[RESOLVED] MCSE for NT 4.0 pulled out of retirement!

[ChrisR9999]

I had this sent to me by my boss via email and I just pasted it in...


BREAKING NEWS: Microsoft Rescinds Retirement of NT 4.0 MCSE Track
In a significant announcement made late Wednesday, Microsoft is no longer retiring the certifications of those who obtained their MCSE title under the NT 4.0 track.

by Michael Domingo
10/10/2001 - Call it listening to customers and partners. In a significant announcement made late Wednesday, Microsoft is no longer retiring the certifications of those who obtained their MCSE title under the Windows NT 4.0 track. At the same time the company publicly announced for the first time just how many people currently hold the MCSE credential under Windows 2000.
In a conference call with Robert Stewart, General Manager of the Microsoft Training and Certification Group, and Anne Marie McSweeney, Microsoft's Director of the Certification and Skills Assessment Group, MCPmag.com learned that the company has reversed itself from a stern policy decision set two years ago to decertify those who hold the NT 4.0 MCSE title by the end of this year.
Microsoft has rewritten how it will look at its certification titles. Historically, Microsoft has periodically retired credentials earned on older versions of its products.
Starting immediately, no longer will Microsoft-certified IT professionals be faced with a decertification process; instead, Microsoft says that it will create version designations of its titles. An MCSE holding the title under the NT 4.0 track will be designated as "MCSE on Windows NT 4.0." MCSEs in Windows 2000 will now be formally referred to as "MCSE on Microsoft Windows 2000."
McSweeney said the updated designations will appear on MCP transcripts probably beginning in April 2002.
The new policy affects titles in the program moving forward. Specifically, it affects those who hold the NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 versions of the MCSE, as well as the MCP+Internet, MCSE+Internet, MCP+Site Building, MCSD, and MCT. However, McSweeney emphasized that the company won't offer new credentials for MCSE+I, MCP+I, or MCP+Site Building under Windows 2000 or Windows .NET Server.
Under the revisions, those candidates who have passed all core exams for the MCSE on Windows NT 4.0 can continue to earn an MCSE credential on Windows NT 4.0 using exams that are currently being offered.
Unaffected by the announcement are MCSDs in the Windows Operating System and Services Architecture track (exams 70-150 and 70-151) and the Windows Architecture track (exams 70-160 and 70-161) and MCSEs certified in Windows NT 3.51. Those who have not upgraded to the current tracks of their respective certifications will remain decertified.
Why the change of heart? Stewart says that since the company made the original decision years ago, the IT climate has become more complex.
"Back then, we tried to hold to a simple, clear message," said Stewart. "But as the industry has moved to a complex and heterogeneous approach to technology, we figured that keeping [the certification program] simple wasn't the best solution. We wanted to do the right thing."
One factor in the decision, he said, was that Microsoft realized the industry could absorb that complexity. Also, Microsoft has realized that it can't predict the appropriate timing for such retirements. The new policy eliminates the need for those predictions. Plus, it allows companies to be able to identify individuals certified on Windows NT 4.0 while the product is still part of their IT environments.
"[Microsoft] had what might be called an identity crisis," added McSweeney. The company said evidence had built up proving NT 4.0 expertise was still needed. Customers and partners only reinforced that conclusion. Microsoft finally decided to reexamine its decertification policy. "We shouldn't be the ones calling the shots; we should let the market decide that."
The policy change will not affect the retirement of the 70-240 Win2K Accelerated Exam, which Stewart maintains will still happen Dec. 31, 2001. (The free voucher for this exam also ends Nov. 1, 2001; see "Free Voucher Offer Ends Nov. 1 <http://www.mcpmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=413>" in News.)
The news brings a reprieve to those MCTs who have been struggling to achieve certification on Windows 2000. While Microsoft Certified Trainers are still expected to obtain the newer credential or another premium title such as MCSD or MCDBA, the deadline has been pushed back to May 1, 2002 from its original date of December 31, 2001.
In a side note, McSweeney revealed that about 47,000 people worldwide have obtained the MCSE on Microsoft Windows 2000.


This is good news to those NT 4 people that havn't upgraded their certs yet.


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Sex is like pizza, when it's good, it's really good, when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

If you are a beer lover, check out www.mrbeer.com and see what they have to offer in making your own brew. I make my own and it's better than most stuff you buy on the shelf.

[HIESLanMan]

This is the right move, and is what everyone was clamoring for. But why couldn't they make that decision months ago? They've really screwed some people with their poor handling of W2K certification.

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There ARE no Power Users!

[ChrisR9999]

Definitly. I think MS noticed that not as many people were bothering with the Win2K cert because they figured MS was trying to screw people out of money. Which was probably the case in so many words.

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Sex is like pizza, when it's good, it's really good, when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

If you are a beer lover, check out www.mrbeer.com and see what they have to offer in making your own brew. I make my own and it's better than most stuff you buy on the shelf.

[PurpleDoc]

It is about time Micro$oft pulled their heads out of their butts!!! I am an MCSE in 4.0 and was dreading keeping up my certifications just to appease some hiring manager that couldn't tell his brown eye from a computer. I will not continue in my certification quest unless my employer would like me too. I was afraid to get my 2k certifications and then M$ telling me that it would be invalid by the years end and have to be certitfied in XP. With all of the crap that M$ is pulling with XP, I have started to take a long hard look at Linux and Staroffice. I am tired of having to fork out more mony for the newest Office Suite and Operating system then turning around and having to upgrade my systems because the new OS and Office Suite run like hogs. Sorry ranting. I am glad I will have my MCSE status at year's end since I worked hard and spent good money to get it.