Microsoft Certification Roundup
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Know Your Career Goals and Skills
Techies considering certification should assess their career goals before jumping into the certification process. "It's a great idea to have an idea of where you want your career to go," says Valvano. "That's important as a foundation for certification."
The Microsoft Skills Assessment for Individuals helps techies determine where they stand. The tool offers skills assessments for Microsoft products, such as SQL Server and Visual Studio .NET, with recommendations for further learning resources.
Key Credentials
These are Microsoft's certifications for developers, network engineers and other IT professionals:
- Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST): A credential for help-desk and customer-service professionals who troubleshoot PCs in a Microsoft Windows environment.
- Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA): An MCSA works on networks and systems in a Windows environment. Options for specialisation include credentials for messaging and security.
- Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE): The credential is targeted at IT pros who design and implement Windows infrastructure solutions. As with the MCSA, specialisation options cover messaging and security.
- Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA): A credential for database professionals who design, implement and administer Microsoft SQL Server databases.
- Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD): The credential is targeted at developers who work on department-level applications, back-end data services and other software solutions.
- Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD): MCSDs work on more advanced business solutions with Microsoft tools and technologies.
