- Topics Mentioned
- Certification(s):
- Microsoft Certifications
Part 2: Microsoft Certified Professionals – still relevant after all these years
In this multipart series of articles, I review the recent history of the Microsoft Certification Program from the NT4 days right through to its current revamp with the releases of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Additionally, we’ll review some of the corporate and political atmosphere in which the certifications both flourished and were hamstrung at the same time.
Part 1 – The Microsoft Certified Professional – from humble beginnings took a look at some of the back history of the MCP program up to the changes around the time when the Windows 2000 track released.
Part 2 – Microsoft Certified Professionals – still relevant after all these years will take a look at some of the changes made to the Microsoft Certification program with the release of the Windows 2000 track of certifications.
Additionally, it is probably important to note that I do not have any particular insight into the certification programs at Microsoft beyond personal experience and deep understanding of some of the workings as I studied out and took the exams. I would say however that as an up and coming certification candidate at the times of these sweeping changes and over an extended period of time from 1998 steadily though 2004 that I was acutely aware of the radically changing landscape around me.
As the Microsoft series of certifications for the Windows 2000 track released and broadened, the Microsoft owners of the certification program had to decide on some changes to keep their certifications relevant as new technologies replaced old ones.
Initial thoughts were to keep certifications “forever” and another was to pin a certification to a retirement date. As part of the review and restructure process, some subcategory additions were made to the program as well as offering up some certification specializations such as messaging and security. One of the more predominant changes was the introduction of the Microsoft Certified System Administrator certification.
[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – I make a couple of references to some of these additional category changes but I am not detailing much additional information on them within this series of articles due to time and space limitations. You can research additional information on these certifications on your own via the following links:
- MCSA on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Certification
- MCSA: Security on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Certification
- MCSA: Messaging on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Certification
- MCSA on Windows Server 2003 Certification
- MCSA: Messaging on Windows Server 2003 Certification
- MCSA: Security on Windows Server 2003 Certification
One mode of thought was to follow the never expire model. As one example, CompTIA certifications mostly follow a “never expire” model and do not involve any sort of continuing education verification at any regular interval. Someone who passed the A+ exams many years ago is still considered A+ certified presently despite dramatic changes in hardware architecture for computing systems as well as radical changes to the certification programs themselves.
Along the lines of no true certification expiration default but the need for continuing refresh, there is the line of thinking that the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2 employs which outlines that any certification holder must retake an exam after so many years (as defined by the particular certification held). The other option that the certification holder has rather than re-testing at a predefined interval is to earn the pre-specified number of continuing education credits during their active certification period (again – as defined by the particular certification held).
[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – I became A+ certified in 1998. I am still considered A+ certified by CompTIA even though the certification objectives themselves underwent major updates in 2003 and again in 2006. The overall certification has gone under some changes and has branched out to some subcategories but once you are certified, you remain certified. As this page from CompTIA.org outlines in the FAQ the question “Will I ever need to renew my certifications” is answered with “No, CompTIA certifications are lifetime certifications.”
I have been CISSP certified under the ISC2guidelines for the CISSP certification for the past six years. I passed the exam in late 2002 and had been earning the needed number of continuing education credits as required over the allowed three year periods to date. As my present three year window closes I will decide whether to pursue revalidating my certification (as that is technically what this process is). I keep my CISSP certification valid in part by submitting my additional educational learning and those earned credits through the ISC website in my personal profile. However, I may choose to let the certification lapse due to what I view as a lessened demand of the certification for my present employment needs. In the future if this need changes and I wish to become certified again, I will need to retest on the exam if I presently decide to let the certification lapse.
Additional information on this process can be found via https://www.isc2.org/about-isc2-credentials.aspx
The main issue with the “never expire” model coupled with no need of having any sort of continuing education credits is how relevant is the certification holder as time passes and as technology changes. When considering someone like myself and the CompTIA A+ exam, I originally earned the certification back when 486 processors were in vogue and when Windows for Workgroups was cutting edge. How can it really be known if I still possess and maintain current and relative knowledge to properly support recent system hardware and desktop operating systems on that hardware by simply saying “I am an A+ Certification holder”?
In some ways maintaining some relevance under the “never expire” model is left up to the certification holder. In the A+ example, I can outline on my resume how I have maintained my hardware and PC operating system operational knowledge by showing this in work history and on the job experience. Alternatively or additionally to that I could choose to retake and pass the updated A+ exams after upgrades are in place and after subcategories have been announced and requirements have been revamped.
