin, vice president of Technical Services for QuickStart Intelligence Inc.,
Microsoft Worldwide Learning Partner of the Year.
"Our enterprise customers will appreciate the job role emphasis because it
will help them assess and better evaluate their staff's skills. And with fewer
exams and reduced cost, the new program provides our customers with an easy way
to validate the skills necessary to quickly adopt new technologies as they become
available."
About
the Author:
John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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