Driven by customer feedback, Microsoft Corp. last week announced plans to recognize its certified professional credentials on an indefinite basis and to add a new category for systems administrators.
The changes are expected to have a significant impact on Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers trained on the Windows NT 4.0 operating system. Their certifications were scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
“Manna from heaven,” was Drew Philip Halevy’s reaction to the news. Halevy, a customer service manager at MC2K LLC, an Internet service provider in Rogers, Ark., said he had considered abandoning the MCSE program, since he “did not want to be on a treadmill.”
“I had also felt betrayed by Microsoft for cutting us loose,” Halevy said. “I can now migrate to the MCSE [for Windows 2000] because I want to, not because I have to.”
An MCSE for the newer operating system will now be formally referred to as “MCSE on Microsoft Windows 2000.”
Larry Lentz, president and owner of Lentz Computer Services in San Antonio, said the new Windows 2000 designation “will be good, since that will set that certification apart and make it more distinctive.”
Microsoft last week also introduced a new credential, the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA), for those who manage and troubleshoot Windows 2000-based networks.
“I think the SA certification concept is good, because there’s a lot of badly administered networks out there,” said Brian Fulmer, founder of The Fulmer Group, a Visalia, Calif.-based firm that specializes in computer networks.
While users reacted positively to the Microsoft Certified Professional program changes, IT managers in hiring positions said experience remains the most important credential.
“It’s one of those things [where] if a person has [the MCSE credential], everything else being equal, it makes a difference. But typically, it’s not the deciding factor,” said John Scannello, a consultant for IT planning at Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc.
“I work on a team of six people, and everybody is certified except one. But I really don’t base hiring on that,” said Frank Orlow, manager of technical services at Clark Retail Enterprises Inc. in Oak Brook, Ill. “It’s just a plus type of thing. Skills set and experience are more important to me.”
To David Sanders, general manager of Management Systems Designers Inc. in Vienna, Va., the MCSE certification is important. His company is a certified Microsoft Solution Provider that does high-tech work for federal agencies.
Sanders said the extended certification is good for him on a personal level, since moving from his MCSE for Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 will be expensive and time-consuming. But as a manager, “it causes me some pause that those certified professionals out there may not be so motivated to keep their certifications current and upgraded,” Sanders said.
Anne Marie McSweeney, director of certification and skills assessment at Microsoft, said the changes were made “to solve more customers’ problems.”