My Microsoft Certification Status Update

Every now and then I force myself to sit down and reevaluate my certification status across all Microsoft products and map out a personal plan against the Microsoft curriculum for those certifications that I wish to maintain (yes, there are some areas that I have consciously chosen not to maintain, such as messaging).

The SQL Server Certifications and updates are the easiest for me, as these need to be up-to-date given what I do on a day to day basis.

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist:

MCTS(rgb)_1269_1270_507_527

And the Technology Specialist exam that I keep deferring taking due to a somewhat hectic schedule is:

  • Exam 70-448: MCTS - SQL Server 2008, Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance.

That's #1 on the plan and so it and a little prep time to read through the self paced training kit are going into my diary now.

70-448

Microsoft Certified IT Professional:

MCITP(rgb)_1255_501_1256_502 

As a follow-up to updating my MCTS to include the latest BI components I best update my MCITP to include the latest BI components as well and that means planning to take 

  • Exam 70-446: PRO - Designing a Business Intelligence Solution by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005
  • Exam 70-452: PRO - Designing a Business Intelligence Infrastructure Using Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Microsoft Certified Master:

I also have been planning on taking this certification to the next level for some time now and taking the Microsoft Certified Master: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 training.

This is actually my certification priority one, and since it is not dependant on the BI certifications it will get the greatest share of my attention.

Microsoft Certified Trainer:

MCT(rgb)_4030_4026_3919_3963 

and then of course, I suppose at some point, I need to update my Windows Server platform certifications to Windows Server 2008, given that I have maintained this set of certifications since Windows NT 3.51 and Windows 3.11 days, otherwise they will end up retired along with all the old “blue: certifications.

  • Exam 70-649: TS -Upgrading Your MCSE on Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008
  • Exam 70-647: PRO -Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator
  • Exam 70-680: TS - Configuring Windows 7

BlueCerts 

<Gary>