Microsoft certifications

MS Keeps Up Its Training Blitz

About the same time my MS Partner Program “Learning Curve Newsletter” hit my inbox this morning, I also got some e-mail from MS PR with reference to their latest salvo in the training and certification arena. Get ready: this week–that is, the week of March 9-lucky 13, 2009–is “Microsoft Skills Week,” wherein Microsoft will orchestrate nearly 200 partner-led events in the US and Canada. This latest effort is supposed to help IT pros and software developers improve upon and validate their skills, and allow them to mingle with industry leaders, and make progress toward MS certification. This week’s activies are to kick off a whole series of events that will ultimately reach their conclusion in May at Microsoft’s annual Tech•Ed shindig (in LA this year, breaking with long standing residence in Orlando). In fact, there’s a whole Web site for this initiative, from which I shamelessly snip the front-page logo here:

Micrososft Skills Week Branding/Logo

Here’s what’s going on during Skills Week this week:

• Access to Career Assist: I won’t go into this any further here, since I’ve already blogged about it on February 6 when details of this program were first leaked.
• On-site study sessions called “Exam Crams” (hey! That’s a very familiar phrase to me…) where exam candidates can bone up for immanent exams.
• Live Meetings (by which I presume MS means online, Web-based audio/video encounters) with MS technology specialists  and trainers who will demonstrate training assist technologies (yawn) and answer questions to help them prepare (hooray).
• Exam Discounts: Take exams on-site at events, and save 40% off the usual price (use discount code NAM40UP to qualify).

Out of not-so-idle curiosity I clicked on the “Find an event near you!” button on the Skills Week web page (whose URL is www.certificationweek.com, and hints of more stuff to come between now and Tech•Ed) and compiled these factoids:

• There will be 10 Web-based events (”Live Meetings?”) this week from numerous national training companies, of which New Horizons is the most active participant on subjects ranging from general certifcation hoo-rah to coverage of exams 70-642, .NET 3.5 MCPD stuff, 70-643, 70-620, and 70-647.
• 1 Event in the Austin Metro area (within 50 miles of my ZIP), which also corresponds to all events in Texas this week (c’mon MS: what about Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, the three largest cities in TX?).
• No events featuring a Microsoft Across America Truck anywhere in the US or Canada (why mention it until something is ready?)
• A total of 80 events that will take place this week are currently visible on the Events Page as I write this blog, including study sessions, overview/introduction sessions, Live Meetings, and more. Looks to me like about half are marketing oriented, the other half include technical substance.

For those who need to take exams soon, looking into onsite activities is worthwhile because of the $60 savings it means on MS exams. It’s possible that some of this content might be worthwhile as well (I’ll check out the New Horizons Vista stuff on Thursday at 11:30 AM Central because I can gather info for this blog and my Vista blog at the same time). A note of warning/info: if you want to attend a Web session, better sign up soon because it’s by registration and I’m guessing total available slots will be capped.

But so far, there’s a lot of infrastructure here for  relatively small set of content offerings. Makes me think more must be coming soon or MS wouldn’t have proffered so much hoopla and such a serious media blitz.

Microsoft Scores Again with “Elevate America”

With somewhat unusual timing, Microsoft announced on Sunday, February 22, a new job training program called “Elevate America” that aims to proffer technical skills training to lots of Americans (as many as two million according to an annoucement-day news posting on CNET) over the next three years. Readers curious about the program can check it out at www.microsoft.com/elevateamerica (the actual URL is linked to this abbreviated “pseudo-URL” here).

The primary components of this program may be described as follows:

• a phased roll-out, starting in Microsoft’s home base in Washington state, that includes free certification and training, with an emphasis on the unemployed, underemployed, and high-school and college level student populations. According to the CNET story, “Microsoft is working with state and local governments and hopes to offer 1 million vouchers for e-learning and certification classes.”
• An online Website that describes basic skills related to crafting a resume, sending e-mail, and computer literacy training of all kinds. Microsoft will offer this material primarily through local partnerships with non-profits and government agencies at all levels, though some free training is also available online as well (for example Computer Basics, a listing of all basic courses is available on the Course Topics page, and instructor manuals and materials are also available).