[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – An example of this might be to take the 2003 or 2006 exams even though I have been certified since 1998 by passing the exams at that time. I could tell a perspective employer or even my current one that I am showing that my skills are still relevant by passing the updated exam. This would not change my certification status. I would still be A+ certified since 1998, but it would lend to the argument and show proof that my skills are up to date and still relevant by showing a PASS result from taking an updated exam.
There are some other ways within the “never expire” model that the certification owners like Microsoft can execute on to keep their certifications relevant and that is through track changes or with additions or subcategories.
Microsoft felt some need to address this and decided to add a main certification layer in between the MCP and the MCSE and to expire the NT4 track of certifications.
The Microsoft Certified Professional program partially introduced this effort with their Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator certification as a “half way point” (for lack of a better term) between the Microsoft Certified Professional certification and the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification.
By introducing a mid-point certification, it allowed people pursuing the Microsoft certifications a place to show progression. Additionally, it allowed for MCPs on the NT4 track a way of showing that while their present place of employment might have still been leveraging NT4 that they themselves were training up on the next level of releasing technology by gaining the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator certification on Windows 2000.
[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – The Microsoft Certified Professional certification for Windows 2000 was gained at passing a single exam. It took passing seven exams in total, the original exam that granted the tester their MCP and then six additional tests for a new certification candidate to reach the next certification level of MCSE. In many cases as well, examinees were not formally server or network engineers. They had more experience and on the job skill and responsibilities than what the singular MCP offered but less than what the MCSE demanded. One way to address this was to add an interim certification – the MCSA.
Beyond the introduction of the MCSA on Windows 2000, Microsoft initially decided to retire the NT4 certification. This was met with a lot of negative corporate feedback on the decision as well as Microsoft MVP and present (at the time) MCP and MCSE certification holder backlash.
[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program is made up of a select group of experts and technical community leaders from around the world who are recognized for their achievements of voluntarily sharing their real world expertise across large technical communities. Additional information on this program can be found at https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
The main feedback was “how can you retire and effectively decertify thousand of technical candidates and current certification holders that are still working on supported and relevant technology.”
Microsoft had made the decision of retiring NT certifications with the mindset of their replacement with the 2000 track. What hadn’t been fully considered at the time was the fact that NT4 was still a supported operating system and would be for a number of years beyond this decision as NT4 was not formally retired from extended support until June of 2004. New technicians and certification candidates would not be able to validate skills on supported NT4 technologies if the NT4 track was to be retired.
After some review of this feedback and some additional internal review (I presume) Microsoft announced that they would not formally retire the NT4 track of certifications. They would instead differentiate the certification levels as MCSE on NT4, MCSE on Windows 2000 and so on.
[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – This can be found right on the MCSE on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Certification Requirements page.
“If you earned the MCSE certification on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 by February 28, 2001, you remain certified.”
As an example of this I offer a cross section of my own Microsoft certification transcript:
You’ll notice that I became a MCSE on November 18 of 1999 and that in September of 2001 I added the 2000 level of certification to the MCSE credential and that further on in 2004 I added the Server 2003 certification to the MCSE.
As another example, I gained the Microsoft Certified Professional + Internet certification on November 18 of 1999. This is no longer an offered certification but the credential has not been retired from my transcript.
There were some additional modifications that were made as newer technology released with the introduction of Windows XP, Server 2003 and initially Vista but a bulk of the newest additional changes have come over the past couple of years.
In Part 3 – Microsoft Certified Professionals – study now for the future I will detail some of the recent changes in the past couple of years to the certification program including the new generation of certifications (the series structure) and the “New Generation Certification Lifecycle Policies” that are in place for this new generation which actually outline a definitive lifecycle for given certifications.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and the others in this series and I am looking forward to any feedback you have on it. I would also welcome any topics of interest that you would like to see and based on demand and column space we’ll do what we can to deliver them to you.
Best of luck in your studies.
Read Part 1 of Who Moved My MCSE Cheese:
Microsoft Certified Professionals – From humble beginningsRead Part 3 of Who Moved My MCSE Cheese:
Microsoft Certified Professionals – Study now for the future
hi….i would like to know about the future scope of the course HDCH ie.,Advanced hardware plus microsoft IT professional enterprise admistration