November, 2012

Born To Learn

Born To Learn
Born To Learn Blogs
  • Ask an MCT: Does Certification Really Matter?

    • 1 Comments

    Does certification really matter? This is one of the most frequently asked and debated topic among IT pros and developers, whether they have college degrees or years of industry experience. You want to know if pursuing Microsoft certification is a good investment of time and money. MCT and Senior Consultant Jasper Kraak, who lives and works in the Netherlands, shares what he has witnessed in the industry, and why certification indeed matters. Read on:

    Why Certification Does Matter

    There seems to a lot skepticism on IT Certification and there’s probably a good reason for that. But that is not what I’ll be blogging about in this post. I’m looking for empowering reasons to DO get certified.

    For individuals it’s always good to stretch yourself; life begins at the end of your comfort zone. The harder you need to strech the more satisfaction you get out of the result. Maybe that’s even better than a higher salary or bonus, although I do not underestimate those benefits. Certification makes it easier to search for new jobs, you can show that you’re up to date in your field of expertise. Passing an exam is also an acknowledgement for yourself of which you should be proud.

    I also think it’s normal to stay up to date, looking at my closest relatives (neither of them are into IT), they all keep on developping their skills and knowledge about their respective jobs. Even my 82 year old mother as a biologist…. She blogs and is active on LinkedIn. But especially in IT, you’re out if you’re not up to date, it goes with the job. About nine months ago I blogged that the “serverhuggers” will be the first to lose their jobs. Last week I heard a CIO/CEO say: “What’s the difference between Elvis and a Systems Administrator? The Systems Administrator is really dead!”

    For employers it seems logical that they only want to hire qualified employees to manage their expensive hard and software systems. I’m always very unpleasantly surprised to hear that they just “trust” their people but have actually no idea what they are doing for their money. It’s ridiculous to have untrained and unskilled people manage very expensive systems on which the company relies for it’s primary business processes. As employers invest in new technologies, training is hardly ever on the budget. It’s time now to take that business serious, IT has evolved enough to get rid of the sociologist who happens to know something about Windows. Windows is not manageable through therapy (most of the time… J). Employers investing in people have a more loyal workforce, no, they won’t run after they took their classes and passed their exams.

    For outsourcers, headhunters, employer agencies and companies like that, you charge your customers big bucks so you’d better deliver. I do not only want to see an impressive resume with projects, responsibilities and accomplishments. I want to see a steady list of Certifications matching the position, otherwise we have no deal. So you should demand of your candidates a proper set of certifications, moreover, it should be the first thing to look for in any resume.

    I take pride in being an IT Professional with an outstanding track record of certification and through that achieving great results in projects and training. And that leads to being reckoned as expert and guru in my fields of expertise.

     

    About Jasper Kraak, in his own words:

    My passion lies with Microsoft Technology, which started with NT3.1. Since then I’ve always be a frontrunner in investigating the newest versions of almost the complete product line of Microsoft, resulting in multiple MCSE and MCITP certifications. I love to share my knowledge as a Microsoft Certified Trainer, speaker and blogger.

    Lately I mostly work with Vitualization, Collaboration and Cloud Services. In my job as a Senior Consultant for Qwise, I’m also responsible for knowledge, ambition and inspiration for my co-workers. Connect with me at http://www.kraak.com/  or https://twitter.com/jasperkraak .

  • Goodwill in Our Hearts

    • 1 Comments

    Recently as I sat in our company’s annual meeting, I was moved by the expressions and reactions of thousands of Microsoft employees as they sat silently watching a story of tenacity and hope. 

    I saw stunned silence, amazement, tears, smiles and then thundering support for a man named Goodwill, who overcame incredible obstacles to create a better life for himself and his family. As I listened to those around me that day and read the many emails that were sent to our team after the meeting, it became very clear that today, unlike any time in our history, we have an opportunity to change the world.  One person, one product, one education, and one certification at a time. 

    Goodwill’s story with Microsoft begins in 2009.  The simple gesture of a friend; a letter to a radio station looking for a Christmas wish.  The wish was submitted by a colleague of Goodwill’s who knew his story and his love of technology.  As fortune would have it, his dream came true. Goodwill was given the opportunity to enroll in IT training through an authorized Microsoft Learning Partner, Dynamix Learning Solutions. 

    This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Microsoft certification program.  At the beginning of the year we announced we would donate 5,000 Microsoft Technology Associate certification exams through organizations like NetHope Academy and Microsoft IT Academy Goodwill’s story and success initiated this campaign and his story will inspire thousands of others. 

     

    At Microsoft, we believe in the transformative power of education and technology. We aspire to help people around the world to realize their full potential. Through my travels, I have personally found that the hope and tenacity, combined with education and innovation, creates strength through which anything can be accomplished.  This is best articulated in a letter to us from Goodwill, who today is happy and thriving.

    Dear Microsoft

    My name is Goodwill Kwenza Khuzwayo and this is my success story. From a young age, I was always fascinated by technology. Unfortunately, I was born in to poverty and earning an income became priority over education. For this exact reason, my passion and interest in technology had to take a back foot and earning an income to support myself and my family became priority.

    Years passed by and I moved in to a shack in Johannesburg (Diepsloot) in hope of reaching my dream which was to become educated and skilled professional in the IT industry. This dream was crushed after I got involved in a Motor (Taxi) accident, rendering me permanently disabled and reliant on crutches the rest of my life. As I am always positive and had to be for the sake of my new family, I did not give up. After recovering I found a job as an admin clerk for a swimming pool  company in the Northern Suburbs. This is where I met the woman who is now my best friend and comrade, Nikki Barnard. Over the years, Nikki stood by me through thick and thin and was always there when I needed advice or motivation. I was stuck at the pool  company with a very poor salary and no room for advancement. Nikki noticed this and out the goodness of her heart, did something for me which would change my life forever.

    In 2009, Nikki contacted a local radio station, 94.7 Highveld Stereo to enter me in to their Christmas wish list Competition. Through her constant persistence and motivation, Highveld Stereo granted me a wish. The wish was to study Information’s Technology, staying true to my wish growing up. Putco (transport company) quickly came on board to sponsor my studies with a Microsoft Training Company called Dynamix Learning Solutions. I was finally living my dream, but more complications were on the horizon. Putco paid for me to study my MCITP Server Administrator course but did not take in to account that i had no experience in IT what so ever and needed introductory courses such as basic applications/Operating systems training, CompTIA Strata, A+ Etc. I fell behind jumping straight in to the first MCTS Module and had to drop out. Dynamix approached Putco on my behalf to query the possibility of paying for my pre-requisite training, but with no luck. My dream once again seemed untouchable.

    To my and Nikki’s surprise, Dynamix approached us to offer me not only the pre-requisite courses required, but an addition to my Server Administrator certification, the MCITP Enterprise Administrator Modules, at no additional cost to me or Putco. My interest and passion for IT grew and grew throughout my Microsoft studies and my knowledge/understanding of IT increased dramatically in a matter of months. I studied Monday to Friday day and night as I knew my future now lay in my hands and my hands only. I grabbed this opportunity with both hands and never let go! I am extremely proud to tell people that I am now a Microsoft Certified IT Professional, Enterprise Administrator and passed all of my exams with no less than 90% on each exam!

    Not even 1 month after completing my Microsoft Certification, I got hired by the South African Electronic Toll Gates Agency and was placed in their IT Department. My dream and goal is to gain some much needed work place experience and work my way up to become an Enterprise Administrator. My new salary has also allowed for me and my family to move out of our shack and in to a new house.

    Thank you my dearest friend Nikki Barnard, Microsoft and Dynamix for making my dream come true.

    With warm regards,

    Goodwill Kwenza Khuzwayo

     

  • Everything You Wanted to Know about Beta Exams: Part 2 (Beta Availability)

    When we last spoke, I started describing some of the changes that are being made to our beta exams (http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/btl/b/weblog/archive/2012/11/12/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-beta-exams-part-1-beta-invites.aspx). Another change is related to the availability of beta exams. In the past, we would pull the exam out of beta as soon as we had sufficient data to psychometrically analyze the results, and then republish the exam approximately 6-8 weeks later, resulting in a window when the exam was not available. However, given the limited number of free beta seats and the overwhelming demand for some technologies, we have decided to leave beta exams in market until the exam is live. This ensures continuous availability of the exam, and gives candidates who want to take the exam early an opportunity to do so.

    If you’d like to take the beta exam but did not receive an invitation or were unable to register for a free seat, you may take the exam during this period by registering as you would for any exam (although these exams will use the beta prefix of 71) and paying the regular price. The experience will be the same as if you were taking the beta. In other words, you may see some items that won't appear on the live version of the exam because they are psychometrically unsound, unclear/ambiguous, or technically inaccurate, and you will not receive your score until we have analyzed the psychometric performance of the items and set the passing score. Although this exam is not free, we understand that some candidates may have interest in taking the exam early to meet job requirements or career growth needs or to demonstrate that they are early adopters of (and competent in) the technology. Having an exam available continuously gives candidates the option to take the exam when they'd like in order to meet their career, professional, or personal development goals.

     

  • Ask an MCT: What is the benefit if I get certified?

    Recently, a young IT professional starting out in his career asked us on Facebook: "What is the benefit if I get certified?" In the guest blog post below, MCT Ed Baker responds to this young IT pro's question. If you'd like to connect with Ed for more advice, please leave a comment or check out his Born to Learn profile.

    Ask an MCT: "What is the benefit if I get certified?"

    Why do we have to take all these exams?

    I am lucky enough to teach for Firebrand Training, a Microsoft Learning Partner in the UK, and for the last 12 months also a Microsoft IT Academy. I split my time between teaching Server and Client courses to corporate delegates and apprentices. For the most part, the corporate delegates are only there for one thing – certification, that’s why they chose an accelerated programme MCSA Server 2012 in 8 days, MCSE in 13 or 14. Talking to these experienced IT folks about certification is, as we say, preaching to the converted. A large proportion pay for their own courses and know just how valuable certification is to a career. I know – because that is how I started on the road to becoming an MCT. Apprentices are a different matter. They're usually younger and working at their first IT jobs, and I enjoy helping them lay a good foundation for their IT career.

    What exactly is the benefit of all this certification to young people? 

    Well, I tackle it from a different angle on day one. I explain that it is my job to help apprentices achieve a certain level of competence and understanding in the technical areas, so that not only can they get a job, but more importantly they can do the job well AND keep it. I am not here to get them certified, but that if I do my job and they do theirs, they will pass the exams, and invariably they do. The 5 weeks of residential training cover Networking, Database, and Server Administration. The IT Academy e-learning also allows them to take the material and study at work or online at home to take those tests later.

    If 500 young IT professionals apply for any technical job, all with similar résumé contents, then a hiring manager is going to put the certified candidates right at the top of the pile. In troubled employment times, employers can be very picky. Once you secure a job and prove that you can do the work it entails, you need to progress, show you can learn more and upgrade your skills for more responsibilities. How do you do that? Go and learn the new products with hands-on experience, and prove you can do the job by taking and passing the certification examinations.

    Is that what you did Ed?

    I started out on my IT journey as a Project Manager who wanted to make sure that all the technical consultants were not trying to add un-necessary days and weeks to my precious project plan. Once I got the technical bug and decided I wanted to teach what I knew, it was essential to be certified. I would not try and tell someone how to use something without being qualified. To be qualified, it is my assertion that a trainer MUST be certified and SHOULD be experienced in using the product in everyday situations, including the bad times when things are going wrong. How to get out of trouble when your Server goes down is a valuable skill.

    For those who don’t want to teach, then certifying is just as useful. Microsoft provide access to a whole bunch of useful benefits to its certified professionals. The online transcript sharing tool allows a prospective employer (or current one) to view all of your Microsoft exam passes, current and past certifications and in the case of a trainer, the course you are allowed to teach.

    What else does Microsoft give me?

    As a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), you receive access to an MCP-only website with links to the MCP community. In addition, this site offers downloads of Certificates, Logos, links to a Certification Planner and many more useful bits and bobs. If you decides to become a Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) or a Trainer (MCT), the other tabs on the site become available to you, along with their benefits.

    So, if apprentices and those starting out in IT should get certified, is it just as relevant for those with many years of experience and practice behind them? In short, it opens doors that are firmly closed without a current certification. 

    I had spent many years being self-employed and not needed to recertify every time a new version or product was released. I simply learned the products, tested them in a lab and then deployed and used them for my customers. When I decided I wanted to take a different career path, I found more than one prospective employer happy to talk to me and discuss options but not one of them would progress further until I was certified in the subject areas I was interested in.

    As soon as I had gone away and gained the certifications for things I already knew I could do, the employers were offering jobs at the first opportunity. It is very difficult to make a hiring decision without some objective markers and certification is an effective marker of ability.

    Isn’t it just a bit of paper?

    For this reason it is imperative that the integrity of the certification system is maintained, if not, then there will be a larger number of ‘paper-qualified’ people around.  Without integrity, the certification process means nothing. As end users, we have to trust that the provider, in this case Microsoft maintains both the integrity AND the fairness of the exams and the process.

     Anyone who has taken Microsoft exams in the last 12 months will have seen an enormous number of changes to the item types, just check out the Ask a Certification Expert (ACE) series of video clips to see what’s been happening. They even have their own outtakes video!

    These changes have turned the new certifications into excellent examples of current, relevant and challenging tests. There is however a dark side, where the force is strong, sadly.

    Some exam centres and administrator are not as vigilant as they should be and there are a number of websites, forums and other communities where the contents of exams are regularly exchanged. This is being tracked and tackled by Microsoft – They have a department and a manager specially employed to do this.  Check out this Born to Learn interview, too. It is also up to us IT professionals all to be on the look-out for such things. More importantly SEE it, REPORT it! If you don’t, you have no right to complain when someone else who you know cheated get the job you are after.

    In a nutshell.

    Certification get you.

    1. A Job
    2. A qualification
    3. A better salary
    4. A community to join
    5. Microsoft MCP benefits

    You know it makes sense.

      

    About the guest blogger:
    Ed Baker is an MCT specializing in Windows Server and Client products with 20 years industry experience. He currently teaches for Firebrand Training and the Firebrand Microsoft IT academy Programme in the UK. @edbaker1965 holds three of the new MCSE certifications as of November 2012.

  • Everything You Wanted to Know about Beta Exams: Part 1 (Beta Invites)

    • 2 Comments

    As some of you have probably realized by now, parts of the the beta exam process have changed. Let's start with the elephant in the room--the beta invite process. I'm sure many of you were expecting to receive an invitation to participate in a Windows Server 2012 or Windows8 beta but didn't get one. I've fielded a lot of emails from candidates just like you, so let me describe how the process works.

    Microsoft offers a limited number of beta seats for free; these seats are available by invitation only. Invitations to participate in beta exams are first sent to qualified members of the Microsoft Learning SME Profile database (http://connect.microsoft.com/site862). People who have indicated experience in the newest version of the technology are prioritized. If we don't have enough people with experience in the newest version of the technology, we then look for people who have experience with the previous version of the technology or related technologies. If we still don't have enough people, we may post the beta information to Born to Learn; however, to truly understand the psychometric performance of the items, I need people who know the technology to take the beta exam, so I only do this as a last resort with the hope that only those with some experience are actually the ones registering for it. This is how the process works for most technologies; in these cases, if you were expecting a beta invite, you probably received one.

    However, for some technologies (Windows Server, Windows operating systems), we have significantly more qualified candidates in the SME Profile database than we have available seats. In these cases, we randomly select an appropriate number of qualified candidates (usually a 2:1 ratio of candidates to available seats), and send the invitation to those that were randomly selected. We simply can't send a beta invite to everyone given the extremely limited number of free seats. We have found that dissatisfaction with the process is much higher for those who recieved the beta invite but didn't get a seat than it is for those who didn't get the invite even though they were expecting one. We use the random selection process to mitigate the potentially negative experiences with access to beta exams. (And because I know this question is coming...no, we cannot increase the number of free beta seats.) 

    Want to increase the likelihood of being invited to participate in a beta exam? If so,

    • You MUST be part of the Microsoft Learning SME Profile database (http://connect.microsoft.com/site862). If you're not, add yourself today!
    • You MUST update your profile to reflect your skills related to the latest and greatest version of the technology if you want to be invited to participate in the associated beta. If you don't do this or do it after we have queried the database for a list of SMEs, you will not receive the invite. If you want to update your profile, but the latest version isn't listed, please let us know as soon as possible (email [email protected]

    KEEP IN MIND that receiving an invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta exam. Participation in the beta is on a first come, first served basis. Due to popular demand, register as soon as the beta registration period begins.

  • Ask an MCT: How do I take my exam and stay calm?

    Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCT) are great sources of information and advice about technology, certification and IT career. As such, they often get questions about study tips and certification exam preparation. In the guest blog post below, MCT Bert Wolters shares some solid tips gathered from years of teaching and his own experiences with certification exams. Bert's post was originally written in Dutch here, and we appreciate his careful translation into English for sharing with Born to Learn blog readers. If you'd like to connect with Bert, please see his profile here.

    Ask an MCT: How do I take my exam and stay calm?

    As a trainer I’m often asked how I cope during those exams. Most of the time these are students of mine, preparing for their first exam, or people who failed for their exam the first time. Nerves are also playing tricks on people. On some occasions I’ve had students in my class who did fine on a practice run in a measure-up session. “Fine” in this case means 850 points or more, but froze during the real exam. In this blog post, I like to give you some tips and tricks to get through your exam-day, with the cooperation of Microsoft Learning, just to make sure I don’t tell you something illegal.

    Ok, now we’ve cleared all of that… Here we go, this is how I often take my exams. Since I am a trainer and I can’t teach something I’m not certified in, I usually take 2-4 exams a month, opposed to a “regular” IT Pro, who takes these number of exams in a year.

    Ok, let’s just say all preparation is done (check out my earlier blog post on how to prepare for an exam) and I’m fairly confident I can pass. I then schedule the appointment for the exam about one or two weeks later. In the meantime, don’t forget to keep your knowledge current. Concentrate on your weak-spots but don’t forget to keep your stronger points up to par.

    I try to have a good night’s sleep the night before my exam and dress comfortably on the day. Some of these exams can literally take hours, so try to avoid ány irritation when you can. If you like to take of your shoes for an exam, if it makes you feel better, do so!

    Ok, we’ve had breakfast, checked whether we have our ID cards with us, then we’re off to the test center. I make sure I’m at the test-center (we’ve got a Prometric exam location at all of our training locations) well before my exam is scheduled to start. The coffee is good, so no hard feelings there when you’re 30 minutes early.

    Once I’m checked in at the front-desk, and turned my pockets inside out, I’m swiftly directed to my exam station. Then the “fun” starts. Usually the exam starts with an innocent questionnaire. This will not take any of your exam-time away, so relax. No, it will not give you a harder exam, just because you’ve checked the box, stating that you’re a guru at tying your shoes… So again, relax!

    Now for the exam…, no I’m not giving away any technical details. Even better; I don’t know anything about the contents of the exams. When you’ve taken an exam, you’ve agreed to a Non-Disclosure Agreement, so I’ve “signed” a pact that I don’t know anything about the exams, so you will not find any technical data in this blog.

    I’ve tried to convert the exam-language from Prometric into some examples regarding a bakery. I hope Prometric isn’t the exam institute for the National Bakers Association, because they’ll sue me over that… But let’s just keep our fingers crossed for now.

    The exam itself… My strategy is always to read the question, try to formulate an answer for myself and then see whether that answer is amongst the different multiple choice answers. When it is, it’s great…. When it isn’t, it’s still not that big of a deal.

    When it isn’t, I’ll use the one closest to my own answer. When I don’t know and I can’t think of an answer quickly, I mark the question for review and move on. We’ve got a time-limit people! Nothing to worry about too much in advance, but still, something to keep in the back of your head. At the end of the (section of) the exam you’ve got the possibility to review all questions, marked and unmarked. When you follow this strategy; you make your “quick wins” first, and save the problem cases for later.

    Elimination:
    There’s more than one way to answer questions. When you think of your own answer, and it’s amongst the provided answers, it’s great. But what if it isn’t? You can always try crossing them off… Here’s an example.

    What is bought at the bakery shop since they started this kind of business?

    A)     Chocolates

    B)      Meat

    C)      Car parts

    D)     Bread

    In this example you immediately dispose of B and C, since in the early years they didn’t have cars and meat isn’t a common thing in a bakery (at least not in the Netherlands).

    That leaves us with Bread and Chocolates. That just comes down to your knowledge of the matter (or ofcourse a gut-feeling when you’re really clue-less). But I’d go with bread for this one. Answer D.

    Tip from a colleague:

    I received a tip from one of my colleagues, when reviewing this little blog of mine. When you’re really clue-less about a question, go with the best formulated answer. The rest of the answers has been made up, so could be sloppier. (In the “Guessing Top 10, this is just above answering the question with an educated guess, or the saying:” When in doubt, choose C”, so no guarantees here.)

    Use the noteboard:

    I regularly see people stepping out of the exam-room, a little sweaty, telling me how difficult the exam was with all of those relations amongst databases, Active Directory Sites, and so on… When you take a look at the laminated note-board it’s all shiny and new.

    I’ve found out there’s a reason why people in our early ages teach us to draw stuff, it’s so we can make it easier for ourselves during the Microsoft exams! So please draw, scribble, write down stuff and use up 2 markers, there are plenty in stock in the exam-location. That way releaves the gray matter in your head. Something you write down is something you don’t have to load in memory, and you’ll need that buffer during the complete exam-experience.

    Summarize:

    Another nice thing of the laminated note board is that you can make the questions easier through summarizing the data you receive to the essentials you need. Ready for some reading? Here we go!

    You are the chief-baker with Yummy Cookies International. You have bakeries across the globe in New York, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Sao Paolo and Moscow. Product research and development and product management is based in Amsterdam. All bakeries produce the products they sell locally with the same recipes and all baking is done before 7 AM (local time) because of regulations issued by the International Bakers’ Union.

    All of the baking ovens are heated to exactly 200 degrees Celsius by 2 AM (local time) so the bread baking can start in time.  

    What is the temperature of the ovens at 02:00 AM local time?

    A)     200 degrees Celsius

    B)      198 degrees Celsius (the door has just been opened)

    C)      Room Temperature

    D)     200 degrees Fahrenheit

    Summarizing the story, only leaving the essentials:

      • 5 locations
      • Baking from 2-7 AM
      • 2 AM 200 degrees..

    What I do in these cases, with this amount of data to consider, read the question first and then go clue-hunting: 02:00 AM local time? When is the oven lid? What location? Summarize the story above and you’ll get there.

    Read carefully and don’t assume anything:

    Different question, same possible answers.

    You are the chief-baker with Yummy Cookies International. You have bakeries across the globe in New York, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Sao Paolo and Moscow. Product research and development and product management is based in Amsterdam. All bakeries produce the products they sell locally with the same recipes and all baking is done before 7 AM (local time) because of regulations issued by the International Bakers’ Union.

