Microsoft Launches New Certification Program

Microsoft Corp. announced a new three-tiered certification program that provides valuable training and credentials for IT professionals and developers. The new certifications — Microsoft® Certified Technology Specialist, Microsoft Certified IT Professional or Professional Developer, and Microsoft Certified Architect — map closely to Microsoft’s technology road map and better reflect the changing IT environment and the needs of individuals and organizations.

The first credentials will be offered for Visual Studio® 2005 and SQL Server™ 2005, which will be available next month, to help Microsoft customers and partners more readily and rapidly adopt these new technologies.

“Today’s systems require IT professionals and developers to possess more specialized skills,” said Lutz Ziob, general manager for Microsoft Learning.

The new three-tiered program offers a rigorous, flexible curriculum to enhance technical knowledge and skills; a certification framework that helps individuals demonstrate their unique skills; and a proven benchmark for managers in making successful recruiting and staffing decisions.

“By focusing on specific job roles and by using performance-based testing, this new certification program is much more in line with the real-life job situation of IT professionals and developers — and should help them create and build more accurate solutions,” said Olivier Nguyen Van Tan, industry analyst and senior consultant with Pierre Audoin Consultants.

The certification process starts with a free individual online assessment to determine a candidate’s areas of strength and weakness, which results in a customized learning plan that directs candidates to specific resources. Candidates can then choose the learning resources that best reflect their needs and learning style.

“One of the key things Microsoft has done is to break certification into two parts: understanding the technology and performing specific jobs,” said Thom Griffin, vice president of Technical Services for QuickStart Intelligence Inc., Microsoft Worldwide Learning Partner of the Year.