• Chart: Comparing Windows 2000 and Windows NT Certification

Microsoft’s new certification plans represent a perilous balancing act for the company. On the one hand, it wants to close the loopholes that have detracted from the prestige of its certification programs and raise the bar on exam quality. Both moves will restore some of the shine to its famous Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MSCE) program. On the other hand, stiff examination requirements could stifle the interest of technology professionals in Windows 2000 just when Microsoft needs them to be touting its advantages and benefits.

So far, however, Microsoft appears to be sticking to a path that should result in higher quality—if fewer—MCSEs.

Raising the Bar

Microsoft is taking advantage of the switch to Windows 2000, and the retirement of Windows NT 4.0 exams, to tighten up its certification and reduce the number of "paper MCSEs," certified individuals who have crammed on books and test exams, but who lack hands-on experience.

Stiffer penalties for cheating. The value of Microsoft certification has prompted a significant black market in exam questions spirited out of the examination room or other forms of cheating. Until now, exam candidates who cheated lost any certification they had at the time and were prohibited from taking any certification exams for six months. As of June 2000, says Microsoft, cheaters will be permanently ineligible for Microsoft certification.

Web sites or exam preparation services that use actual exam questions can be similarly penalized. Microsoft has already acted against the owners of at least seven Web sites on which exam questions were found, by decertifying the site owners and prohibiting them from future certification.

Better exam preparation. Microsoft announced in Sept. 1999 that it would offer certification for companies that provide practice tests, in an effort to raise the quality of the tests. Two companies were certified immediately (MeasureUp and Self Test Software), but no others have been certified since then, and Microsoft’s Web site specifically states that the company is not accepting other applicants for the Microsoft Certified Professional Practice Test Provider program. This suggests that the company wants to set high standards for practice tests and to recognize companies that will work closely with Microsoft on practice exams.

Better exams. The Windows 2000 exams, says Microsoft, will test candidate performance in real-life network design and troubleshooting problems and will emphasize hands-on experience over rote memorization, another way to reduce the shadow of paper MCSEs.

Cutting the NT Strings

In an effort to push candidates to obtain Windows 2000 certification, Microsoft is taking the unusual step of retiring the Windows NT certification at the end of 2001—even though millions of computers and networks will probably still be running NT at that time. In comparison, certification for NT 3.51, a product which was replaced by NT 4.0 more than four years ago, will not retire until June 2001, only six months earlier than certification for its successor, NT 4.0, expires.

That has provoked angry reactions from many NT 4 MCSEs (see "MCSE Certification Update" on page 27 of the Apr. 2000 Update).

To fill what they perceive to be a continuing demand for NT 4 certification, several companies have created their own certification program, the NT Certified Independent Professional (NTCIP) Certification. Anyone who has passed the NT exams in the Microsoft curriculum will automatically qualify. Others will be able to take a new set of tests starting Jan. 1, just after Microsoft retires its own NT tests.

While the technology market has yet to see the results of the NTCIP, it will be offered by the same testing centers that currently offer Windows 2000 exams, giving candidates some assurance of exam quality.

Exam 70-240

Microsoft offers a shortcut to Windows 2000 certification for existing NT 4.0 MCSEs, but it is not necessarily an easy path. The grueling four-hour (and the clock doesn’t stop for breaks) Exam 70-240 covers most of the areas of Windows 2000 that are different from NT 4. Passing this one exam excuses the candidate from four of five required Windows 2000 exams. A Windows 2000 MCSE must also take two electives, but no Windows 2000-specific electives (for SQL Server 2000, Exchange 2000, or migrating from NT to Windows 2000, for example) have yet been released. However, Windows 2000 MCSE candidates can use available NT electives to meet the elective requirement—for now. Since many NT MCSEs have already taken eligible electives, they can gain their Windows 2000 MCSE by passing just Exam 70-240 and one additional Windows 2000 core exam.

By the end of 2001, however, they will need to upgrade their electives to Windows 2000 versions, because most of the NT-oriented elective exams will be retired at the end of 2000. MCSEs will have a year to replace the retired electives with a current elective.

Those who have certified under the prestigious MCSE + Internet program will be particularly affected: that certification is likely to disappear in 2001. Microsoft says the Internet aspects of that certification are now part of the Windows 2000 curriculum, and 9 of the 11 courses that qualify candidates for MCSE + Internet will be retired by the end of 2000.

Crunch Coming

Early indications are that the end of 2001 could be crunch time for gaining Windows 2000 certification. In addition to being difficult, Exam 70-240 may be taken only once. A candidate who fails must then take the four core Windows 2000 exams that it replaces to retain MCSE certification.

That may prompt many existing MCSEs to study carefully for Exam 70-240. Not only can it spare them four separate courses and exams but it is free (via a voucher from Microsoft) to all existing candidates who have passed the three core Windows NT 4 exams (70-067, 70-068, and 70-073).

If a poll conducted by Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine is any indication, many MCSEs plan to wait to take exam 70-240 until later: in the poll at the magazine’s Web site (www.mcpmag.com) more than half of respondents plan to wait until later to upgrade to Windows 2000 certification. That could create a deluge of demand for Windows 2000 exams at the end of 2001, as candidates take their best shot at 70-240, and as those who fail it (roughly 30% of all candidates fail Windows NT exams) face a grim alternative: passing four required Windows 2000 courses before their certification expires at the end of the year.

Fewer MCSEs?

The net result could be, at the start of 2002, fewer MCSEs than today, a prospect that appears not to worry Microsoft.

According to a Microsoft press release issued in May 2000, "the rigor of the new tests may reduce the number of MCSEs," according to Microsoft’s Director of Certification and Skills Assessment, Donna Senko. But, says Senko, the Windows 2000 MCSE will offer candidates and their employers higher value and a better measure of what candidates can really do.

Microsoft will not say what the actual numbers are, but a spokesman said "the numbers for both the individual Windows 2000 exams and the accelerated exam are at the levels we would expect for these exams at this point."

Resources

Information about the MCSE program, and links to a FAQ and other documents, can be found at www.microsoft.com/trainingandservices/?PageID=mcp&SubSite=cert/mcse&AnnMenu=mcse.

Microsoft’s main training and certification Web page is at www.microsoft.com/trainingandservices/.

The NTCIP program is described at www.lanop.com/ntcip/.

MCP Magazine is at www.mcpmag.com.

An overall view of the training required for Windows 2000 can be found in "Windows 2000 Will Send MCSEs Back to School" on page 20 of the Feb. 2000 Update.