IT CAREER
What's new with the Microsoft Certified Architect credential?
By Ed Tittel, Contributor
06.21.2005
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News from the Microsoft TechEd conference held in early June in Orlando, Fla., and a recent article by Microsoft Learning group product manager Al Valvano have helped shed more light on the company's forthcoming flagship certification program -- Microsoft Certified Architect. This certification is aimed at more senior and experienced IT professionals who want to demonstrate their abilities at leading various types of IT projects and to make themselves stand out in their employer's eyes and in the IT community at large.
What was already known at TechEd this year, following the credential's initial introduction in a keynote address at TechMentor in early April, was the following:
Recent revelations includes these items:
At the roundtable on the Microsoft Certified Architect Program at TechEd, program manager Andy Ruth summed up things best when he said: "The common characteristics architects have include leadership, good communication skills and strategic thinking in combination with good tactical skills, organizational dynamics and a depth and breadth of technological expertise. Everyone in the IT job space needs some level of skill in each of these areas," Rath said, "but the architect must have significant skills in each of these areas. They are well-rounded individuals who are passionate, can think abstractly and are constantly s
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eeking new knowledge and to better their skills."
You can find more information and opinions about the certification process at Certification Magazine. If you were unable to attend the TechEd roundtable on the Microsoft Certified Architect program, you can read the transcript, What Makes a Good IT Architect?, on Microsoft's website.
What's still not yet clear are the details involved in pursuing the Microsoft Certified Architect credential, like the cost of the program, the exams, written work, mentoring assignments and interaction and so forth. Microsoft spokespersons indicate it will probably be late in 2005 before such information becomes available, making it likely that candidates won't be able to start down the trail toward earning a Microsoft Certified Architect credential until sometime in 2006.
Ed Tittel is a full-time freelance writer, trainer and consultant who specializes in certification and training, information security, markup languages and networking topics. He writes for TechTarget Web sites, is technology editor for Certification Magazine, and writes an e-mail newsletter for CramSession called Must Know News. He has written or contributed to many computer books; his latest is The PC Magazine Guide to Fighting Spyware, Viruses, and Malware (Wiley Publishing). E-mail Tittel at etittel@certmag.com.
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