Microsoft training

Win Microsoft training worth $2,995, free books on Windows networking, free gas for your car and more

Microsoft Subnet — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:41:18 -0400

Microsoft Subnet and Cisco Subnet and have brand new giveaways for you this month. From Microsoft Subnet, enter to win a free Microsoft training course from Global Knowledge (worth up to $2,995) and 15 copies of Networking with Microsoft Windows Vista. From Cisco Subnet enter to win a free BP gas card worth $300, and 15 copies of iExec Enterprise Essentials, the official print companion to the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute's new iExec Enterprise Essentials curriculum.

* Enter to win a Microsoft training course from Global Knowledge worth up to $2,995 to be given to one lucky reader. The winning reader can choose any five-day (or shorter) Microsoft course in the United States from the Global Knowledge catalog. Training is offered in hundreds of U.S. cities. Entry details can be found here.

* Enter to win one of 15 copies of the hot title Networking with Microsoft Windows Vista: Your Guide to Easy and Secure Windows Vista Networking by Paul McFedries. Plus read Paul McFedries's guest blog written exclusively for Microsoft Subnet. Entry details can be found here.

Microsoft Subnet remains a proud partner with New Horizon's Learning Centers, too. Check out the New Horizon's catalog of Microsoft classes here.

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Up for grabs: $300 gas card; iExec Enterprise Essentials book; Training worth $2,995; Secure Windows networking book

Cisco Subnet — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:00:16 -0400

Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet have brand new giveaways for you this month. From Cisco Subnet enter to win a free BP gas card worth $300, and 15 copies of iExec Enterprise Essentials, the official print companion to the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute's new iExec Enterprise Essentials curriculum. From Microsoft Subnet, enter to win a free Microsoft training course from Global Knowledge (worth up to $2,995) and 15 copies of Networking with Microsoft Windows Vista.

* iExec Enterprise Essentials reviews the global trends, opportunities, and strategic imperatives that now drive IT’s usage. Readers will also discover IT-enabled business strategies that increase productivity, efficiency, innovation, and profitability and learn how to transform any organization into an agile, high-performance networked virtual organization. PLUS: Author Martha Young is blogging for Cisco Subnet this month. Access her blog here, and read a sneak peek of a chapter from the book here.
Entry details can be found here.

* Enter to win a free BP gas card worth $300. We have one $300 gas card up for grabs, courtesy of Cisco training partner Skyline-ATS. Entry details can be found here.

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The Unheralded Trainers.

Randy Muller — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:55:23 -0400

In the past I have talked a lot about IT Pros, their certifications, training etc, but now is the time to discuss another IT trainer, an unsung hero of IT world and IT training- the Applications Trainers. Teaching application classes is not an easy thing to instruct for a variety of reasons, time constraints, different class each day, class setups, remembering what new and possibly removed features are in each variant of a product, time constraints - did I mention that I already?

Application Instructors just do not have much, if any, flexibility in their class schedule. They usually have but one day to get through their book and little time for veering off-topic or spending too much time with a difficult student. They must also be more diligent about breaks and lunches - when class starts at 1pm - it starts at 1pm, there just isn't the time available to wait for tardy students. As a result, I believe there is much that can be learned from observing their teaching style. I have taught 1-day classes before - it is not easy when you are used to having the flexibility to catch-up the next day - you just don't have the luxury of time with one day classes. For those of who train regularly and teach multi-classes we are used to have some flexibility in our timing and can accommodate diversions in class discussion. We also have the flexibility in going into greater detail on some topics and spending time with individual students and their questions.

I have the upmost respect for applications instructors - theirs is not an easy world of training at all having taught a few 1-day classes. I used to work with an outstanding applications instructor - that is all she taught and I was amazed at her ability to switch between different subjects on a daily basis and her ability to develop a rapport with her students in such a short period of time. It is also a totally different teaching style from those of us teach multi-day classes.

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So who does have to take a pre-employment jobs skills test?

Randy Muller — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:07:56 -0400

I ran across a reference to this the other day that some companies may require incoming IT personnel to take a "skills" test. This wouldn't be so bad if ALL personnel, regardless of their field of endeavor, were subjected to the a "skills" test. Just imagine - an incoming attorney being required to take a "skills" test -insulting for them and insulting for IT Pros as well.