What’s not yet clear is how much material will be available online and how much will require interaction with the “Unlimited Potential Community Technology Centers” (CTCs) that Microsoft plans to designate as its local training delivery partners all over the country. Of course, the program is one day old as I write this blog, so there are lots of things left that need to be worked and spelled out in more detail. It’s an interesting and promising start for a program that shows uncommon sensitivity to the current economic situation here in the US, even if it is backed up by a shrewd appreciation that training in specific tools is likely to spur their continued use in the workplace thereafter.

“Elevate America” should be an interesting program to watch, though–and watch it I will!

MS Leaks “Career Assist” Details in Blog

Microsoft Certification Project Manager Ken Rosen has let slip the details on the “Career Assist” program in a post to his Born to Learn blog. It actually went up on Wednesday as I was waiting for official word from MS, and reports the same Friday, February 6, public release date that MS PR shared with me yesterday by phone. You can see his original language at “Oh, the heck with it…“

Here are the salient details:

• Between today (2/6/2009) and June 30th (6/30/2009) individuals who register for Microsoft’s Second Shot program can get an E-Learning Collection for $35.
• This e-learning offering remains available for only 90 days (rather than the usual 180 days for full-price e-learning collections).

It will be interesting to see if this also applies to Premier Collection 6337, as I wondered in yesterday’s blog. It seems pretty clear that this is a “one and only one” kind of offer, though Rosen says that those signed up for Second Shot already will have to sign up again to qualify for the e-learning discount. Does that mean if somebody is willing to work hard enough between now and the end of June that they can knock off more than one collection to prepare for multiple exams? That’s not yet clear, but when MS does release the final, official word some time today, I’ll post an addition to this blog to clear things up.

After all the initial hoopla, I was hoping for something more (and thus, also find myself hoping that this is an “all-you-can-eat” deal rather than a “single-serving” one). But only time, and Microsoft, will tell…

10:53 AM CST (GMT/UCT -06:00) 2/6/2009 –Ed–

Update on 2/10 10:41 AM CST

Career Assist is now live and official. Read more about it on Born to Learn. My guess was correct: it is a one-and-only-one offer so once you sign up for a single collection, that’s the only item of that type for which you will qualify for the discounted $35 price. Still one heck of a deal, though, and obviously intended to entice more students into the e-learning classroom for other, follow-on courses at full price. No all you can eat, though. Bummer!

Stay tuned for further “Career Assist” news from MS

Alas, the program details for the “Career Assist” program from Microsoft foretold to me last week have yet to materialize. The original launch date for this program was supposed to have been yesterday (February 4) and I waited on this blog to discuss them until the day had come and gone. Instead I got a nice apology from the PR folks for Microsoft Learning citing some unexplained but undeniably real delays in getting the word out. At this point, all I can say is “stay tuned for further details.” I’ll follow up as soon as I can get more information on what promises to be an interesting and potentially valuable cert-prep offering from Microsoft.

At this point, all I know is that Microsoft plans to offer a major discount–as much as 90%–off the price of some of its e-Learning collections. As a quick visit to the E-Learning catalog will quickly reveal (thanks to the “Most Popular” default Sort order that shows what is selling best already), the top items there are invariably collections of some kind or another.  Likewise, change the sort order to “Price (High-Low)” and collections all float to the top thanks to their higher sticker prices. You’ll see numbers that range from a high of $960 (Premium Collection 6337: Upgrade Your Windows Server 2003 MCSE…) to a great many in the $200-400 range, many of which also target specific certfication exams (70-293, 70-536, 70-431, 70-272, 70-294, and on and on). Search on “70-” and you’ll see all the items (primarily also collections) that focus on specific certification exams.

At this point, I find myself really wanting to hear and know more about this planned program. At current prices, the offerings are interesting. At substantial discounts they may be too good to pass up! I also just touched base with MS PR by phone and they tell me all will be revealed some time tomorrow, so you won’t have to stay tuned for too much longer. Be like me, and try to be patient.

