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Microsoft Certification Online Study Groups

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I am going to be working on two more Microsoft Exams. One is 70-646, Windows Server Administration and the other is 70-236, Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Both are technologies I use at my job and I want to get certified on.

My plans for the 646 is to write the exam sometime before the end of October. That being said, if it looks too ambitious then I might push it out to November. The Exchange certification I plan to work on with a friend in Ottawa to help keep me focused. The plan for him and I is to try and meet once a week via Microsoft LiveMeeting and discuss the chapters that we were to cover for that week. When we are done, we will try the exam. I imagine we will be early February or March before we tackle the exam.

For both of these exams, I will be posting to my blog a recommended schedule, a quick review of the weekly content and a question of the week. Look for me to have a plan together for the 646 exam first (probably next week) and then once I have the details finalized, the plan for 236. My intention with the LiveMeeting’s on exchange is to open them up to anyone who is interested in following along. To follow along with either of these sessions, you will need the Microsoft Press Study Guides for the respective material. Unfortunately, I don’t have any copies of the book to give away, your best bet is to do like I did and order the book through Amazon. Ordering online saved me about $20.00 versus buying it in a store and I had the books in two days.

Here is the link to each of the books:

70-646, Windows Server Administration

70-236, Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

If you are interested in working on these exams, we’ll be creating forums for each of the exams at the OWSUG site where questions can be asked. Look for more information about 70-646 next week.

Congrat’s Trika

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For those who read Trika’s blog, “So, a booth babe and a geek walk in to a bar” you’ll already know she’s leaving her marketing post with Microsoft Certification and Learning and moving into a role with the Windows Embedded team. I am sad to see her leave as she gave the Certification and Learning team at Microsoft a personality. She will be missed but I know she will do well in her new role with Microsoft and I know her replacement will have big shoes to fill.

Certification Plans

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I wrote the exam I was dreading the most, 70-297. It is an exam which has multiple case studies and you only have a short amount of time to read, and answer each one. I got pressed for time on the first case study, but after that, I learned to skim over some of the reading material and was quicker at getting through the case studies. Thankfully I passed and I am happy to have it out of the way. With that one complete, the finishes the MCSE on Windows Server 2003. I started that journey back in June of 2006, which I passed 70-290 using both a 50% off coupon and the second shot. That was a sweet deal, its too bad they don’t do that anymore. You can get the second shot again but not the deep discount.

Now that I have finished up my MSCE on Windows Server 2003, I have been thinking about which exams to write next. I know both Brad and Garth are wondering, so here goes. I am writing 70-646 (MCITP: Server Admin) next to achieve some more teachable courses for Windows Server 2008. After that exam, the short list is MCITP: Enterprise Admin, MCITP: Enterprise Messaging (Exchange 2007), Server Virtualization, Vista and Office Deployment, and Office Communications Server with the order of the short list undetermined.