I can understand the genesis of this - the paper MCSE's. Many companies were deceived as to the technical competency of the new hire. But if the person they are bringing in has years of experience, solid references AND certifications - then there is no real need to subject them to a "skills" test. If a new person walks in, says they have all of these certifications, but no work record to support the certification claims, then I would be suspicious. But the crux of the matter is that if you ONLY test IT personnel, then aren't you discriminating against them? Can't someone "earn" a degree through various on-line degree-mills - send the "school" XX dollars and poof - now you have a degree in computer science? Once when I was searching for a new job, I was asked to take a skills test and told them I wasn't interested in their job if this was required only for the IT staff - just as well, company has gone downhill since.

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17 job-hunting resources for Microsoft Certified Professionals

Microsoft Subnet — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:55:08 -0400

Caught up the bad economy? Need a new job? There is some good news. Because Windows is still the predominant operating system in the corporate world, IT professionals with Microsoft skills and certifications remain in demand. (We'll bow to Microsoft-speak and use the generally accepted term "MCP" from here on, meaning "Microsoft certified professionals.") Unfortunately, as the job-seeking market floods with MCPs, you may need a fresh approach for your search before you can land that suh-weet offer. To that end, we've compiled a list of Microsoft-specific resources and some off-the-beaten track ideas to help you network with potential employers, find a recruiter or locate the perfect job listing.

Details begin on Page 2 of this post. But to make the list easier to navigate, here's an alphabetized quick-link guide.

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The Troubled Trainer – Revisited

Randy Muller — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:07:03 -0400

I want to go back and revisit what can (if there is anything) be done about the "Troubled Trainer" - you know, the one who doesn't know ANYTHING about the product and shouldn't be there in the first place, much less in front of a roomful of students.

I heard several interesting stories about these troubled trainers - as an example of why there must be some method of encouraging them to seek their careers elsewhere. As a contract trainer, this shouldn't take that long - enough clients complain about the instructor and they simply won't get work. This would hold true in most cases except for the fact that there are bottom feeders out there - trainers who charge such a ridiculously low daily rate (which hurts the industry as a whole) that a CPLS or other entity simply wants someone with a pulse in front of the class and "hope" that things might work out (remembering of course that you get what you pay for in these cases). I relayed the story about the UFO guy and 3 years later this instructor is still teaching - a testament to what I am saying here. So the system should balance out with contract trainers - supposedly - think UFO guy. The poor trainers simply should not get contracts.

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Microsoft Training over the Internet

Brian Egler — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:42:49 -0400

I have been a Microsoft Certified Trainer now for around 7 years. I have worked for various Microsoft partners to deliver Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) classes to customers across the world. I specialize in Microsoft SQL Server classes. The MCT Download Center allows a qualified instructor to download instructor guides and DVD images in order to conduct these standard courses in training centers and customer sites. This implies travel and, yes, I have clocked up my fair share of airline miles over the years. But what if we wanted to deliver this curriculum over the internet and save those carbon emissions? Well, now we do.

When we started delivering classes via the Virtual Classroom, VMWare was chosen for its superior virtualization capabilities allowing students to perform technical lab work remotely. We would build VMWare images for each course, and allow students to login during class week to get their hands-on work done. This was great for our own curricula as we had control over the images. Now a Microsoft Gold Partner, the company needed to deliver MOC (Microsoft Official Curriculum) courses over the internet too. But Microsoft built all of their course images using their products, namely Virtual PC and Virtual Server. Not VMWare. Apparently, there are utilities out there that will convert Virtual PC images to VMWare but we did not have the best of luck with these. Even the smallest change may cause a lab to malfunction, so we decided we wanted to use the official Microsoft images as delivered, unchanged. It's all part of our value proposition that allows us to deliver exactly the same curriculum online as we deliver in our training centers: same courses, same labs, same instructors. No travel.

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Cross Company Certification?

Randy Muller — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:42:06 -0400

Should there be a cross-company certification and how would that work? This thought came to me when I was teaching an Office Communications Server class recently. There were a lot of comparison questions between Microsoft and the “other company with green colored equipment”. Since there were so many questions, this led me to think that maybe there is some validity to a cross platform certification. Yes, CompTIA is out there and provides a “vendor-neutral” certification. But this isn’t so much vendor neutral as it is a cross-vendor application or certification. So is there a need for such a certification? I think that if there ever was a subject that could warrant such, this would be the one. Trying to make sense of Voice over IP is difficult when working with just one platform, trying to integrate two platforms makes life interesting indeed! In every class, there are always questions regarding how this piece from this company integrates with another piece from another company. There are not that many Voice experts out there and there are even fewer who know two distinct Voice platforms well. If you want a good field to specialize in – Voice will be the one (and besides, soon there will be a Microsoft Certified Master certification available) as there will only be an increased demand for Voice experts.

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Do you ever lose hands-on experience?

