This week’s commentary has a bit of a railroad t= heme to it, because many IT professionals feel like Microsoft has railroaded them again following an announcement early this month regarding changes to the M= icrosoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) and Microsoft Certified Systems Engi= neer (MCSE) certifications. For IT professionals who have chugged along on the Microsoft certification train a few times before, change is nothing new. The last time Microsoft handled a certification upgrade without major controver= sy was 1996, when NT 4.0 was coming out. The fiasco of the retirement of the NT 4.0 MCSE exams and certification, and subsequent decision to retract the retiring of the credential is infamous, and still fresh in people’s minds. As a result, Microsoft has a delicate path to tread to hold on to the trust of its certified professionals.
Last year, when people were increasingly asking whethe= r they should certify in Windows 2000 then or hold out for the .NET exams, Microso= ft made the announcement that exams on the two tracks would be interchangeable= . So, one could mix and match exams from the two tracks as desired to obtain the = MCSA and/or MCSE certifications. This approach made sense as far as protecting t= he Windows 2000 track from instant obsolescence, but wasn’t very satisfactory going forward because someone who took the time to certify on = the .NET exams wouldn’t necessarily be differentiated from someone who to= ok the Windows 2000 exams or mixed and matched. Therefore, earlier this month, Microsoft announced on its training and certification site that the certification tracks would no longer be interchangeable. They say that in response to custo= mer feedback they are establishing the .NET certification track independent of = the Windows 2000 track, and current Windows 2000 MCSA’s and MCSE’s = will have the opportunity to take one or two upgrade exams to update their certifications to .NET.
So what does this mean for certified professionals and= what is the course of action going forward? The meaning depends on where you are= in terms of certification. If you are already an MCSA or MCSE on Windows 2000,= you won’t be required to update in order to remain an MCSE, so it becomes a personal decision as to whether taking the time to update is worthwhile to you. The update is promised (at this point anyway) to be more like a regular exam in length, not like the four hour nightmare the upgrade exam from NT4 to Windows 2000 was. <= /span>
If you are just starting out on certification and haven’t invested much time and money in Windows 2000 resources (books, training courses, etc.), you are almost certainly better off just waiting f= or .NET at this point (contrary to what Microsoft recommends). That isn’= t to say you should study Windows 2000, because the knowledge will transfer and = will be extremely helpful, but you should skip certification unless you just rea= lly feel like doing it. If you’re an NT 4.0 MCSE you should be prepared to have to certify on .NET (or Windows 2000) in order to retain your certification. Microsoft hasn’t announced any specific plans yet with regards to NT 4.0 certified professionals, but it seems extremely likely th= at the .NET track will mark the end of the line for the NT 4.0 certification, = as the introduction of the Windows 2000 track caused the NT 3.51 track to expi= re.
For people already well into the Windows 2000 track, i= t is better to just go ahead and finish that track rather than waiting on .NET. = The reasoning is just so you don’t have to lose the work you’ve alr= eady put in on certification, and fortunately the upgrade to .NET won’t be mandatory. Your certification will be good at least until the next round of exams (2005? 2006?), so there won’t be the pressure of having to upda= te in the near future to retain your MCSA or MCSE.
Microsoft has taken a lot of criticism for changing the rules halfway through the game yet again, and the claims of the changes bas= ed on “customer feedback” are rather dubious. However, logically t= he change makes sense. The question will be if people can get past Microsoft’s continued bungling of its certification program and the feelings of betrayal in order to see that it makes sense. And right now, that’s a pretty big “if.”