MCSE CertificationFinding information on net is not so easy but we have tried to provide you with relevant information on MCSE Certification through this article.
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2012-02-22T19:11:45+01:00text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comCertifications Training-What Will the Market Bear
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Why is there so much growth in training and certifications? Simple--jobs and money. You may already know about the hottest jobs in the IT industry. You certainly have plenty to choose from. Keep in mind the industry is wide open, and there are many popular and lucrative certifications out there. No industry is plagued with the kind of success being experienced in today's IT market.
Jolene Perry, director of IT for Foamex, a $1-billion company headquartered in Linwood, Pennsylvania, says her company is always looking for those certified in MAI Open Basic (they run MAI on their ManBase system). They're also always looking for experienced or certified professionals familiar with J.D. Edwards, Pansofic, Comshare, Windows NT, CISCO, EDI, and Gentrain, to name a few.
Another IT director from a mid-size company in New York says, "We're looking for NT Server certifications." This company is in the midst of converting to Office 97, so they are also interested in experienced Microsoft Office professionals. And he has already sent several of his staff to CISCO training.
Scott Crager, information systems operations manager for Johnson Worldwide Associates, a Wisconsin-based recreational-products company with over 1,400 employees, says: "We're looking for a lot of things. For Novell we're looking for CNE certification. But we're also looking for NT Server experience or certifications, and IBM AS/400 experience, training, or certifications."
However, he's quick to point out, "I consider certifications without experience suspect. We're looking for a mix of experience and training."
Part of the reason Crager and other IT directors and managers are suspicious of inexperienced, certificate-waving professionals is because some certifications can be easily and cheaply obtained. Some work experience is always going to place you in a better position for negotiating a higher salary and benefits. But don't fret--if you walk into an employer...text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comCertifications Training-What Is Required
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Generally, most certifications follow a similar process, though they all differ in the details. Understand the details.
Once a candidate has decided on a course of study, he or she must usually undertake some training in preparation for a certification exam. As we've already addressed, training is available in many forms and varieties, and at many different costs. On the low end, you can spend around $100 to $300 and obtain some kind of study kit, or maybe just a manual. On the high end, you can spend around $10,000 and attend a 6- to 12-month seminar consisting of lectures, labs, and plenty of hands-on experience. The in-between usually entails spending $500 to $5,000 for a collection of CBT, handbooks, and a testing CD.
When the candidate has completed the training--or at least after passing, for example, a simulated test--he or she is ready to take the certification exam. Certification exams are offered all over the U.S. and the world. Today, one vendor, Sylvan Prometric (http://www.sylvanprometric.com), appears to have the great majority of the marketplace for facilitating your exam certification. Sylvan Prometric partners with all sorts of companies to support a large variety of technical-certification exams. Whether it's IBM, Microsoft, J.D. Edwards, CISCO, etc., Sylvan Prometric will provide you with a time and a place to take an exam.
Sylvan Prometric makes the entire scheduling process as simple as point and click, or a phone call. The opening page of Sylvan's Internet site includes links to both a registration service and a test center locator. For example, if you're interested in taking an MCSE exam, you can simply use the Test Center Locator to find the closest testing place. Once located, you can even register online. If you would rather speak to someone, the site also lists the phone number...text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comCertifications Training-Know Your Training Provider
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Do not sign up with the first trainer you encounter! If you're interested in MCSE certification, you have plenty of options to choose from. And finding them is simple. Log onto AltaVista, Yahoo!, or any of the other major Internet search engines, and run the following search: "MCSE certification." Take a look at several training providers.
Of course you're going to call the ones with the best fit for you. For starters, make sure they're accredited by the vendor/ product or industry standard for which they're training. For example, if a site or service provides training and certification for Microsoft products, it will have a small, widely recognized logo that says "Microsoft Certified Solution Provider."
If you acquire a computer-based training (CBT) CD-ROM product with a manual, find out what it covers. For example, does it include actual, automated tests similar to what you can expect from the certification exams?
"We sell bundled products;' says Gary Tippner, owner of BadDog's Training Planet (http://www.trainingplanet.com). "These bundles can include coursework (on CDs or videos, or a combination), plus books and training materials." Tippner says most of the good packages also include "a CD, which is an exam simulator, as if you're sitting down at a Sylvan terminal--and it will grade you. You just keep taking the tests until you feel ready for the exams."
Also, it's important to know the pass rate for a provider's training curricula. Khizer, of PC Age Network Engineering Institute, boasts a 94-percent pass rate for its Microsoft certification. Other CBT training materials tout similar rates. If the training-self-directed or otherwise--doesn't reference or track a pass rate, then maybe you should look elsewhere. Remember, you have plenty of options.
Above all, job experience is most important, and will always take you farther than any piece of paper. But...text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comMCSE-Certification Bandwagon
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"A lot of people jumped onto the certification bandwagon in hopes of finishing the MCSE certification within six to nine months or a year," says Matt Pierce, a network administrator at Saferent Inc., a Denver-based company that provides applicant-screening services for apartment communities. But when Microsoft announced it would retire the NT 4.0 exams, some IT workers abandoned the idea of getting certified in a technology that's on its way out, he says.
