Microsoft remains an industry giant, dominating both the operating system (OS) and the business server solutions market worldwide. The result? IT professionals are well-served earning Microsoft certifications such as MCSA to both enhance day-to-day skills and increase their career earning potential.
Microsoft is expanding its available software to fast track its cloud benefits. In fact, the company’s plan is to offer the most cloud applications of any software company. Individuals who desire to become a Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate will find a curriculum based heavily around the cloud, as the company moves to become the authority in the cloud computing industry. As a result, individuals and businesses will gain access to Microsoft’s new software programs, which include:
IT professionals preparing for the new MCSA certification will find a stronger emphasis on Active Directory. Microsoft Active Directory, or AD, is a database management system that can be replicated across logical network partitions called domains. The AD stores configuration information such as user login credentials and contains objects representing users, groups and computers. Administrators can group these objects into units according to business requirements and centrally manage them through group policy objects. They can also use AD to push software and desktop configuration updates to user systems. While AD has long been a central component of Windows Server, significant updates have expanded its role in the MCSA exams.
Microsoft recently announced its plan to reintroduce the MCSE and MCSA certifications, which address the evolution of technology toward cloud computing. Many IT professionals are already aware of the MCITP certification that resulted from the Microsoft Server 2008 upgrade, but it appears the company tossed the four-year-old certification. With the reintroduction of the old but new MCSE and MCSA certifications, Microsoft also detailed that each one is not necessarily the same as it used to be.
The expanding role of cloud computing in the IT and software development fields has Microsoft sitting up and taking notice: the company announced recently that it will be reorganizing its Microsoft certification program to address the evolving impact of the cloud. In the process, the MCSA, MCSD and MCSE certification designations will also be returned to duty, with two small changes – the “A” will now stand for “associate” instead of “administrator,” and the “E” will now stand for “expert” rather than “engineer.”
