Date and time: January 19, 2011 | 10am-1pm PDT | Live online training
Windows Phone 7 presents a fresh user interface and a smartphone platform with a unique value proposition for consumers, businesses and application developers. Windows Phone represents a new way to interact with friends, family and work in a mobile context and it delivers this experience in a way that is both productive and enjoyable. In this online event, Paul Laberge from Microsoft will provide you with an overview of the Windows Phone 7.5 platform from a application developer’s perspective as well as present the market opportunity that Windows Phone provides you as a developer. By the end of this session, you will be able to begin developing applications for Windows Phone and understand some of the most effective ways to market your solution in the Marketplace.
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I love this time of the year--holiday gift giving, holiday cheer, houses brightly lit (you should see mine...or maybe you can!), and ohhhh, the cookies--yum! One of my favorite parts of the year end are the different ways that people summarize the good (and bad) of the year as it comes to a close--top 10 lists are everywhere. Because I'm a psychometrician, I think of things in terms of numbers, so what better way to summarize our year?! Without further ado, here's my holiday/end of the year gift to you: Microsoft's Certification Exams: Our Year in Numbers*
Here are 10 of my favorite numbers from 2011:
I'm particularly proud of the last two numbers because they demonstrate our commitment to the ongoing sustainment of our exams and that we really do leverage external SMEs in the design and development of our exams. Want to get involved in exam (or learning content) development? Sign up for our SME database; if you're already part of it, be sure to update your profile regularly because we actively recruit SMEs based on the information that you share with us in this database. What are you waiting for?
Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! All the best in 2012!
*We publish stuff every day...these numbers are to the best of my knowledge as of 12/15/11.
Oh, I know some of you will ask, so let me pre-emptively say that I can't share the number of candidates who took our exams or the passing rates...we consider that proprietary.
Over the last year, Microsoft Learning’s exam development team has been doing some really awesome work to incorporate more types of questions into our exams. We added these question types in order to make our exams more real-world and relevant. And that’s a benefit to you because when our certifications are perceived as more real world, relevant, and rigorous in the market, then the fact that you’ve earned one is more meaningful. Let’s not forget that these new question types are actually more interesting and fun to answer, too.
Some of these question types are oldies but goodies that our most tenured MCPs will recognize: for example, Choose All That Apply and Best Answer. Some of these question types, such as Extended Matching and Code Case Studies, are ones we've never used before.
It’s important to note that although these new and revived question types may feel more difficult to you than regular multiple choice items, they are testing the same exact skills as before. A qualified candidate should be able to demonstrate those skills, regardless of the manner in which the question is presented. I can’t tell you exactly which objectives include which question types. I can tell you that you’ll be seeing a wider variety of question types on all our exams than you may have in the recent past.
So how can you see what these new question types look like before you take an exam? That’s easy. Check out our new Snack that demonstrates how these question types function. This new Snack complements our existing Certification Exam Demo. If you’re going to be taking an exam in the near future, I’d recommend that you have a look at both the new Microsoft Certification Exam Demo: New Innovative Item Types Snack and the original Microsoft Certification Exam Demo Snack. If you’re nervous about what to expect on our exams or haven’t taken an exam in a while, these Snacks will give you a good overview of what you might see on our exams so you’ll feel better prepared. You can find both Snacks here.
J Seymour and Liberty Munson discussed some of these question types in the first episode of our new TechNet Radio show, Cert Talk. If you haven’t viewed it already, you should really check that out, too!
Exam 98-374: MTA: Gaming Development Fundamentals is now available at Certiport testing centers. MTA is the starting point of Microsoft technology certifications, positioning students for advanced technology training and Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) Certification. This exam tests your knowledge of fundamental gaming development concepts.
Candidates for this exam should have solid foundational knowledge of game design, hardware, graphics, and animation. It is recommended that candidates be familiar with the concepts of and have some hands-on experience with the technologies described here either by taking relevant training courses or working with tutorials and samples available on MSDN and in Microsoft Visual Studio.
About MTA
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) is a new, entry-level certification that validates the fundamental technology knowledge that students need to start building a career in Microsoft technologies.
MTA exams are available only to academic students, faculty, and instructors. Contact your school administrator to find out if your school is an approved MTA testing center. If your school is not already an MTA testing center, a faculty member or administrator can contact a Certiport sales consultant to learn how to obtain MTA exams.
For more information, visit Certiport’s Web site.
I knew that would get your attention!
Networkworld.com recently published the results of a survey demonstrating the value of a wide variety of IT certifications. Specficially, respondents indicated that their IT certifications resulted in promotions, salary increases, and better jobs. May I point you to slide 8 which says "...Among those making $110,000 or more, Microsoft and VMware are the top choices...."? See the title of this post wasn't just a sneaky way to lure you into my lair of blog posts--certification can pay off. Literally.
Check it out here.
In this post, I wanted to offer a quick breakdown of the various cloud deployment models. Moving to the cloud in general means giving up some control and possibly some functionality for a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), whether in a Public, Private, or Hybrid cloud.
If you select an Application Service Provider (ASP) model, you will give up control of the hardware, networking, and the physical plant. If you go with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), you usually deploy on a pre-built server configuration. With Platform as a Service (PaaS), i.e. Microsoft Azure service, you basically select the application and the rest is managed for you. Finally the Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, i.e. Office 365, enables you to sign up for the services ($$) and use them.
