Information About MCSE

MCSE stands for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. It is the most widely known Microsoft certification and it is available for Windows 2000 and Windows server 2003. Each has a different set of examinations. MCSE qualified persons have the ability to provide business solutions by designing and implementing the required infrastructure. MCSE certification is useful for Technical support & Systems engineers, Technical consultants, Network and Systems analysts and also for regular software engineers.

MCSE 2000 has four operating exams, two electives and one design exam that is a total of seven exams. The topics include configuring, installing and administrating Windows 2000 professional, Windows 2000 server and implementing and administering, Windows 2000 Network infrastructure and Windows 2000 directory service infrastructure.

MCSE 2003 has four networking exams, one design exam and one client operating system exam that is a total of seven exams. The topics include configuring, installing and administrating windows XP professional, implementing, planning and maintaining, windows server 2003 environment, server 2003 network infrastructure and server 2003 active directory infrastructure. The topics also include Microsoft SQL server, Microsoft exchange, Active Directory, Network infrastructure, network security, and topics on general networking and Microsoft products.

There are many ways of obtaining MCSE training. The easiest is to take training at any local training center. MCSE training can also be done at home by CD-ROMS or through books. The courses usually have extensive content but basic tutorials can guide you to pass the examination if you have a basic knowledge of Microsoft systems.

Presently the cost of a MCSE exam is about $125 USD. The exams have 50-90 multiple choice, drag and drop questions and solution building questions. The content of exam can be changed so it is prudent to check on the internet at microsoft website for any change.

There are lots of benefits of MCSE certification like industry recognition, access to technical and product information directly from Microsoft, discounts on products and services, Microsoft paraphrenalia like MCSE logo, certificate, transcript etc. However the immediate and most important benefit is the increase in market value of the person and boost in career for software professionals.

The URL`s http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/MCSE/requirements.asp and http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/MCSE/windows2003/default.asp provide all the details, courses, books and their cost, syllabus, modules etc for the MCSE training and examination for Windows 2000 and Windows 2003. MCSE training books cost approximately $50 USD.

Specialisations available on MCSE Windows 2000 are MCSE messaging on Windows 2000 and MCSE security on Windows 2000. Specialisations available on MCSE Windows server 2003 are MCSE messaging on Windows 2003 and MCSE security on Windows 2003.

Keith George always writes about valuable news & reviews. A related resource is MCSE Training Further information can be found at Tips & News

The World Of Technology Prefers A Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)

In the world of technology people prefer being a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer or MCSE. It is opted as a better option than Ph.D. itself. MCSE enhances the position in an organization along with quick rise in the salary.

MCSE is a certification which increases one?s confidence and knowledge and of course dedication to the information technology field. MCSE certification makes a tremendous difference in how a person is viewed in an organization. MCSE certification provides many benefits like access to technical and product information can be received directly from Microsoft along with invitation to conferences, technical training sessions and participation in special events for the individuals who earn MCSE certification from Microsoft. These individuals also have free access to Microsoft certified professional magazine, which is a career and professional development magazine.

MCSE enables to learn various skills a person would require to have. To name a few an MCSE certification teaches how to install Windows XP professional, implement and administer its resources. It also helps to monitor and troubleshoot hardware devices and driver to optimize system?s performance. It gives an extended help to configure and troubleshoot desktop environment, implement, manage and troubleshoot network protocols and services as well as configure, manage and troubleshoot security.

MCSE certification also includes how to manage and maintain physical and logical devices, user?s computers and groups, a server environment and access to resources as well as managing and implementing disaster recovery. It also gives an overview to implement and maintain IP addressing, name resolution, network security, routing and remote access and network infrastructure. MCSE professionals are also able to implement, manage and troubleshoot security policies. Thus MCSE certification provides and an added advantage to the professionals.

MCSE professionals also come to know about patch management, infrastructure, and security for network communications, authentications and authorization. They are also able to plan, implement and maintain server roles along with server security network infrastructure, routing and remote access and server availability.

To be an MCSE professional one should have at least one year of experience in implementing and administering a network operating system in an environment with 200 to 25000 users and five to two hundred physical locations. The environment should also provide for typical network services and applications such as messaging, database, and dial-in server, desktop management. It should have facility for web hosting and firewall or proxy server along with a connection of corporate networks to the Internet and individual offices. It should also have remote location users to the corporate office network.

