Do you have what it takes to be a Master?

by Christopher Kusek (PKGuild) Exchange, Informational, Microsoft, SQL, Windows Server

That’s right! New Mastery in the form of a “Master” Cert.
It is rumoured to be above the current MCITP, and equally above the old-school MCSE, yet below (and a pre-requisite) of the MCA (Architect).

It will be offered in 3 varieties.

  • Exchange Server 2007
  • SQL Server 2008
  • Windows Server 2008

    • It is covered at an EXTREMELY high-level here at Microsoft Certified Master Program
    And also is briefly mentioned here on Trika’s Blog

    There is a little bit of depth to be found here:
    http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/master/products/default.mspx

    However, outside of these high-level ideas of it, and its very narrow focus on a set of core technologies (Hey, where is my MOSS Mastery?!)

    It appears to be just another Certification to join the pile – definitely a precursor to the MCA with these requirements:

    To achieve Master certification, candidates must fulfill the following training requirements:

  • Attendance of required sessions
  • Successful completion of all in-class (written and lab) exams
  • Successful completion of qualification lab exam

    • And if history has shown us anything, when you have ‘class attendance requirements’ that usually translates into “This is going to cost you some serious $$$” Not only from ‘attendance’ but also from your inability to be producing revenue or working as you’re going to classes.

    Perhaps this is trying to go the way of the “Masters” programs available within the ‘Educational’ community, but today you can phone that in, and the technology and extreme depth this is looking to promote is not something earned in the classroom – It’s earned in the trenches.

    Who knows how this will be implemented, we’ll certainly find out as time moves on – Adoption is key though – Look at the CCIE Program for Cisco…