Microsoft Emphasizes Cloud In Certification Program Overhaul

Microsoft Emphasizes Cloud In Certification Program Overhaul
Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) is overhauling its certification program for IT professionals and developers in an effort to address the growth of cloud computing and what the company described as "the growing skills gap" in the IT industry.

The changes generally put more emphasis on IT system planning and design rather than implementation and operation, said Don Field, Microsoft senior director of product management.

"We've increased the skill levels that individuals are required to demonstrate," Field said in an interview. The new certifications reflect "industry shifts that require a broader knowledge base and deeper skills across solutions that cloud computing requires."

And the move will mean changes to partner certifications in the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) program. Becoming certified under MPN's "competencies" requires that solution providers have a number of sales and technical staffers who have passed certification exams in specific areas such as application integration, content management, and identity and security. But Field said the MPN competencies themselves are not changing.

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The new Microsoft Certification Program has three skill levels: Associate, Expert and Master. The new Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate, currently the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, emphasizes skills in software and services implementation.

Microsoft described the Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert level as its "flagship credential" because it is the level most will aspire to, according to the company. It's geared toward IT professionals and developers with capabilities in planning, design and infrastructure. Microsoft said the MCSE level particularly requires skills and experience working with public, private and hybrid cloud systems.

The new Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer is the expert-level certification specifically for developers. Requirements for the Master-level certification haven't been set.

MCSEs will need to be re-certified every three years while MCSD re-certification is required every two years, Field said. He added that Microsoft is "not at the point" whether it will offer some kind of alternative to exams for becoming re-certified.

Among the first exams to be offered will be the MCSE for Private Cloud and MCSE for SQL Server 2012. Also in the works are MCSA certifications for Windows Server 2008 and MCSE certifications for data platforms and business intelligence.

Top 10 tips for navigating Windows 8 Metro

Moving around Windows 8 Metro isn't intuitive, so here are some pointers

The classic example: How do you turn off a Windows 8 machine?

The answer: swipe out the Charm menu from the right side of the screen, choose Settings, touch the power button, and choose Shut Down. Simple, yes?

RELATED: This Windows 8 tablet might actually be a PC

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HARDWARE: 12 available devices to test drive Windows 8

Windows 8's Metro interface is anchored by the Start screen, a collection of colored rectangles called tiles that are labeled with text to explain what they are. So the mail application says Mail and has a stylized envelope displayed on it. The tile to access the Windows store says Store on it and features a stylized shopping bag.

The Start screen stretches out horizontally and may take up several screens that can be scrolled by sliding a finger on a touch screen or left-clicking the arrow buttons in the bottom corners.

Metro is distinguished by its use of the full screen to display current applications. All the chrome of the navigation bars and systems tray so familiar in earlier versions of Windows are gone. Tools that serve these functions are hidden off-screen.

Some of these comprise the charms bar, a set of buttons hidden to the right of the screen. They can be called out with the swipe of a finger on a touch screen. These charms are labeled Search, Share, Start, Devices and Settings.

Swipe the left side, and you get the applications bar, which displays a thumbnail of each running application. Pressing any one of them brings it to fill the main screen.

Those are the basics, but there's still a lot to know. Here are 10 tips for performing useful tasks in Windows 8 that you might never discover on your own. Tasks can be carried out using touch or mouse and keyboard.

1. Returning to the Start screen: It's easy to lose your way in Windows 8 when you're just learning it, and finding the Start screen can help re-anchor you. To find it using a touch screen, swipe out the Charms bar on the right and press the Start charm. With a mouse, click the bottom-left corner screen. You'll know it's ready for the click when a tiny image of the Start screen pops up. On a keyboard, press the Windows key.

2. Organizing the Start screen: The Start screen is made up of a large number of tiles, so separating them into categories makes it easier to find the ones you want. Drag tiles either with a finger or using a mouse and dropping related tiles near each other.

3. Naming groups of tiles: Zoom out on the Start screen to get an overall view of the Start screen tiles. This can be done using a two-fingered pinching gesture or clicking on the minus button in the lower right. Find the group you want to name, right-click on it and choose Name Group, type the name and press Enter. Or touch the group, choose Name Group and type in the name.

4. Pinning tiles: Not all applications are displayed on the Start screen. To add one, right-click or touch a blank spot on the Start screen and click or touch All Apps when it appears on the bottom. Right-click or touch the app you want to pin, then click or touch Pin to Start.

5. Displaying administrative tools: Right-click the mouse in the lower left corner. Or press the Windows key + X and the tools menu appears in the lower left. Or, while on the Start screen, press the Windows key + I, select Tiles, press Enter, press the space bar to change Show Administrative Bar to Yes. Administrative tool tiles will be pinned to the extreme right of the Start screen. Or swipe out the Charms bar, touch Settings, touch Tiles, flip the switch to Yes.

6. Search: In Windows 8, the Search charm can be used to search the system or, if it is invoked while in an application, to search the application. To search, access the Charms bar, choose Search and type in the search term. If you want to search the Start screen, just start typing your search term on the Start Screen. After your first keystroke, a search window appears. It will be searching apps by default, so if you want to search something else, you have to press or click on it.

