* Microsoft opens Microsoft Certified Architecture program
Microsoft last week began accepting applications to the company’s elite Microsoft Certified Architecture program, which has been in beta since last summer.
The program is open only to the first 250 applications received. The application process will close on July 14, or as soon as 250 applications are received, says Microsoft. Applicants who are selected as candidates will be notified before Sept. 1.
According to Microsoft, the program identifies top industry experts who can demonstrate that they’ve led and planned successful business-critical projects that integrated with existing infrastructures. Candidates are required to show to a review board made up of four MCAs or industry experts, competencies in seven areas: leadership, strategy, communication, tactical and process, technology depth, technology breadth, and organizational dynamics. The interview lasts two hours and is face-to-face.
As soon as applicants are accepted, they are assigned a mentor from the pool of MCAs who will help applicants prepare for their review board interviews and conduct mock interviews with them. It’s up to the mentor to assess the readiness of the candidate to go forward to the interview stage. According to Microsoft, it could take between three months and a year to prepare for the interview.
Since the program was put into beta, the company has certified 68 architects around the world. Although the company would not reveal how many candidates failed to make the grade during the beta period, the program appears to be pretty tough. Microsoft says that although 250 applicants can apply, it expects just one in five applicants to qualify. The company aims to keep this program exclusive and expects to have just 2,000 or 3,000 certified architects on the books in the next seven years, says Al Valvano, director of Microsoft’s certification program.
The program is aimed at individuals who can communicate with business owners, technology professionals and other architects to create an architecture using methodologies, frameworks and best practices. Individuals are expected to have between 10 and 15 years of broad IT experience and three years experience as a practicing architect. And despite Microsoft’s branding of the program, certified architects are expected to be knowledgeable of all technologies, not just Microsoft gear.
There are three MCA designations: MCA: Infrastructure, MCA: Solutions and MCA: Messaging, and their job roles could be:
* Infrastructure architects: Work with IT operations managers to create an architecture that meets the requirements of the business owners and support day-to-day processes.
* Solutions architects: Work with business owners and technical staff to design a “solution” that integrates into existing environments.
* Product or Depth architects: Work with solutions or infrastructure architects, IT and application decision makers, and technologists to provide a deep level of experience and knowledge of the products being used. This designation is aimed at individuals at Microsoft partner organizations.
Microsoft says even though some candidates may fail, the exercise is beneficial since board reviewers provide feedback to help candidates improve themselves professionally.
The exercise doesn’t come cheap though. It costs $200 to apply (non-refundable) and then there is a $10,000 fee to take part in the program once candidates are accepted. The fee is used to administer, house and feed the review board members when they travel to interview candidates, says Valvano, who adds that Microsoft does not make money from the program. He also compares the $10,000 fee to the $15,000 to $20,000 investment over time that some Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers spend to gain their certifications.
In a Microsoft article about the program, architects certified during the beta period enthuse about how the process has helped to validate their achievements through reviews by their peers, and helps to promote their expertise to CXOs. But how many CXOs know or care about the MCA program? And wouldn’t Microsoft’s name in the certification title make hiring execs believe that these individuals are experts at just Microsoft technologies? Would such a certification be useful to your career? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
Microsoft has extensive documentation about the application process and the MCA program in general on its Web site.
