MCSE 2008 No More

A Microsoft webinar on the new Server 2008 certifications announced the death of the MCSE, and that the company is moving on to a “job based” approach to their certifications. Now what really happened was that the name got changed. If you look at the Microsoft Learning website you will see that the MCSE and MCSA credentials are still alive and well and living under the assumed names of MCITP – Server Administrator and MCITP – Enterprise Administrator. With that said, you can still take MCSE training courses to successfully prepare for the certification exam. Taking these courses will help you learn the necessary information that you will need to know to pass the exam. With MCSE training programs, you get to learn from certified instructors that have years of experience in the field and know exactly what it takes to successfully pass the certification exam on your first try.

Everybody in the IT industry knows that, “the MCSE had brand recognition” and “everybody knew the MCSE”, but regardless of what you call it, the new credentials have pretty much the same makeup that the old credentials had. Both the MCSE and the MCITP – Enterprise Administrator have a workstation component, an infrastructure component, and an active directory configuration component. The MCITP also has an application configuration component, but that just covers some of the extra pieces that come with server 2008 like IIS 7.0 and SharePoint.

Windows Server 2008 MCTS Certifications

There are several Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) exams that you can take to certify specific skills on the Server 2008 platform. These are roughly equivalent to becoming a MCP in Windows 2000/2003. You will earn MCTS certification for each different exam that you pass. The initial MCTS exams coming out are: 70-640 MCTS: Configuring Windows Server 2008 Active Directory; 70-642 MCTS: Configuring Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure; and 70-643 MCTS: Configuring Windows Server 2008 Application Platforms.

Windows Server 2008 MCITP Certifications

There are two different Server 2008 tracks, the Server Administrator and the Enterprise Server Administrator. Both of these are MCITP level certifications that also require more than one exam that are highest level of certification (outside of the MCA program) that you can attain. For the Windows Server 2008 Administrator certification, the exams are: 70-640 Active Directory; 70-642 Network Infrastructure; and 70-646 Windows 2008 Server Administrator Exam.

For the Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Administrator, there are five exams, which are: 70-640 Active Director; 70-642 Network Infrastructure; 70-643 Applications Platform; 70-620 OR 70-624 Windows Vista Client; and 70-647 Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Administrator Exam. With some MCITP training, you can easily successfully prepare for either concentration you choose.

As you can see the two credentials stack up fairly well against each other except for one thing…and this item was even being ‘de-emphasized' in the MCSE for 2003. This is the Active Directory design class that was a part of the MCSE for 2000 that was incorporated into a couple of classes for Windows 2003 and is seemingly being ignored in Server 2008.

You will not lose your MCSE or any other credential earned under the he Windows 2000/2003 certification track. You essentially have a “MCSE in Windows 2003″ (for example). But the big thing is that you do not automatically become a “MCSE in Windows 2008″, because the MCSE no longer exists. You will have to upgrade to one of the MCITP certifications referenced above. Your Windows 2000/2003 certifications will not expire and will continue to be valuable as long as Windows 2000/2003 is used on company networks, which makes MCSE 2008 certification courses still valuable training options. If you are currently working on your MCSE/MCSA, you can easily keep working on it since the credential is still valuable and will provide you with excellent base knowledge that will also apply to Windows 2008, which is why MCSE certification training programs are still relevant and useful.

If you want, you can also upgrade your MCSE/MCSA to Windows Server 2008 Certifications, but only for WINDOWS 2003 MCSEs and MCSAs. If you are certified in Windows 2000, you must upgrade to Windows 2003 first or just take the Windows 2008 exams individually.