Climbing the Ladder of Success with Microsoft Certification
Despite the current air of global economic uncertainty, demand for trained and certified IT professionals is expected to continue apace over the next several years. Research firm IDC forecasts that demand for technology training and education programs will increase by 5.4 percent between 2007 and 2012, with the Americas leading the way with 6.6 percent growth over the forecast period. According to IDC, this demand for training is fueled, in part, by the perpetual advance of technology and continued shortage of skilled workers.*
In response to this acute need, Jim Clark, senior product planner, and Per Farny, director of advanced training and certification, will be at Microsoft Tech-Ed 2008 in Orlando, Fla., this week to unveil two new training and certification programs from Microsoft Learning. Scheduled to begin later this year, the programs are designed to prime the pipeline of skilled workers and help companies maximize their technology investments.
Synchronizing Certification with the Customers’ Needs
Technical certification is critical to ensuring developers and IT professionals stay up to date on the latest innovations in their field and what these new technologies can do for their customers. A prime example of a cutting-edge technology with tremendous potential to cut costs and increase efficiency is virtualization. Another study by IDC projects that the market for virtualization services will reach nearly $12 billion by 2011.** Correspondingly, virtualization is currently one of the most highly sought after areas of expertise, with skilled developers and IT professionals in high demand.
Yet the true benefits that companies can expect from virtualization, and the scenarios in which it will be most beneficial, remain unclear, Clark notes. To help IT pros develop a baseline of understanding about virtualization and the spectrum of technologies it encompasses, Microsoft Learning has created a series of training and Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification programs that focus on Hyper-V and the forthcoming System Center Virtual Machine Manager, both of which are part of Microsoft’s virtualization strategy.
“Right now, the goal of our certification offerings is simply to provide IT pros with a fundamental understanding of how virtualization software operates and how it can enable them to accomplish tasks that are asked of them. This means that if I need three virtual machines on a server that point to a particular data center I have the assurance that a Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist can do it,” says Clark.
The virtualization training will be delivered in a variety of virtual, distance learning, and instructor-led options that focus on the fundamentals of virtualization, the underlying principles of virtualization architecture and the specifics of Microsoft’s technology.
Clark’s team worked closely with partners, customers and trainers to devise training and certification programs that reflected their needs. Their feedback will also help shape more advanced virtualization certification offerings that will be developed in the future.