7. Switching from app to app: When you have more than one app open, click in the upper right to reveal thumbnails of all active apps and click on the one you want. With touch, swipe out from the left side of the screen then back to the left side again without lifting your finger. That will reveal the thumbnails (this display is called the Switcher). Press the one you want.

8. Snapping apps: Metro supports displaying two apps at once, one in a narrow strip at either the right or left and one occupying the rest of the screen. The smaller one is said to be snapped to the side. To do so, type Windows key + . and it snaps on the right; press them again and it snaps to the left; do it again and it becomes full-screen. To switch between the snapped app and the main app, drag the vertical dividing bar between the two toward the center until the main app snaps to the other side.

9. Closing a Metro app: Metro apps idle in a low-power state in the background when not in use, but to shut them down, swipe from the top of the screen and, without lifting your finger (or releasing the left key if you're using a mouse), drag to the bottom. The app will first shrink and, as it reaches the bottom, will disappear.

10. Getting out of Metro: Had enough Metro? Press Alt + Tab and release when you get to the desktop.

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The 10 most demanding jobs in IT

Emerson survey cites roles requiring 'Always-On' availability

What are the 10 most demanding jobs in IT?

Well, according to a survey by Emerson Network Power, a provider of high-availability data center infrastructure management products, they are:

1. Executive director/administrator
2. IT procurement
3. CIO
4. IT manager/director
5. IT operations
6. Data center manager
7. Engineering
8. IT security
9. Applications/software development
10. Database management

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LOOKING: Want a new IT Job? Now's your chance

Emerson surveyed 800 IT professionals from four regions -- the U.S., Asia, Europe and Latin America -- representing 17 work roles and 18 industries, at businesses ranging from 50 to more than 10,000 employees. Most questions were designed to gauge who and what role in IT was "Always-On" -- a reference to Emerson's business in power supplies -- and used an agreement scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

There we three open-ended questions:

• How many hours per week do you work at your IT job? Include paid and unpaid hours.

• What are the most demanding aspects of your IT job?

• Please describe one or two situations that best illustrate how your IT job requires you to be Always-On: always available, always working at peak capacity and always accurate.

Respondents at the executive director/administrator level -- including administrator, leader, department head and director -- have hands-on involvement in every aspect of IT: strategic, operational and tactical. All say they work on many projects at once, and that their work requires a high level of intelligence. Only 25% agree or strongly agree that success depends on things out of their control; that they are accountable for success, and that translates into high job demands, the Emerson survey found.

IT procurement officials identified themselves as analysts, buyers, representatives, supervisors, consultants, directors and other leaders. More than half of respondents say they don't have control over their schedules and don't have time to do quality work. They indicate multiple pressures: urgency, demanding clients often in different international time zones, staying up on the latest equipment and filling pressing staffing needs.

CIO scores highest on "dependencies and multi-tasking," according to the Emerson survey. Responses show particularly high requirements to work on many projects at once and make important decisions quickly, and those decisions can be required any time. Other respondents say they have to be available to take emergency calls and have been tracked down even on vacation.

Demands of the job also include motivating and orchestrating the work of others. CIOs also indicate more than did any other IT role that they are responsible for a large part of the company's budget.

IT manager/director might be called on to put out fires or do routine work at any time, including nights and weekends, the survey found. Respondents say demands include juggling several projects at once, solving problems quickly and working at peak capacity at all times.

Respondents also say they have responsibility for a large portion of the company's budget and for leading the meetings they are in.

IT operations personnel include technician, manager, analyst, operator and specialist. They report working on high-stress projects with constant time pressure and responding to after-hours incidents, the Emerson survey found.

Data center managers were in the top three for "dependencies/multi-tasking," the top four for "availability" and the top five for "quick response." They also scored more than 30% higher than average in agreeing they don't control their own schedule -- 70% for data center managers compared to 45% on average.

Job demands and responsibilities include working fast, handling confidential information, troubleshooting, managing budgets, hardware maintenance and "everything," the Emerson survey found.

Engineers scored high in "dependencies, "multi-tasking" and "quick response." More than 80% agree or strongly agree that others depend on their work a great deal, 91% say they immediately read all messages received and 86% quickly respond to all inquiries. Thirty percent of the respondents work for consulting engineering companies, and "perfection" was cited as one of the job demands.

Making emergency decisions is noted as a typical demand of the IT security group. Eighty-nine percent of the security respondents agree or strongly agree they make important decisions quickly -- the highest score of all the IT roles.

But this group also scores lowest on quick response, the Emerson survey found. Sixty-one percent agree or strongly agree they quickly respond to all inquiries, but the average across the top 10 Always-On jobs is 76%. More than half of IT security respondents say that success depends on things out of their control.

Application and software developers are apparently able to concentrate on their work more than others. One-third or less report having no time for quality work and no time to think things through.

This group scores highest in quick response, though, the Emerson survey found. Eighty-seven percent of respondents say that others depend on their work a great deal; and job demands include developing new applications for the workplace or industry, some involving highly complex issues.

Database managers have a similar profile to application/software developers: 87% say others depend on their work a great deal, but 58% say they have no time for quality work and 47% say they have no time to think things through.

Those responses are consistent with the demands of the job, the Emerson survey concludes, which include working under pressure while troubleshooting various issues on a daily basis, often under tight project deadlines.

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