SQL Server Bootcamp for MCITP Certification
Occasionally, I teach the SQL Bootcamp course but it’s a grueling schedule. The objective is preparing for certification and includes 5 x 12 hour days and two exams. If all goes well, folks come out with an MCITP-DBA certification for SQL Server 2008. The idea is that people with the required experience want to knock out the exams in one fell swoop, all in one week. Most people want to get it over and done with instead of trying to balance real work with prep time over a period of months. It’s a popular course. I had always wanted to run a SQL Bootcamp going back to the SQL Server 2000 days, when Windows 2000 Bootcamps were all the rage but it was not until I worked with Global Knowledge that a partner company actually committed to the development of such a course. Taking the leap of faith in 2005 paid off and that has continued into the 2008 release with more and more DBAs looking for certification. Of course, real-life experience is key, but having the certification adds extra weight to your credentials as it forces you to dig into features of SQL Server that maybe you have not used on a day-to-day basis. My design started with the published skill objectives for each exam. Microsoft did a great job identifying the skills being measured for each exam and defined sub-skills too. The exam questions are organized according to these skills. So are the Transcender practice tests that we decided to use in the course. I insisted on the Microsoft Press Training Kit for the exams to be given to each student. The Training Kits are great reference material and are also organized according to the skill objectives too. They are very useful after the exams too giving extra value. What I have seen since is very surprising. We see DBAs experienced in SQL Server 2005 attending the SQL 2008 Bootcamp purely to learn the new features and, as a secondary objective, take a crack at the exams. Previously, this type of customer would attend the SQL Server 2008 standard Microsoft course and take the exams on their own schedule. But the price of the Bootcamp is not much more that the standard course and the bonus of being able to take the exams is enticing. Also, if you don’t get through any exam first time, you get a retake voucher valid for a year. The schedule is intense, and you may not be able to spell your name at the end of the week but you may well be able to spell MCITP ! Cheers Brian
