My question is, which certification should I choose: Microsoft Certified Professional, Microsoft Certified Specialist, and/or SAP or Oracle?

I am not an IT person. I am not working currently but I did participate in the business side of several SAP upgrades and enhancement projects. I am currently enrolled at Golden Gate University with a Master of Science in Enterprise Systems Management. This degree will provide me skills in the following areas:

  • Management and implementation of enterprise applications and project management
  • Systems analysis and design Software and application development
  • Data Administration, development and management

    I am interested in IT and I am proficient in Window 2003 applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

    Given your background, experience, and current academic involvement, it sounds like SAP or Oracle will be the best paths for you to choose between, unless you're bound and determined to become a Microsoft developer (in that latter case, MCSP/MCITP/Microsoft Certified Architect is probably your best path toward guru status in the MS development area).

    FWIW, your Microsoft Office skills don't really do much to enhance your value, except perhaps to allow you to compete with all the other thousands of qualified professionals who are also familiar with MS Office. Proficiency in these areas is more of a basic building block nowadays than any kind of differentiator unless you really know how to hack VB scripts or the underlying XML that makes current versions of this software work.

    Thanks for posting. Good luck with your career planning.

    This was first published in December 2005

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