Randy Muller — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:59:22 -0400

I ask this question because I have known of trainers who last touched a production system 15+ years ago (and it wasn’t even a MS network at that) and yet still proclaim that they have valid, hands-on experience with current operating systems? This would seem to me to be stretching your experience beyond even that of Mr. Fantastic.

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Exposing certification cheaters and protecting unwitting accomplices

Microsoft Subnet — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:43:19 -0400

Finally, the folks that administer IT certification exams are working together to fight the problem of certification cheating. Network World has a four-part special report on the topic including these stories:

The story reports:

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Trainer Re-Education and Preparation – Part Two

Randy Muller — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:41:13 -0400

In other words, should trainers have to audit a class they intend to teach, audit a class every so often and recertify on products? This will be the theme of the next few blogs as I believe it is germane to quality training!

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Happy Labor Day from Microsoft Subnet!

Microsoft Subnet — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:06:51 -0400

Network World will be closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. While the spirit of the holiday is all about taking a rest from work, we thought it might be helpful to send you this collection of resources for your job as a Microsoft professional. Enjoy!

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The Dreaded Page Turner

Randy Muller — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:32:43 -0400

Last week I was involved in a conversation with several other instructors (representing several different vendors besides Microsoft) when the subject of new or more importantly unskilled trainers. Perish the thought, but yes Dorothy, they do exist. Most trainers have come across one of the “Dreaded Page Turners - DPTs” before and have had to deal with their ramifications later.

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Microsoft is developing a new, super hard certification test

Randy Muller — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:08:43 -0400

If you do a little scouring on the Internet, you can come across snippets of information about new Microsoft tests that are in development or in the beta process. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, taking a beta exam can be a boon, yet frustrating, as the exam developers are still working out all the kinks with the test. So what you see for a beta test is still a work in progress and could be aggravating to the test taker – but still well worth the experience.

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10 questions for virtual world evangelists (Microsoft's) Zain Naboulsi, and (G-Squared's) Kyle Gomboy

Microsoft Subnet — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:44:32 -0400

Welcome to a new regular feature of this blog … "10 questions for … " where we talk to interesting people in the Microsoft world through a series of 10 questions (more or less, but who's counting?) Think of this as a cross between James Lipton (Actor's Studio) and Robert Scoble (Scobleizer). For the inaugural entry in the series, Microsoft Subnet interviewed two of the people responsible for Microsoft's presence in Second Life and other virtual worlds. (See photos.) This interview was conducted as a live chat in Windows Live Messenger. The following is a two-page edited transcript of the conversation.

Microsoft Subnet: 1) What is it that each of you do for your day jobs?

Zain: I'm a developer evangelist for Microsoft in the South Central District. That means I reach out to the community and engage them any way I see fit to help them use our technologies to great effect.

Microsoft Subnet: 2) All Microsoft technologies or do you focus on specific ones?

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Winners of July giveaways from Microsoft Subnet

Microsoft Subnet — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:45:21 -0400

Real people win the goodies Microsoft Subnet lines up to giveaway. Have you put your name in the hat to win a free Microsoft training course from New Horizons? (Entry details available here. ). In August, we are also giving away 15 copies of the book Microsoft Dynamics 4.0 Unleashed. (Plus our sister site, Cisco Subnet, is conducting its own training and book giveaways -- that's four chances for you to win).

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What should the punishment be for cheating by a “Test-Center”?

Randy Muller — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:25:24 -0400

In my last few blogs I have talked about the different punishment standards recently introduced by Microsoft for individuals and test-centers. A test-center (CPLS) only faces a suspension, where as the individual faced a life-time ban. I think we need to further address the punishment for cheating by CPLSs – uh “test-centers”

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What about the Trainers?

Randy Muller — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:25:17 -0400

Got you interested with that header didn’t I? Well, what about trainers – what separates the excellent trainers from their “page-turning” colleagues? You guessed it – a deep understanding of the product, real-world experience and the ability to convey their knowledge in a way that their students can follow.

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The Value of Real-World Experience?

Randy Muller — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:55:21 -0400

This topic came up in class a few weeks ago about the value of real world experience vs. knowing only what comes from a textbook. This is applicable whether you are a trainer or by someone applying for an IT job. You have to have real world experience – you can, in many cases, get by without a certification – but you can’t do your job without having hands-on experience.

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New certificate level from Microsoft lets you be the ‘Master’ of your own domain (or SQL or Exchange)

Chip Wenz — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:22:43 -0400

At the TechEd conference last month Microsoft announced that they would be adding a new certificate level to their existing list. I posted a blog a couple of weeks ago, ‘No more MCSE’ that described the different levels of Microsoft certifications that are currently available.

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