Then, when Microsoft reversed its decision and said it wouldn't retire NT 4.0, IT professionals lost valuable time that they could have spent preparing for the NT 4.0 exams, Pierce adds.
One compromise Microsoft offered until the end of last year was an accelerated Windows 2000 track for those who had passed three NT 4.0 exams. If an IT worker were to pass a one-shot examination, he could forgo the normal four core exams -- and become certified in Windows 2000. Three elective exams were also required in either case. But Microsoft stopped offering the one-shot exam in December of last year (see timeline).
Garrette Slonacher, a network engineer at Response Computer Group Inc. in Milford, Del., failed the accelerated exam in December. Slonacher says he "doesn't have time to study five hours a night" in addition to working and spending time with his family. His employer spent $10,000 to send him to an MCSE "boot camp" to prepare for the MCSE NT 4.0 exams.
Slonacher says he was shocked when he heard that Microsoft would retire the certifications. "I didn't think I'd lose the certification," he says. "If you get a degree in electronic engineering, you don't lose the engineering degree because of new technology."
Even though Microsoft decided not to retire the MCSE NT 4.0 credential, Slonacher is skeptical as to how long it will be recognized before Microsoft begins...text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comMCSE-A Change of Heart
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David Sanders, general manager of Management Systems Designers Inc. in Vienna, Va., applauds Microsoft for reversing its decision last fall. This change of heart allows companies and IT professionals greater flexibility to use the technologies with which they are most comfortable, says Sanders, whose company is a certified Microsoft Solution Provider that does high-tech work for federal agencies.
Although some larger companies have specified that they want to hire people who are certified in the latest versions of Windows, NT is still very popular, notes Sanders. "When you look at the business community, NT and derivatives still dominate," he says.
Yet some analysts think getting recertified is the only way to stay competitive in the technology industry. "If you play in this game, there is a constant recertification process," says Dave Murphy, membership director at the International Association of Information Technology Trainers Ltd. in Elkridge, Md. And if Microsoft decides to retire a particular certification, people can simply explain on their resumes that they were "certified until Microsoft canceled the exam," he adds.
The best move for time-pressed IT workers is to be selective about their Microsoft certifications, says Pierce. "There is no need to be certified in everything Microsoft does. It's not realistic," he says. "Companies are not always quick to jump on the latest Microsoft product until multiple service packs have been released and the bugs have been eliminated."
In addition, says Pierce, IT workers would be better prepared in the marketplace if they broadened their skills by getting certified through other vendors or organizations.text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comCross Talk On MCSE
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Microsoft's plan to reduce certified systems engineers by half is generating a certain buzz
WHEN I REPORTED that Microsoft will purge the majority of MCSEs (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers) on Jan. 1, 2002, with a new Windows 2000 requirement, it set off a firestorm of comments (see Window Manager, July 30).
Some readers doubted that a reduction in MCSEs -- from 400,000 worldwide today to fewer than half of that next year -- would change the ability of companies to find qualified support.
"Just because Microsoft changed the rules, does that mean that those folks who were MCSEs now suddenly don't know what they're doing?" asks reader Mike Malik. "Suppose that 'Big College' changes the MBA program to take into account the newest management trends. Does that mean if I had the old MBA degree I now know nothing?"
Others, however, agreed with me that many businesses look for the MCSE as a credential.
"There are certainly companies that stupidly and blindly rely on Microsoft's definition of trained and qualified skills," writes reader David Schaller. "These same companies should probably lay off anybody they have who loses their certification, regardless of the proven ability of those same people. Then, and only then, would there be an inability to get support, and it's their own fault."
Several readers said the value of a MCSE had been diminished by minimal standards.
"The NT 4.0 exams, often studied for in standard, commercial 5-day courses, resulted in techs and network admins who know how to do their common day-to-day admin tasks, but who did 'exam crams' to pass everything else," asserts Andrew Johnson, marketing manager at Trike Technologies, an MCSE training business in New Zealand. He feels a drastic reduction is a good idea. "Unfortunately, while the glut of NT 4.0 MCSEs remains, some...text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comMCSE Classes Fill Up As Deadline Nears On Nt 4-0 Certification
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With the Dec. 31 deadline looming for completing certification on Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) for Windows NT 4.0 before it is retired by Microsoft, trainers have seen increased enrollments for those certification-track courses over the past few months, leading in some cases to added classes. While the exams for NT 4.0 certification will expire, the designation will be officially recognized by Microsoft through the end of 2001.
Those who complete the courses for NT 4.0 and earn their certification before the end of the year will be further along toward MCSE for Windows 2000 status. They are then eligible to take a four-tests-in-one upgrade exam to complete a majority of the seven-exam Windows 2000 certification requirement.
Kelly Keefer, product marketing manager for DigitalThink (San Francisco), said the company's enrollments for NT 4.0 courses have held steady at 65% of its overall Microsoft enrollments, even as the number of those offerings has increased with new Windows 2000 courses.
"We see people that are trying to finish up NT before they take Windows 2000," Keefer said. "They'd rather take four courses for 2000 certification than seven. If they don't have to start over, it's to their benefit."