In a nutshell it is for those who install, configure or troubleshoot network systems in medium to large organizations. Mainly system engineers, technical support engineers, system and network analysts prefer to have MCSE certification. This certification is one of the most coveted degrees amongst the IT professionals.

James Croydon, Microsoft Certified Professional and Boot Camp MCSE advisor - focusing on MCSE Training and MCSE Study

Be Certifiable! The Basics Of MCSE And MCP

It is not always who you know, but what you know. That is why obtaining Microsoft certification can be a valuable asset to your career. Of course, it does depend on what career path you want to take as to whether you want to get either MCSE training or MCP training or anything else for that matter. So what do those abbreviations MCSE and MCP stand for anyway?

MCP stands for Microsoft Certified Professional and MCSE is an abbreviation for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. What exactly does having a Microsoft certification mean anyway? We know that it looks good on a resume and opens new doors in your career. Did you know that being certifiable - in Microsoft anyway - sometimes will also boost your pay? Experience counts for a lot, but having a Microsoft certification or two does not hurt either!

So what does it take to be and MCP or MCSE? Lots of studying! The MCP courses and MCP exams are geared toward a more rounded technical professional. Candidates for MCP must pass one current certification test from Microsoft. Passing one of the exams demonstrates that the candidate has a consistent level of technical expertise.

With the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer path, there are MCSE boot camps that help prepare candidates for the MCSE exams. These MCSE boot camps are intense classes often packed into a full two week period instead of the traditional weekly MCSE training classes in preparation for the MCSE exams. This path is more involved. MCSE certification is standard in the IT field and prepares you for anything from the design of a system?s infrastructure to analyzing the company?s needs before implementing a design.

Unlike those individuals who take the MCP training to prepare for MCP exams, students of MCSE have a course of study that is more intense. Instead of one test to prepare for, they have seven tests that they are required to pass to get their Microsoft certification. Yikes! Seven! They have five main exams to take as well as two electives. The five required MCSE exams are broken down into four operating system exams and one design exam. The two electives typically deal with other issues in design and implementation not covered in the five core tests.

After learning a few basics, it is easy to see that the MCP or Microsoft Certified Professional is really just a stepping stone to bigger and greater things in the world of Microsoft certification. The individuals who go for the MCP have a leg up on those peers who have no technical experience. They will have a better grasp on technical issues and usually stay a step ahead of trends. The MCSE is more specialized and appeals to the techno geek with a penchant for design and implementation. They like knowing how stuff works. So market yourself and become certifiable!

James Croydon, Microsoft Certified Professional and MCSE Certification Online advisor - focusing on MCSE Courses Online and Boot Camp MCSE

MCSE Certification - An Insiders View

In this article I am going to present an insider's view of this process. What you are about to read is the experience of an associate of mine. He is an MCSE, or at least he was. I'll let him tell his story in his own words. You should find this interesting.

Hi. My name is Steven. I am 48 years old and out of work. That may seem strange considering that I have a number of certifications including a Novell CNA and a Microsoft MCSE. So what's the problem?

To answer that question you need to have some background information.

I originally went to school for Accounting but lost interest. I eventually graduated with a degree in business, which at the time was good for nothing. Then my wife to be brought home an ad for computer training. This was long before Microsoft was big. We were still on DOS 3.0. Anyway, I went to school and learned COBOL and RPG. That did me a lot of good too because I had no experience and at the time these languages were already on their way out. I eventually did find a job but working on PCs. I worked on an Apple III.

This lead to a teaching position, teaching BASIC on TRS 80 computers. Eventually this died out too and I was out of work, yet again.

To make a very long story short, the cycle continued until networking became big. I got a Novell CNA and then eventually a Microsoft MCSE. I was set for life. Or so I thought. But let me back track just a little.

Before getting my MCSE I had to go through extensive training. The number of courses I had to take were mind boggling. The amount of information was mind boggling. I didn't know how I was going to keep all of that in my head, let alone pass an exam on it.

Then the first exam came. I failed. I studied more and went to retake it. Much to my shock, the exam was almost completely different with probably 70% of the questions different. Yes, there is so much information in these exams that you can actually take one of them 3 times (which I had to do) and still not get a majority of the same questions twice. Finally though, I passed the first exam and then after a period of nine months I passed all seven. It was the most horrible time of my life. But at least I was set.

At least that's what I thought.