    All of the baking ovens are heated to exactly 200 degrees Celsius by 2 AM (local time) so the bread baking can start in time. 

    What is the temperature of the ovens at 02:00 PM local time?

    A)     200 degrees Celsius

    B)      198 degrees Celsius (the door has just been opened)

    C)      Room Temperature

    D)     200 degrees Fahrenheit

    See what I mean? After spending some time in the exam you usually go blind for such changes (AM-> PM conversion in the question).

    Be sure to read every question very carefully and don’t assume anything… People often refer to their own configuration at their place of work. Don’t! (I almost feel like the psychiatrist in this video)

    The exam “creates” very specific configurations/situations and that’s what you have to deal with. If steps aren’t mentioned in exam cases, they’re not taken.

    Take these advices into account, think about them and when you have additional questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll answer them as far as I’m not bound to NDA or other agreements.

    Want to familiarize yourself with exam questions some more? My colleague Christian Peeters has done some fine blogs (in dutch) on those topics.

    Additional questions about exams can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF3AEB246624F3304&feature=view_all

    And explanation about the new “open” questions in exams can be found: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/exam.aspx#

     

     

  • Cloud Ready Around The World

    • 1 Comments

    As a long-term Microsoft employee with extensive field expertise, the opportunity to take on a global role with Microsoft Learning was very exciting.  It lends itself to my personal passion for learning, connection to the field and to my desire to see change in the world and to people’s lives through technology.

    Over the last month, I had the opportunity to travel to keynote two of our Leaning Partner conferences. While in India, I announced an exciting partnership with NIIT in which over the next three years we will train 1 million IT Professionals to be cloud-ready.

    The partnership with NIIT represents what we in technology know and feel around the world. This is an unprecedented time of growth for Microsoft, our partners and the industry. The cloud presents incredible opportunity for people globally to build skills and secure jobs. According to IDC, by 2015 there will be more than 14 million available cloud related jobs in the technology sector. The current skill gap, partnered with an unprecedented product launch cycle will challenge our global team to be as efficient and relevant as we ever have been in our content development, delivery mechanism and ease of use strategy. We will also continue to focus on our ability to scale to meet industry needs; you will further see us establishing large-scale partnerships around the world over the coming months.

    I was impressed with how connected our teams are to our core business and excited by the optimism they share for what the future holds in their own country. It was clear in all the areas visited that certifications play an important role in providing a clear roadmap for IT Pros and Developers and that government is highly invested in training their citizens.

    More to come.

     

  • Introducing the Anti-Piracy Program

    • 1 Comments

    Hello and welcome to my first blog post! As the Anti-Piracy Program Manager, I manage the programs we have in place to monitor fraud, cheating, and content security for our exams, certifications, courseware, and books. I work with my colleagues across the business to ensure that we continually combat fraudulent practices that undermine the integrity of our products. We want to ensure that when you buy our content, attend a class, or take an exam, you are given genuine learning material and a secure testing experience.

    You may be saying to yourself, “you have an anti-piracy program?”  We sure do. This is always a delicate thing to promote, because while I’m dedicated to ensuring security is an essential part of our certification integrity, to making sure our authors’ work is protected, and to creating a fair candidate experience, I also can’t give away my secrets. I don’t want the pirates and cheaters to know what we do to thwart them! But it is also important that our community of dedicated writers, trainers, test-takers, and learners know that we take security and piracy seriously. We want everyone to have a fair learning and testing experience.

    My hope through these blog posts is to educate on some of the fraudulent practices we see plaguing the industry so that our partners and customers are well-informed. Over the next few months I will continue to post on topics (that I can divulge) that let you peek into how we maintain our commitment to anti-piracy. If there are questions you have about our efforts, please let me know!

    Some of my best information comes from the community. If you see an incident of fraud or cheating, or if you have a question about the legitimacy of prep materials, or have a security question in general, let me know at [email protected].

    Kerri Davis