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In the years of the dot com boom
and bust, the Microsoft MCSE Certification has gotten its eye
blackened over an over. Paper Microsoft MCSE's who were excellent
at finding brain dumps and passing exams gave the Microsoft MCSE
Certification a bad name. What used to be a guarantee of a nice
salary is now ridiculed in some ignorant circles. After working in
the Information Technology field for twelve years I still believe
the Microsoft MCSE Certification is worth every dollar you spend
and every hour spent in study and practice. I'll share my history
with the Microsoft MCSE Certification and why I still believe
it’s a valuable certification credential.
My History: Pre Microsoft MCSE
When I started out as a PC LAN
Analyst I wanted to someday run my own shop. The best way I felt
to get there was to study for the much sought after Novell CNE and
Microsoft MCSE Certification. Because I worked in a Novell
environment and had no opportunity to work with Windows NT I
started on my Novell CNE Certification. I went book by book
purchasing them on eBay and reading while I worked a second job.
The CNE was also an easier certification to get as the answers to
the exam came direct from the books. Microsoft's MCSE
Certification exams tend to generalize on the concepts from the
books rather than the text verbatim. Once complete with the CNE I
had a full understanding of Novell's File Server and their weak
attempt at a firewall/web server. I understood archaic
technologies like IPX and Token Ring as well as networking
technologies used today such as Ethernet, and TCP/IP I at least
had enough knowledge to perform well at my job and work as an IT
Consultant where I formed my own business Gall Consulting which
runs today as a successful income.
After getting my CNE
Certification I finally got a job running my own show. I had one
Novell 3.12 server which ran the entire company. Within a year we
began to work with Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 and NT 4.0 was just
on the scene. I began the lengthy study of the seven Microsoft
MCSE exams. When I had completed the Microsoft MCSE certification
a year later I was like Yoda around the job. I had a complete set
of knowledge about Windows Networking and Windows Applications.
Because I completed the entire set of Microsoft MCSE exams and
coursework I knew the technology and the theory behind the
technology. This led to high performance as a Senior LAN
Administrator. Rather than a swiss cheese education I had a
thorough understanding of Microsoft Windows technology and could
adapt to new situations easily.
NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 MCSE
When Windows 2000 Server and
Active Directory was released we faced a problem. My small Novell
to small Microsoft NT Domain, had grown to a world wide enterprise
with five domains including various trusts going everywhere. DNS
was handled by our UNIX group and we had to find a way to learn a
new technology, create a single corporate Active Directory Domain
and use Dynamic DNS on our Windows Active Directory domain
controllers yet co-exist with our UNIX administrators who were
none to happy to have to share DNS. Faced with this challenge I
returned to what worked in the past. I studied for the Windows
2000 MCSE Certification
As I did before I started at the
beginning and worked my way through each course and exam until I
had completed my Windows 2000 MCSE Certification. By now I had a
great career as an IT Operations Manager and no one was going to
hire or pay me extra just for getting my Microsoft MCSE
Certification. This is the true value of the certification. It
started as my drive to obtain career credentials and became a
vehicle to ensure I had an entire breadth of knowledge that would
let me take on monumental tasks. Needless to say, today we have a
single corporate Active Directory domain with a few sub domains
necessary for DMZ areas. Our DNS works so well the UNIX group
asked us to take over and we're able to build on Active Directory
as a source of valuable corporate data. My point in this article
is to look at the Microsoft MCSE Certification as a way to ensure
you have all the knowledge rather than just what's necessary in
the short term. Knowing why something works is much more powerful
than knowing just enough to build it in the first place the
coursework involved in the Microsoft MCSE Certification provides
this. I can say without fail, EVERY Information Technology
professional I've worked with that had a Microsoft MCSE
Certification performed at a MUCH higher level than those who only
had on the job experience or had only studied what they needed to
complete their daily tasks.
John Gall is a full time IT
Manager and IT Consultant in Minnesota. He runs several websites
as a hobby featuring content similar to that in this article.
http://www.napavalleypictures.com
- http://www.gallconsulting.com
- http://www.sandalspictures.com
- http://www.microsoftclassaction.com
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