At the time of the exam the system was Windows NT 3.51. If you know anything about computers and Microsoft you know that this particular operating system is long dead and buried. And as the changes came, I too became dead and buried.

Why?

To answer that question you have to understand how companies work. They always feel they have to have the latest technology, even though what they had was more than adequate to do the job. Part of this problem though is with Microsoft. They don't support old systems. So companies are forced to upgrade. With that comes the forcing of employees to get recertified and learn the new systems. This is where I just couldn't keep up. It was hard enough for me to pass the exams the first time. I wasn't about to even try again.

Sure enough, my company wanted me to learn the new systems and get recertified. I asked them what would happen if I didn't. They said they would have to let me go. I saved them the trouble. I quit.

I am telling you this story for a reason. If you are considering getting an MCSE certification you need to be prepared for exactly what happened to me, not just with losing my job if not getting recertified but the actual difficulties with the exams themselves. The amount of information is overwhelming and it won't be easy to pass seven exams. Then be prepared to constantly have to upgrade your skills as Microsoft isn't going to stop trying to make more money.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to MCSE Certification

Microsoft MCSE Certification and your Career Development

One of the most important certifications in the IT field is the MCSE certification. This is the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certificate and it covers a wide range of Microsoft based systems. The MCSE certificate can be earned in a large number of different ways. You can use classroom training, distance or online learning courses, or Microsoft?s own e-learning program. There are even programs that combine online learning with classroom training for those who benefit from a more personal approach.

The importance of Microsoft systems in the world of Information Technology (IT) can not be stressed too highly. The future is going to bring demands for specialized training beyond the current levels, and certification is going to be more than suggested, it is going to be required. In fact, this situation has already become the norm in many major organizations.

Regardless of if you are beginning in the IT field or if you are already working in the field, you are going to need to have a plan in place for your own personal career development. The field is confused because so many new technological advances explode onto the scene almost daily. The competition for positions is already intense, and will grow even more so as the generation raised in the internet and personal computer era comes of age armed with computer related skills that were not even imagined a few short years ago.

MCSE training is the type of thing that is going to be as important on your resume as your name. It will be like the basic high school diploma of ten years ago. Even in situations where you are all ready in the field and employed, MCSE training is going to be the type of thing that will make a difference in the competition for promotion within your IT organization.

Career development is the means by which you prepare now for what the future is going to bring. It means more than finding a job or getting the next promotion as important as those things may be to your future. What it also means is preparing yourself for the challenges of your chosen field. It means gaining the knowledge and skills that will allow you to succeed once the job is won or the promotion is secured. There are many things you are going to need to develop your IT career, but none may be as critical as the MCSE certificate.

Natalie Aranda writes about Information technology. One of the most important certifications in the IT field is the MCSE certification. This is the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certificate and it covers a wide range of Microsoft based systems. The MCSE certificate can be earned in a large number of different ways. You can use classroom training, distance or online learning courses, or Microsoft?s own e-learning program.

Microsoft Certification: Farewell To The MCSE

Microsoft is in the middle of a major push to overhaul its certification program. Last year, they announced the new Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) certification, which is not a written exam but rather a practical exam that will be graded by a board of examiners. Just applying for the certification will require 10 years' experience in IT as well as three years of practical experience as a network architect.

For those of us not quite ready for that, Microsoft has announced that it's also going to revise other certifications. The MCSE that we've all come to know and love is going to be a thing of the past. In its place will be a series of specialization exams and IP Professional certification tracks.

If you're currently an MCSE or working it, don't worry, you have plenty of time to adapt to the new tracks. Microsoft's official word is that the new certification structure will be implemented when the next Windows server/client version is released. For those holding MCDBAs, your current certification will remain valid and you'll have a chance to upgrade to the new certification with SQL Server 2005.

Those of us who have been on the certification track for a while remember the outcry when Microsoft planned to phase out the much-maligned NT 4.0 certification in the move to Windows 2000. There was quite an outcry from many certified individuals who felt MS was being unreasonable in their timetable and planned lack of support for the 4.0 certification. Whether you agree with Microsoft's planned changes, I urge you to visit Microsoft's certification site regularly to keep up with these changes.

Whether you choose to pursue any of these new tracks is your decision, but you owe it to yourself and your career to know about the new tracks. Change is inevitable in IT and the IT certification world, and you must be aware of these changes!
Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies. Pass your CCNA exam with The Bryant Advantage!