Article in The Courier 1st July
I am confused!
According to the article only engineers with MCP or MCSE qualifications are permitted to use the Microsoft logo in their advertising material - I have seen engineers advertising MCSA as a qualification - is this a real qualification or not? Or is the author of the article incorrect?
See article below:
How to check out your computer repair ´expert´
AS with many things in life, it’s difficult to figure out for yourself whether the person you are dealing with (plumber, mechanic, computer engineer etc.) is honest and trustworthy.
I guess most of us rely on common sense, word of mouth and the good/bad experience that our friends have had, of course this isn’t the best barometer of skill but does seem to work in most cases.
As for skill, in my industry there are a number of professional qualifications that can be taken; however given that most people have computers with Microsoft operating systems running on them, let’s focus on their certifications. Microsoft have two main certifications…
MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional), which means that the engineer has passed one exam in a specific subject.
MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer), which means that the engineer has passed a set of exams to achieve Microsoft’s top qualification.
It involves passing at least six exams, many of them are ‘adaptive’ – which means that the computer upon which you are tested is designed to find your weakest subjects and asks targeted questions to try to probe which subject/s they might be. When you get a question wrong, it focuses its questions on those areas! I passed my first MCP in 1998 and achieved my MCSE the next year after many long hours of studying; I then also took further exams to get my MCSE + Internet. Glutton for punishment, eh!
A good indicator as to how certified your chosen engineer is can be found by looking at their advertising. Only certified MCP and MCSE engineers are allowed to use the relevant Microsoft logo in their marketing material.
Finally, many reputable computer engineers will publish comments from satisfied clients on their website. So have a look – is their website up to date, does it have any testimonials, perhaps even ask them for the contact details of previous clients.
Any honest engineer who is proud of their work should be happy to share that information with you.
BlueMoon is also a member of TIBA (The International Business Association – www.tibacb.com), who ‘vet’ their members to ensure that they are legal before being allowed to join the organisation. So professional membership might also be another way to validate your potential computer engineer.
Richard Cavender
BlueMoon Solutions
One thing is the whole certification process from Microsoft. Its beyond a joke. Honestly. What you should look for is a MICROSOFT PREFERRED PARTNER, MICROSOFT PREFERRED VENDOR or a MICROSOFT SYSTEM BUILDER.
Further more he writes in his article: "is their website up to date, does it have any testimonials, perhaps even ask them for the contact details of previous clients".
If a shop would be so crazy to deliver out clients contact information for references the shop would actually BREAK the "data protection laws" - Ley de proteccion de datos, and I certainly would NEVER buy anything from someone knowing that my contact information were flying around in Spain with no control what so ever....
The MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) is indeed a valid certification issued by Microsoft and individuals with the MCSA are allowed by Microsoft to use the relevant logo in their marketing materials, as can those with MCP or MCSE certificates.
To the best of my knowledge the MCSA and MCSE certifications are considered to be equals. Neither indicates particularly more expertise than the other, they are instead referring to different job roles that individuals with either of these could be expected to perform:
MCSA - Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator - Individuals with this are likely to deal with the day-to-day running of a structured computer network.
MCSE - Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer - Individuals with this generally do more of the setup and installation of the network itself.
Just because I have either of these however is still rather meaningless unless put into context correctly. I could have certifications coming out of my ears, and still not necessarily be an 'expert'.
Most people can read a book, spend a few hours cramming, and pass a test. What does this really mean? It could just mean that they're good at taking tests!
Aside from this, the author indicated he has an MCSE + Internet. This was officially retired by Microsoft, and as such can no longer be obtained. Microsoft announced in Jan. 2000 that exams for the MCSE + Internet would expire at the end of Feb. 2001 and the certification would not be valid after Dec. 2001.
The MCSE + Internet pre-dates Windows 2000, its study is focused around Windows NT 4.0, a system which is now hardly used.
If you don't hold a certification that is still considered current by Microsoft, in the fast paced IT industry, how you can consider yourself an 'expert' is beyond me! Especially when you consider he is essentially admitting that he has not refreshed his skill range in nearly a decade.
Richard Harrison