Windows Server 2003: MCSE Strategy

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Windows Server 2003: MCSE Strategy

Microsoft has officially launched Windows Server 2003 (April 24). But it was not an easy birth, with an estimated $200 million spent on research and development. Microsoft calls the server "a multipurpose operating system", a "jack of all trades", a server that can handle mail, web services, DNS, VPN, streaming media, and more. They say the new server will "incorporate the benefits of Microsoft .NET for connecting information, people, systems, and devices." Additionally, Microsoft says that Server 2003 is significantly faster than Windows NT and Windows 2000.

So what's the certification strategy now? Certify on Windows 2000 or 2003? Your two options for MCSE 2003 are as follows:

• Certify now as MCSE 2000, then pass 2 upgrade exams when they are available. They're scheduled to be available in beta in June of 2003.  CBT Nuggets will be releasing a video package for both upgrade exams; scheduled availability is June and July 2003.
• Wait until exams are available and certify as MCSE 2003; 7 exams, scheduled to be available in beta between June and August of 2003.  CBT Nuggets will have the entire series of MCSE 2003 videos (7 exam-packs); scheduled availability of the videos is early to mid 2004.

There are a few factors involved that seem to point to certification on Windows 2000 now with eventual upgrade to 2003. The goal of certification is to learn and then prove your knowledge so that an employer can be confident in your skills.  It's likely that Windows 2000 skills will be in much higher demand than Windows 2003 skills for the next 2 years.  Without a compelling reason to upgrade, many companies will not be willing to take on the risk and expense of a major infrastructure change.  This means that the upgrade path will most likely follow the purchase of new hardware and not as much the upgrade of existing hardware.  Even the most aggressive companies are going to spend several months planning and coordinating an upgrade to Server 2003.  Two years from now, with all the latest patches and service packs, Server 2003 will be a very wise operating system choice.  In order to ensure your highest level of marketability and your greatest utility to your employer, a Windows 2000 MCSE certification is the best choice for the next 1 to 2 years.  Even then, the person certified with both 2000 and 2003 will be most useful as it's likely that even then the majority of environments will still be mixed with legacy and new servers.  One final point to think about is the perception of experience.  If you hear someone tell you they are certified as MCSE NT and MCSE 2000, you immediately equate that to the fact that this person has been around a while, and so must have a decent amount of experience.  The same will hold true for 2000 and 2003.

We're offering the full MCSE 2000 video package for $299 through the end of April, a savings of $50 off of retail. (see below).

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Supplemental Resources

So what exactly is the correct mix of resources to be successful in IT?  Ideally, you'd have every technical fact in your head and readily available, but we all know that to be as do-able as nailing jello to a tree.  So the next best thing is to have a solid fundamental IT education and then to know where to go to do your research.  The CBT Nuggets videos are designed with that concept in mind.  One time through gives you a solid foundation and then as you implement a specific technology, watch that 30-minute video to reinforce the concepts involved.  Of course, I always like to have a good thousand-pager handy to flip through and find the syntax of that command or to do in-depth research of a point of fact (pleasure reading).  For bookshelf filling, definitely check out bookpool (below).

But what about exam-prep?  We've recently developed a product that will help you to retain more from each video you watch.  It's called Supplemental Reinforcement Questions.  We debuted this product with the release of the Security+ videos.  The idea is to provide you with approximately 15 questions per 30 minutes of video watched, and to present them in a manner that will help you to commit to memory the key concepts for a particular video.  It's been a very popular product with customers.  Eventually, we'll have questions available for all CBT Nuggets videos.  In approximately 2 weeks, we'll be making available the questions for every video in our MCSE category.  The price point for the questions is currently 10% of the price of the videos, so $19.99 for a video series that sells for $199.  The questions are put through the same technical review as our videos, so you'll know as you go through them that the material is accurate and relevant.  We welcome any comments or suggestions you have about the new question product, please send them to suggestions@cbtnuggets.com.

Other Resources you may find useful:

• bookpool.com - Typically you can find great discounts on technical books here
• Qod.to - A well-designed site that offers free exam practice questions
• dice.com - Still my favorite job site
• monster.com - Another good job site

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Special 3-Day Sale

For 3 days only (through midnight on Wednesday, April 30th) CBT Nuggets is offering special pricing for the following products.  Remember that you'll never pay too much with the CBT Nuggets Low Price Guarantee.  Use the add to cart buttons below or phone in your order to 888-507-6283 or 541-284-5522 and use the following discount code: 3LTR4