The PlanetRecruit Blog

The Future Of Microsoft Certifications

By Ralph La Fontaine, Development Manager at Home Learning College

Ralph La Fontaine is an IT educationalist with 14 years experience of delivering and managing IT training programmes for government and private industry. 

Love them or loathe them Microsoft Certifications top most polls of IT certifications when it comes to popularity and employability benefits.  Whether we like it or not the business world still runs predominantly on Microsoft technology, so being certified is an easy way for employers to have confidence in your skills across a broad range of technologies.

Of course, anyone who has embarked on an MCSE will tell you this should not be taken lightly.  These are big certification involving multiple exams.  The problem with these accreditations has often been that they are such a major undertaking that candidates are put off by their size and the prospect of having to go through the whole thing again when the certification is retired.  Here’s the good news: Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) is more accessible because it is built from smaller Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certifications which are respected and recognised in their own right, thus making it a more approachable, flexible and rewarding pathway.

But what of the MCSE?  Could we be witnessing the final chapter in the life of the trusted old war horse that first began way back with Windows NT 3.1?  Well as anyone who has dared to enter the obscure world of Microsoft Professional Certifications will tell you, clarity and straight talking are not always to be found in abundance.  Nevertheless, it is with some sadness that I can confidently say that, although the MCSE certification will still have currency in the industry for many years to come, it will not be updated to cover new technology upgrades.  This is because Microsoft is adopting a policy of replacing the big certifications with a plethora of smaller more narrowly focused awards, as with the MCITP.

The two most commonly known and popular MCITP certifications are Server Administrator on Windows 2008 and Enterprise Administrator on Windows 2008.  A question that is often asked is whether these two new MCITP certifications are replacements for, or equivalent to, MCSA and MCSE. The answer is no, because it is all about the technology! MCSA and MCSE are built around Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft has clearly stated that they will not be releasing an MCSE for Windows Server 2008.   If you want to be certified on the newer technologies, such as Windows Server 2008, then it has to be through the MCITP track.

So what does all this mean?  Firstly, unless you have a very good reason you should not be starting an MCSA or MCSE now.  Instead, look at the new MCITP Windows Server 2008 certification.   Secondly, if you are already studying for an MCSA or MCSE do not panic.  Microsoft has provided upgrade paths, and training providers like Home Learning College will be responding to demand for upgrade awards.  Whilst the MCITP on Windows Server 2008 does require new skill sets, the baseline knowledge you will have acquired through MCSA and MCSE is highly transferrable.

So, while it may be farewell to MCSA and MCSE, the new MCITP certification is a real step forward, offering greater flexibility, a tighter focus on particular technology specialisations and an overall training and certification experience that is mapped to an actual job role.

Got a question for Ralph? Need career advice? Feel free to leave your questions and comments below.  

 

The "Convergence of Technology"

By Warren Wander 

Warren Wander is the founder and Managing Director of LawWare Ltd and more recently has become CEO of LawCloud Ltd. Warren has spent all his working life in the software development field and the last 15 years creating, developing & growing LawWare into one of Scotland's most modern suppliers of Practice, Case & Risk management software. 

I was at the Microsoft’s Partner Briefing in Edinburgh a few days ago and the keynote speaker spoke with passion about the “Convergence of Technology” that is currently happening in the technology world. This really got me thinking....

I started out developing games at the age of 12, on a Sinclair Spectrum which I received as a Xmas present after showing an interest in the ZX81 - I still have these “little fellows” in the mini museum in our board room and every time I look at them, I'm reminded of the good old days when developers had to cram code into 1k of RAM.

A few months later, the massive 64k RAM expansion pack was released which broadened the scope of possibility. These machines plugged into your tape recorder and data was saved onto cassette tapes with a screeching wave of audible binary being magnetised onto the media. If the tape didn’t corrupt or jam, you were doing well. 

It has been said that these machines created the birth of today’s IT directors, software houses and leading technologists. You only need to look at the successes of Bill Gates and the former Steve Jobs, who both started on equivalent machines in the U.S from their garages. 

Since then and with the advent of the internet, we’re all now connected and the possibilities are only limited by our imagination. Facebook, linked in and twitter have created unrivalled communication media and these and platforms like it continue to change our world at a radical pace. 

Moore's Law surmises that computing power doubles approximately every 18 months and the evidence is here today. My Windows Phone 7 has a 1Ghz processor, 16Gb RAM and a display to die for. I opted not to go for the 64Gb dual core processor but if that’s what mobile phones are now spec’d with, imagine what they will be like in 5 years’ time! 

Technology for a long time was (and still is) mooted as geeky and you can see why. It’s roots are complex, mathematical processing machines and even today, achieving real value involves a real in depth know how by specialists who have dedicated a good proportion of their passion to making these incredible machines tick.

The latest development is Cloud and the biggest IT companies in the world see this as their next “Big Bet”. They are investing enormously in what they see is the future, “Cloudifying” their software and inveting masses in secure & robust, high performance data centres. 

Apple software has always had a close relationship with its devices which is why the Apple brand is so strong. It’s devices and solutions are elegant and well-formed so that the end user’s experience is consistent and streamlined. Apple devices are a thing of beauty and long may this be. 

On the other hand, PC’s come in all shapes and sizes and whilst Windows arguably offers more control, the Windows experience is varied. Microsofthas cottoned on to this and they see their future in the convergence of devises and with a consistent end user experience. Windows XP will be end of lived in 2014 and Windows 7 & 8 will be Microsoft’s flagship operating systems. 

All vendors see a close and consistent relationship between device, operating system and end user experience being key and over the next few years, the technology underpinning mobile phones, tablets, slates and other portable devises will become much more of an art as well as a science. 

Cloud is only the beginning of this convergence in technology and we are living in times where we will see an even bigger radical shift in the way that we work, play and live. 

How incredible to have seen the birth of the PC, email, the browser, the internet, the mobile phone, Google, amazon, Facebook and to watch these technologies mature to even the early stages that they are at today.

There’s a lot more technology to come and as IT people, we are so fortunate to be so well positioned to help shape the future by being involved in this multi trillion dollar industry, to be able to play with the latest gadgets and enjoy the way that they can help us live more fuller lives.

If you’re as excited about technology as I am, you’ll see how easy it is to get carried away with these things and it’s important to keep your feet on the ground. We’re living in challenging times where the world’s economies are in turmoil, it’s sometimes difficult to see a way forward where dreams can be fulfilled. It is important to keep things in perspective and find a good balance between possibilities and realities.

Live in the moment, take every day for what it is and take one step at a time. I have enormous faith in the human condition and with technological advancements in all fields; our quality of life is improving by the day.

 

Making niche technology mainstream

Apple could be about to do for the cloud what it did for the MP3 player and the tablet computer – make previously niche technology mainstream.

For most, the first MP3 player was the first generation iPod, released in 2002 – when in fact they had been around since 1998. Most recently, since the release of the iPad manufacturers and people alike are falling over themselves to release and buy tablet computers. However, the concept of tablet computing has been around for some time, with Microsoft trying it as far back as 2001.

These innovations have hugely changed the way we think about and consumer media. Take music, for example. Many swore never to give up their CD collections and to continue buying CDs after the iPod release. Compressed music doesn't sound as good – true – and nothing beats owning a real CD or record, yet most music lovers will now have extensive digital collections. The same holds true for books, with research indicating more digital books than paper copies were purchased last year.