"For the past three or four months, and through the end of the year, we've definitely seen a big increase for NT 4.0 certification courses, as opposed to the beginning of the year," said Kevin Murray, product manager for Microsoft training at Global Knowledge Network (Burlington, MA). A two-week boot camp for MCSE is especially popular, Murray said, and is filled up through Dec. 31.
Even though IT professionals can take the accelerated track for Windows 2000 certification if they have completed their NT 4.0 requirements, Murray said, "the four-hour (combined exam) is probably the most difficult in all of (IT) certification. It's not...text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comWave Boot Camp Thoroughly Tests MCSE Recruits
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Soon after I signed up for Wave Technologies' two-week MCSE Boot Camp, I knew it was going to be a challenge. I received a big green duffel bag, a box of study guides, and CD-ROM-based simulations that weighed about 25 pounds; the recommended pre-study time for this two-week course is at least 80 hours. Wave staff members called me to make sure I was doing my homework and preparing for the grueling task ahead. The thought of going back to boot camp brought back memories of marching on the grinder and shining my boots at Naval Training Center San Diego some years ago.
With my workload around the Test Center, I did not have time to do all the recommended preparation. I was able to overcome this, however, because I had some previous experience with Windows NT and gave 200 percent during class time.
The Wave MCSE Boot Camp is geared toward professionals who have some on-the-job experience with NT 4.0 and have been studying to take the exams to become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). Wave's facility had up-to-date systems on every student's desk and a full-time connection to the Internet.
It took me a couple of days to get used to the accelerated pace that Wave uses to prepare people for the MCSE exams. The first week of class was spent preparing for the Windows NT Workstation 4.0, Windows NT Server 4.0, and Windows NT Server 4.0 in the Enterprise exams; the intense focus on exams left little room for in-depth discussion of the details of NT. However, once I passed my first exam on the second day of the class, I found myself in a high-speed learning groove. I passed all three tests on the first try.
With one week down, I felt like an old...text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comThe Missing MCSE
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A majority of Microsoft Certified Software Engineers may lose their certifications on Dec. 31
IN A DEVELOPMENT that may dramatically change the ability of companies to get support for Windows, more than half of all MCSEs (Microsoft Certified Software Engineers) worldwide seem likely to lose their certifications by the end of the year. This is due to a Microsoft requirement, announced last fall, that those who've passed its NT exams must now complete new Windows 2000 exams by Dec. 31.
Those in the know say the pool of MCSEs, on which numerous companies rely to support massive new projects, is at risk of a major depletion.
"If you were a CEO, and you heard that you were going to lose more than 50 percent of, say, your marketing partners or distributors, you'd be upset," says Harry Brelsford, an MCSE and author of MCSE Consulting Bible.
Anne Marie McSweeney, Microsoft's director of certification skills and assessment, says there are presently over 400,000 MCSEs worldwide. She also notes that more than 1 million individuals hold the less-demanding rank of MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional). Value-added resellers that do not employ at least one MCSE or the equivalent lose their Gold-level status as Microsoft Partners.
McSweeney says only 13 percent of MCPs have attained Windows 2000 certification so far. When asked the figure for MCSEs, she said, "We're not quite ready to release that yet." Whatever the number is, it appears to be embarrassingly low.
A source close to Microsoft Australia says a mere 326 out of almost 10,000 MCSEs in that country are certified for Windows 2000. "Microsoft Australia quietly estimates that they'll lose 80 [percent] to 90 percent of their Partners at the end of the year -- virtually their entire channel," my contact says. "This is reminiscent of when the new...text/html2009-03-09T02:22:22+01:00http://www.mcsecom.comWeb-Based Training Helps One Family Man Move Up
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JIM TOSHACK faced a dilemma last year. He wanted to earn a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification, but between his job, family, and 120-mile round-trip commute, he didn't have enough time.
So 17 years after he dropped out of college, Toshack became a virtual student, taking a standard six-module MCSE training course. Now, having passed the MCSE certification test on the first try and switched to a new job, he is delighted with the new browser-based approach to learning, especially the schedule flexibility it gives him.
"It makes no difference where I am in the world -- whenever I have time, I can attend," says Toshack, now the senior computer systems technician at Antelope Valley Hospital, in Lancaster, Calif.
Toshack first looked into online education around the end of 1997, when he was the network administrator at Woodbury University, a small private college in Burbank, Calif.
Toshak had already upgraded Woodbury from a single VAX computer to a five-server network, relying mostly on his hands-on experience, which extended back to 1981, when he dropped out of college to open a computer store. He wanted both the formal training on Windows NT and Microsoft Exchange and the credential, and the university was willing to pay for it.
But most computer training courses seemed logistically impossible. Commuting 60 miles each way between Burbank and his home in Lancaster left him little time in the evenings for his wife and two children, and he could not leave Woodbury for several weeks at a stretch for daytime classes.
"I was the only NT administrator -- I couldn't leave them high and dry," Toshak says.
Toshak also wanted self-paced study, so that a busy week at work wouldn't make him fall behind the rest of the class.
The only remaining option was online training....