MCTS Certification Where do I start?
I have an MCITP Certification in SQL 2005 and I want to upgrade.
The second to last posting in the Microsoft Certifications: Where do I Start Series. It’s taken me a little while to get them all put up, mostly due to other posts, plans not complete and ready to discuss, or just plain laziness. Of course all the above were contributing factors, but only a small bit of the last reason. 🙂
If you are already an MCITP on SQL Server 2005 that is excellent.
Congratulations on achieving it. All of your hard won’t be in vain when SQL Server 2008 releases. We have changed the landscape a little bit but not too drastically. It is still recognizable.
For example, you still have the following certifications;
MCITP: Database Administrator
MCITP: Business Intelligence
MCPD: Database Developer
The latter is not locked yet but my intention is to focus the audience more correctly around developer skills in lieu of IT Pro skills. After all, you are known as a database “developer”.
At any rate, the changes come more in realm of the exams required to get there. In the SQL Server 2005 world, you needed to take exam 70-431 as a prerequisite for any of the Pro level exams. There is an equal prereq in the SQL 2008 world but remember from the previous post on this series, there is now a separate DBA exam (70-432) and a DBD exam (70-433). Each TS exam is a prerequisite for its counter part in the Pro world.
The main thing to note is that we have changed the Pro exams to be a single exam for each certification. In the past, you needed to take 70-441 and 70-442 for your MCITP: DBD or 70-443 and 70-444 for your MCITP: DBA credential. Now, there is just one exam for Pro DBA (70-450) or one exam for Pro DBD (70-451). If you are looking at BI, that remains at one exam, but is a new version for 2008
(70-452).
Also note that for those who are already certified, there is an upgrade path. The upgrade exams will provide you with the opportunity to complete one exam and earn your TS and Pro certifications on SQL Server 2008 at one time. NOTE: You must currently hold an MCTS Training on SQL Server 2005 to take advantage of this upgrade path.
Addition Resources:
logon to www.certkingdom.com for complete information on Microsoft exams training and more</p>