When moving to a cloud model you usually give up some of the functionality of running the software locally. For example, currently the Enterprise-class FAST Search for SharePoint is not part of Office 365. However, with each new release of our software, we strive to eliminate such tradeoffs. It will be interesting to see what functionality companies are willing to trade off for cost saving and speed of deployment. Jeff DeVerter1 told me that the CTO of Rackspace likes to say, “The Cloud is for everyone, but not for everything.”
I also think that the positive effect of reduced capital expenditures for hardware infrastructure needs to be reviewed from more than an accounting viewpoint. The effect of having more capital to spend on IT innovation, new services, and the Return on Investment (ROI) from these investments should not be over looked when making such tradeoffs.
To help you make cloud deployment decisions, I recommend you refer to the architectures and various white papers at our TechNet Cloud Solution Hub via the link below and the second reference at the end of this blog.
We look forward to your comments. If you have a technical tip you would like to share with your colleagues, send it to [email protected] to be included in a Technical Tips blog.
To learn more about Microsoft Learning | FAST University classes and to register, visit www.fastuniversity.com or contact us at [email protected].
By Philip E. Helsel, MCT
References:1. DeVerter J (2011) Content Delivery Networks and SharePoint, SharePoint in the Cloud | LinkedIn Group
Learning Partners from all around the world have signed-up for the Training Spotlight Cloud Edition campaign. If you not checked out the offers, Learning Partners have set-up incredible special offers for traditional classroom training, online, or blended solutions leveraging Microsoft Official Curriculum. This month you’ll find offers for popular Virtualization courses, followed by Office 365 training (SharePoint, Exchange, and Lync) starting in January. Learning Partners must fulfill and maintain stringent requirements to uphold their standing as leading providers of comprehensive learning solutions on Microsoft technologies. Don’t miss out on these training promotions provided by leading Learning Partners available for Virtualization now and Office 365 coming soon.
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/spotlight/default.aspx/
Recently Microsoft Learning launched a new show on TechNet Radio called Cert Talk. If you haven't seen a TechNet Radio show in a while, you might be surprised to learn they have video. I guess TechNet Video just isn't as catchy a title. I suggested updating the name by putting quotes around the word "radio” but they told me to stick to naming exams.
Anyway, as you can guess by the name, MSL's "TV" show is all about certification. (See, the quotes work!) We're doing one episode a month with perhaps the occasional special. Our first episode features none other than MSL Psychometrician, Liberty Munson. Liberty has some of the most popular blog posts here on B2L which probably accounts for the already phenomenal success of our first show. Liberty and I talk about what Microsoft is doing with piracy and get all psychometric about the Microsoft Certification Program. If you have enjoyed Liberty's posts in the past, check out this episode. You can find the episode here.
Since this was our first show, you'll notice we're still settling into things, but I'm really excited to be hosting the show every month. I hope you'll check it out and let us know what you'd like to see us talk about in future episodes. We've already recorded the second episode where I have a great conversation with Mr. Virtualization himself, Edwin Yuen so keep an eye out if you’re into all things virtualization.
Many of the search articles I've been reading lately are all about designing and creating a search front end. Although this is a very important part of a successful enterprise search solution, even the prettiest search front end will quickly be abandoned if it doesn't produce good search results.
As a system administrator, there are few things you can do to ensure the search page not only looks good, but produces high quality results.
Taking a little extra time upfront to configure your content sources can make a big difference in the quality of your search results. To learn more about improving content quality, navigate to www.fastuniversity.com and register for a class or contact an Education Consultant at [email protected] for more information. See you in class! Cindy Staley, MCT
Taking a little extra time upfront to configure your content sources can make a big difference in the quality of your search results. To learn more about improving content quality, navigate to www.fastuniversity.com and register for a class or contact an Education Consultant at [email protected] for more information. See you in class!
Cindy Staley, MCT
I am currently engaged with mentoring some young technology start-up businesses. What strikes me about these companies is that they spend the majority of their time utilising their skills to deliver their product. They are agile, knowledgeable and very hungry to succeed and to create.
When do they find time to “learn” new emerging technologies? They seem to have learnt it “on the fly” as they go along – such is the pace of technology at the moment. With cloud computing, mobile computing and social media now becoming the current “bubble”, I realised just how easy it is for anyone in IT to become out of date quite rapidly.
There is an old saying which says “use it or lose it” and I will add “use it, grow it and keep your eyes open to what is happening around you, always”. In this process we must keep learning.
Stopping learning, even for a few months or a whole year can make a huge difference. It is like being having a motor car – use it regularly and it works fine (sure it may need a little maintenance), but leave it parked outside for a year unused and the battery will be flat, tires a bit softer, oil a bit tired, the gas will have lost its vitality etc. (Of course it does depend on where you park it – it may not even be there when you return!)
Learning is the same, especially in IT (and most other professions – like medicine, law, tax etc) we need to keep up to date, and even a few months “out of the game” will render us less sharp, and left with an uphill battle if we want to regain our status.
If "IT" is our career, then we need to learn on a regular basis, via personal learning, e-learning, books, attending classes, or as I am realising, by working with very sharp entrepreneurs who are leveraging the three technology areas listed above without even breaking into a sweat. What are your experiences of keeping yourself in the best shape you can?