Microsoft readies financial aid for IT pros

When I read on the MS learning center site last month that the company had plans to help cash-strapped IT professionals boost skills and knowledge, quite naturally I e-mailed their PR folks to ask what was up. At the time, they couldn’t yet tell me anything but I have recently come into possession of some information that provides a foretaste of announcements planned for next week in this general arena.

A new learning program is on its way from Microsoft: it will be called “Career Assist,” and will be laid out in detail on Wednesday, February 4. Certain e-learning course collections–especially those that aim at specific certification exams–will become subject to a substantial discount (wish I’d saved my $100 of “try-it-out money” already spent last month to investigate offerings for this opportunity!). The Second Shot offer will also attach to this program, so that individuals who go on to take exams based on their learning will be allowed a second, free re-take if they don’t pass on a first try.

The whole idea is to make obtaining certification easier and more affordable. I’m not necessarily sure about the “easier” part because none of the content or exam coverage has changed (nor am I sure anybody really wants it to). But for those willing to follow an e-learning path toward certification preparation, those costs are going to get significantly cheaper. And because MS has focused its e-learning collections first and foremost at the most popular/sought-after certification exams, this could provide an interesting double-whammy where the costs of self-study actually go down for the first ime in many, many years.

Be sure to visit the Microsoft Learning pages on February 4 to get all the details. I know I will!

Microsoft’s Take on Planning a Career in IT

In my ceaseless trolling of the virtual byways and highways on the Internet, I keep digging up interesting sources of  IT career planning information. I can now cheerfully confess to needing a laugh rather badly today, having just elicited a few chuckles from this earnest and well-meaning Microsoft Web page: “Prepare for an Information Technology (IT) Career.”

Before I reveal the sources for my mirth, let me make a few additional framing remarks. First and foremost, I don’t mean to ding on Microsoft too much here: this page includes plenty of useful, worthwhile information and shows plenty of evidence of careful forethought and editing. Second, I must confess that my Dad is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army. Thanks to him, I grew up to this mantra: “There are three ways to solve any problem. There’s the right way, the wrong way, and the ARMY way!” As I read over this Microsoft Web page, that mantra marched across my memory, for reasons that you will soon see if you visit this page for yourself.

The bulk of the page is a table that describes resources for IT job descriptions, roles, and information; career planning and development; continuing adult education and learning; and even your local chamber of commerce to obtain pointers to career centers and employment offices in your vicinity. There are an even dozen types of resources described in the table. Can you guess how many of them include a link to Microsoft?

If you guessed less than 3, don’t forget whose Web site this page is on. If you guessed 6 or more, you may be more prone to “Evil Empire thinking” when it comes to assessing Microsoft’s motivation and information delivery skills. The real answer is 5, or 4 if you don’t want to consider a link to Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions a Microsoft link (I do, FWIW). Shoot! They even include a link to their own career site, where the company posts all of its open positions.

My favorite bits of advice on this page are these:

• “Network through coworkers, family, friends, and instructors to contact people currently working in the IT career you are considering and request informational interviews with them. This will help you to find out more about their professions and the types of skills they had to develop.” [For those already employed and for full-or part time students]
• “Talk to counselors, teachers, or instructors in your school’s computer department about your career goals, and the training required to reach them.” [For full- or part-time students]

The funniest items on this page have to be:

• “Talk to your manager and human resources department about your career goals and the training opportunities available to you. In addition to internal training, your organization may provide support for you to pursue external training.” [For those already employed] What? You’re not grateful just to have a job in this economy? Begone! Begone!
• “Review employment ads in newspapers and online, to learn more about available positions in IT and the skills required to get them.” [For those already employed and for full- or part-time students] Newspapers!? We don’t read/need no stinkin’ newspapers! And alas, every blasted one of the online job sites is completely awash in resumes.

Chuckles aside, this page is worth a gander, and probably worth recommending to your favorite underemployed or soon-to-be employed offspring, relatives, friends, offspring of friends, and so forth. All I can say to Microsoft is “Thanks!”