TomKat24: What's up with Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist? Is that a cert that is worth the bother?

Patrick_Regan: The Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) is the replacement for the Microsoft Product Specialist. While you go for the more advanced certification such as the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP), the MCTS will give you some benefits, including access to search the Microsoft Product Support Knowledge Base that is not available to the general public. And it gets you automatically subscribed to MCP Flash. This monthly newsletter announces program updates; training, exam, and credential availability and retirements; special offers for MCPs; and some job-hunting "bells-and-whistles". Also some of the MCTS certs such as Exchange, SQL, SharePoint and CRM can make you stand out from others.

RandyBear: Of all the certifications you've earned in your own career, what was the hardest and why?

Patrick_Regan: Often, your first full certification such as Microsoft MCSE, Cisco CCNP or other similar certifications is the most difficult. After that, you get better in taking IT certification exams in general and you have a pool of knowledge to pull from rather then learning everything from scratch. For me, the first one I learned was the Novell Certified Network Engineer for 3.12. Back then, I had to learn the OSI model (which was new to me) and all of the different protocol suites and their related protocols. Today, the main emphasis is on TCP/IP, while I also had to know IPX/SPX, NetBEIU/NetBIOS, AppleTalk, DEC and SNA. Since then, I have a much better understanding of the OSI model and how the various protocols fit together, which allows me to use a protocol analyzer to analyze packets and to get an overview of networking in general. Eventually, I acquired the MCSE for Windows NT 4.0. After that, it became easier for me to get the MCSE for Windows 2000 and eventually MCSE for Windows Server 2003. All of this experience (test experience and job experience) then helped me get other certifications.

Moderator-Julie: Our time is up but I want to thank you all for coming and to thank Patrick Regan for sharing his expertise.

Patrick_Regan: Bye all. I have enjoyed this very much.