What certifications will remain important in 6-10 years? And what will value of an MCSE obtained in 2002 be when updated courses come out?

1. If I knew the answer to this question, I could also be a millionaire in 6-10 years, don't you think. All I can do from my current point of vantage is to say that because Microsoft-Cisco-CompTIA (A+ and Network+) and security certifications are very hot right now, that it's somewhat likely that the same will be true in 6-10 years. But I have no way to know which of these is likely to wither or decline in the interim, nor to guess which new technologies or products will emerge as market leaders in the meantime. All I can say about the latter is that wireless, Web services, and security appear poised to grow into significant markets in their own rights by 2008-2012.

2. Microsoft will let candidates mix and match Windows 2000 exams with Windows XP Professional and Windows Server .NET exams, and has also announced that both programs will run in parallel for the foreseeable future. Thus, it should make no difference which Windows platform you choose to base your MCSE upon. Also, please consider this: it is only in 2002 that over 50% of companies and organizations that use Windows will have started their migration to Windows 2000. This argues that Windows Server .NET won't become the dominant Windows platform until 2004 or later.

HTH,
--Ed--