MCSE Certification Update

New announcements about the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) program for Windows 2000 put more pressure on both existing MCSEs and the training budgets of their employers. Microsoft recently revealed that the first exams for Windows 2000 Certification will be by “invitation only” until July, and candidates who take the “accelerated” Windows 2000 exam will be allowed to take the exam only once. If they fail, they will need to take four additional exams. These changes to the MCSE program have generated an angry response from Microsoft training partners and current MCSEs.

Microsoft is clearly struggling to balance two needs:

• The need to have a meaningful Windows 2000 certification for IT professionals, so corporate customers can count on a certification truly indicative of expertise
• The need to keep its core constituency for certification—the current Windows NT 4–certified professionals—happy, and to not alienate them with onerous testing requirements and tight deadlines.