The first set of applications for Microsoft's new architect credential have come in, launching a process of mentoring and board reviews that the company hopes will lead to several hundred newly certified software architects with extensive backgrounds in current and emerging Microsoft technologies. However, the tangible benefits these newly certified architects can expect remain unclear.

Microsoft announced in 2005 that it would be putting together a process for formally recognizing software architects and began accepting applications for the credential in June 2006, with a mid-July deadline for applications.

What Architects Do

Most major software projects use the services of one more highly skilled software developers who lay out the fundamental design of the application, and although job titles vary across the industry, the term architect has gained currency as a way of describing these individuals. At Microsoft, in particular, the term gained prominence in 2000 after Bill Gates took on the title of Chief Software Architect. Microsoft's new credential program is an attempt to formalize this industry role and to recognize the differences between software architects and other types of developers.

Microsoft's certification program generally recognizes the following different types of architects:

• Enterprise architects establish the general framework and requirements for large software projects, working closely with senior business leaders to establish the goals of the project
• Solution architects focus on the design of a broad solution that impacts the enterprise, ensuring that it fits any predetermined parameters (such as those outlined by an enterprise architect) and communicating more detailed design requirements with technical staff in charge of implementing the solution
• Infrastructure architects focus on the design of a network and IT environment that supports enterprise solutions and end users, secures the enterprise, and will meet future needs
• Product architects (also known as depth architects) have extensive experience with particular products and determine how those products will implement a solution.

Initially, Microsoft's architect credential will focus on two of these: solution and infrastructure architects.

Mentoring and Board Review

Unlike other Microsoft credentials, the architect credential has few academic prerequisites. Applicants need not have any previous credentials and take no exams, although Microsoft expects that most successful candidates will have at least 10 years of industry experience. Instead, they must make a presentation to a board of existing architects, describing how they designed a project completed in the previous 12 months. Prior to their presentation they will be mentored by existing certified architects. The mentoring process is not intended to fill gaps in a candidate's technical expertise but to prepare the candidate for the board review.

Candidates will be measured on their skills in seven areas: leadership, strategy, communication, tactics and processes, technology depth, technology breadth, and organizational dynamics.

Program Details

Microsoft has filled out additional details of the program since announcing it last year.

The company has already designated 63 individuals as Microsoft Certified Architects (MCAs) based on their existing experience. They include 39 from the United States and 24 from other countries. Of the 63, 26 are from Microsoft and 37 are from other firms. Most (44) are solution architects; the others are infrastructure architects.

The first round of candidates, for which applications closed July 14, will include up to 250 people. The company has not announced when it would accept a new round of applicants, but that may depend on how quickly the initial applicants get through the process.

Applicants must pay US$200 to apply (through an application process managed by Microsoft partner ProMetric), and if accepted, they must pay a US$10,000 fee. Some of that money will be paid to the mentors: Microsoft expects that candidates will spend 80 to 120 hours in mentoring and preparation, over 90 to 120 days, for their board of architects reviews. They must make their presentations within 12 months of being accepted into the program.

The review itself will take about two hours and includes a 30-minute presentation by the candidate, 40 minutes of initial questioning, an additional 40 minutes of questions after the board members talk among themselves, and a final vote by the review board.

Benefits of the Program

Microsoft is likely to benefit from the program by developing a professional relationship with highly influential members of the developer community. The benefits for the architects themselves, most of whom already are likely to occupy senior development and management positions, are less clear.

Like the selection and review process itself, the benefits of becoming an MCA are not well defined. Successful candidates will have a credential that will help distinguish them and their companies when they are marketing their services, and the club of MCAs will likely prove to be a useful professional network in the long run.

Microsoft says it is planning a "unique benefits package" for MCAs, but that list won't be available until fall 2006—after the first successful candidates have committed US$10,000 to the process. Furthermore, those who complete the process will be expected to spend some of their time mentoring the next batch of architects.

More information about the MCA program can be found at www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/architect.