Off2w0rk I think you missed the point hear I’m not saying the new renewal program is bad idea but the new time limit, could put people of Microsoft certifications as they do not have as much value to a business to justify funding them. So below ill try and show some of the thought process behind the questions:
some people may view it that you take a cert then I have to revalidate that in six months, so it only has a validity of six months (some people don’t always get all the details). But in the case of the renewal, it extends the original date by a year. So, if I take the assessment at six months then I will be validated for the next 18 months before it expires. If I don’t re validate in that period.
online proctored exams it removes that remove the issue of the test center if you have a location that meets their requirements. But the issue is if I have multiple certification that overlap how does this work, so if you look at AZ-500 vs SC-200 there is areas that overlap. But the AZ-500 is used in Microsoft partner program. But to a non-IT person they are both security certifications for Microsoft which one has move value to my company but I could have a point where they both need re validating in the same month
So the question that come up is what’s the value of Microsoft certification compared to others, certifications are that to validate knowledge in an area and that fine. I have always enjoyed that fact that I can benchmark myself and the knowledge I have learned. It hard enough for IT people to keep up with the technology’s let alone non-it if they need to map that to a job role that is general.
Then if you look at CPD to map progression as with role based there is not always another qualification on a direct path or another vendor level certification to bench it on as it goes across different technology areas that that person may not have rights to use as it’s a different team. Some job role require that you stay certified to a certain level. Or as a training program It may have an employee lock in/payback period for training and certification.
I understand that the right certifications help install confidence in the IT professional as they have bench marked to a standard and who they provide a service to. if have the right certification at the right level but that is the value for any certification.
you also have to look at it if an 18 year old was staring his career in IT what certification should he get. If he interested in networking you always hear CCNA. And I do think the learn platform is grate way forward as it stops company ripping off people with the promise of job and all it cost £15000 to £25000 for these 3 qualifications and you could be earning £**** amount per year, so the main limit is on the person doing the learning
There is a bit of a shakeup to industry with adoption of the role base certifications. You just have to look at the amount of IT professional that are we are not working with cloud but we only have windows servers what qualification do I need. Companies ask what certification do I need the IT guy to have, as all most employer want to know is does the IT professional have the skill I need and is it an entry level or the highest-level for that area of skill / knowledge e.g where does that certification sit in the ranking job pay scales. Or in the case if an MSP it adds value to partner status and customer confident in the providers IT service. So its about its value for them
If you look at the following qualification from other vendors they all have a different method
Cisco CCNA is valid for 3 years you can ether reset or you can up certify e.g CCNP or there are other certs that gain additional knowledge and re-certified the original CCNA
Axelos as a certification prince 2 practitioner. You get 3 years, where you can re-sit or go the CPD hours route over 3 years to show that you have UpToDate skills in that area
VMware put the year with the certification that then makes it easier for industry to qualify the relevance of the qualification / certification to how up to date it is
So it’s good that Microsoft offer free validation with flexibility as with change from product based qualifications, the current move of ending MCSA, MCSE. that Microsoft did before with the move to MITCP then back to the MCSA, MCSE as industry and IT professionally did not fully adopt the new names as they did not understand how they could map the value
for example, if a HR person was advertising a role for network engineer, you would look for some with any of the following network+, CCNA, CCNP, CCIE, JNCIA-Junos, JNCIS-ENT, ACSA, ACSP, or ACSX. And depending on the qualification level you add a value to the certification to the company. But certain qualification stands out and hold a value in industry because of the time they have been around as in my example above some people would not recognize the ACSA, ACSO or ACSX but if you just google it you get all sorts of response but if you work with the equipment or hold the certification then you would know they are HPE Aruba. But if you google CCNA or MCSE you get instant hits that is a good way to show value especially if you are request funding from the company you work for
think of it another way how do you justify the course cost to your manages manager. In reality we all have to do continual learning in our own time. So if I have multiple certifications expiring in a similar time then this could be a cause of stress as I would have multiple assessments to sit
so back to my original questions
scenario
I might have active the Microsoft 365 certified: enterprise Administrator but to get the I may have chosen the route
MD-100 windows 10 > MD-101 Managing modern desktops this them will give an associate certification Microsoft 365 certified: modern desktop administrator associate
then I sit MS100 Microsoft 365 identity and services and ms-101 Microsoft 365 mobility and security
so then I have been given Microsoft 365 certified: enterprise administrator expert. So, like the MCSA I have taken 4 exams to get to that level, so to keep that certification active what renewal assessments would I have to sit is it one two or 4 assessments
Now for a company that may scale as I might have a team of 12 IT professionals that have followed that route. now I have to allow time for them to re validate but during that time as a company gets no benefit e.g its not billable time. So the sad reality is as a company you would have it in the contract that they have to maintain that certification and that’s in the employees own time.
it good not to have a fee even if the company may reimburse the exam fee. Time is still a big cost and 2 years would still be acceptable as this also tend to line up with Microsoft update to the exam criteria, and release of updates from preview to production
So it goes back to my question from Microsoft prospective beyond the argument of technology change as a driver for it to be valid for 1 year. how the 1-year validity adds or maintained the certification value compared to other vendors an IT professional or for a company that may sponsor it
Microsoft
