A few weeks back I brought you the exciting news about the new 74-324 Exam coming for Small Business Competency to replace 70-323, (yes, it is 74-324 NOT 70-324, for those who have been asking) based on the input and feedback that we have received from you, our partners, about the 70-323 exam contents and the relevance of it to the small business segment. The response and excitement about that announcement was great to see and I have been receiving some follow-up questions about the 74-324 exam on things like prep and timing, as well as questions from those who took the 70-323 exam earlier and did not pass it. Now that I’m back in the office (and thanks for your patience while I was out for a couple weeks of vacation with the family), I am providing this post with the answers to several of the questions, including some very exciting news for those who were early adopters and went after the 70-323 exam when the small business competency was announced.

To begin, if you haven’t read my New 74-324 Exam coming for Small Business Competency to replace 70-323 post yet about what the 74-324 exam is and why it is being introduced, you might want to take a quick moment to do so for the background. Now for those of you looking to pursue the 74-324 exam on your path to earning a silver or gold small business competency, here is the information for you:

• Preparation: To help you prepare for the Administering Office 365 for Small Business 74-324 exam, we are offering an Administering Office 365 for Small Businesses Jump Start course, which is an online training course conducted by Stephen Hall, CEO of District Computers, LLC (@dccomputerco) and Chris Oakman, Chief Infrastructure Officer of Eastridge Technology (@ceoakmanii). The course is being held live on August 29th and 30th and I have the full details available here: Announcing the Administering Office 365 for Small Businesses Jump Start for the 74-324 Exam.
  • Now, I am fully aware that today is the 30th, which means you’ve already missed the first day if you’re just reading this now. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. The event is being recorded and we will be making it available on demand, so go ahead and register for the session and you will be able to view it on demand once we get it posted.
• Timing: “That’s fantastic news about the new 74-324 exam, Eric, but when is the 74-324 exam going to be available?” has been one of the more popular question coming in since the announcement of the new 74-324 exam. I am happy to say that the 74-324 exam details are now live on the Microsoft Learning website (here’s the direct link to the 74-324 exam page). On that page, you will notice that the published date for the exam is listed as September 6th, so we’re almost there!

Ok, so here’s another big question that I’ve been getting ever since the announcement of the 74-324 exam for the small business competency: “While that is great news about the new 74-324 exam for the small business competency, Eric, what about us who went out and took the 70-323 exam when Microsoft announced that as the requirement for the small business competency, before you announced the 74-324 exam, and failed it because of the content included in it?” Great question and we’ve got you covered. I’m very happy to let you know that we are offering free exam vouchers for those partners who failed the 70-323 exam before we announced the 74-324 exam in their pursuit of the small business competency. Here are the details:

• To qualify: You must be an organization pursuing the small business competency and have taken (and failed) the 70-323 exam prior to August 18th
• Free vouchers: The free exam vouchers available through this offer are specifically for the 74-324 exam, since that is the replacement for the 70-323 exam as a requirement for the small business competency.
• Limit: There is a limit of 2 free exam vouchers per organization for this offer
• How to get them: If you are a qualifying organization, send an email to ExamVoucher74-324 that includes: your name, your partner organization name, and proof of your failed 70-323 exam from Prometric.

Thanks again for all of the excitement and feedback you have been sharing with us regarding both the small business competency itself as well as the new 74-324 exam as a qualifier for the small business competency. Keep it coming, as I always love getting the input and feedback from all of you.

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Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER, LinkedIn, and RSS and see “What I’m thinking”
Director, Worldwide Partner Experience
Microsoft Corporation
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights