Get in on the action: SharePoint certifications - "So, a booth babe and a geek walk in to a bar..." - Site Home

I'm going to type up some of the things John and J talked about in this morning's SharePoint certification Live Meeting. My report will be from my non-IT perspective, so you might find this over-simplified, too elementary, or way beneath you. If that is the case, consider that I might be feigning a lack of technological expertise just to make you feel real, real smart.

You can watch the recording here. I'll post the written Q&A when I get that tomorrow.

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HERE IS WHAT JOHN AND J TALKED ABOUT

There are two kinds of SharePoint. You should learn the difference if you don't know it already--check out the office site for info, or here's a developer's perspective on the difference that I found helpful.
- Office SharePoint Server 2007: Stand alone server product with excellent features for Enterprise Content Management, workflow, etc--lots of opportunity to develop specific tools, interface with web applications or customize
- SharePoint Services 3.0: is a part of Windows Server, a good out of the box solution for collaboration, etc. Not as feature-rich, not as much opp to customize
Companies are spending a lot of money on collaboration technologies like SharePoint--it's about a 7 billion dollar industry--which means these companies need people who can help them get their money's worth from the investment.
We have two developer certifications to help you show you're ready and able to help them--one for Server and one for Services, and two for IT pros--one for Server and one for Services. Each takes one exam, all of which are available now. Download a PDF Datasheet with all of this in one place.

Where to start? Pick the SP product (Server or Services) you've got your hands on and the role (Configuring or developing) you're doing or will be doing and start there. If you aren't locked in yet - start with Services
Brand new developers... Don't START with SharePoint certification. You'll need some background--in ASP.NET development, for example--to be successful wiht SharePoint. If you'd like some help on getting started with developer certifications, check out my friend Gerry's blog post on the subject.
No professional-series cert underway at the moment (MCPD or MCITP) but we would like to have one, especially with the growth in this area. Need to make sure we get the role right and it's not that clear cut. The planning teams are trying to sort through that now (any thoughts? post a comment...)
There is an end-user (I.e. YT) certification in development for SharePoint, planned for early 2009. Someone asked about cert for the non-developer designer role... nothing in the works today.
There are no training kits for these exams, so don't spin your wheels looking for them. Lots of other good materials (see table below--prep guides aren't up to date FYI) to help you prep for exams, and other great resources from Technet, MSDN, and the product group. We recognize there's a need for advanced training materials - we're working on that.
Do these exams count as elective credit for MCSE? Yes, 70-630 adn 70-631 do count as elective credit for MCSE 2000 or 2003. Check the cert guides on Microsoft.com/learning to see that...

Exam	Objectives	Instructor-led training	E-learning	MS Press
70-541	http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-541.mspx Learning Plan	•Please check www.microsoft.com/learning for resources. •50026A: SharePoint 2007 Hands-On Labs	Collection 5385: Developing Solutions with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Visual Studio 2005 Collection 5392: Developing and Extending Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with Visual Studio 2005	•Inside Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Version 3 (ISBN: 978-0-7356-2320-0) •6 Microsoft Office Business Applications for Office SharePoint Server 2007 (ISBN: 9780735622760) • Programming Microsoft Office Business Applications (ISBN: 9780735625365)
70-542	http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-542.mspx Learning Plan	•50046: SharePoint Developer (Mindsharp) - (2 Days) •50026A: SharePoint 2007 Hands-On Labs •Please check www.microsoft.com/learning for resources.	Collection 6071: Visual Studio 2008 Connected Systems: Windows Workflow Foundation (12 hours)	•Inside Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (ISBN 978-0-7356-2368-2) •Inside the Index and Search Engines: Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 (ISBN 9780735625358)
70-630	http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-630.mspx Learning Plan	•Course 5061: Implementing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (three days) •Course 50048: Architecting and Planning the Search Capability in Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 (2 Days) •50047: Advanced IT Pro Course for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (5 days) •50026A: SharePoint 2007 Hands-On Labs	Collection 5404: Implementing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Collection 3376: Implementing Enterprise Search Using SharePoint Technologies	•Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 Administrator's Companion (ISBN 9780735622821) •Inside Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 (ISBN 9780735623682)
70-631	http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-631.mspx Learning Plan	•Course 5060: Implementing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (two days) •50047: Advanced IT Pro Course for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (5 days) •50026A: SharePoint 2007 Hands-On Labs	Collection 5403: Implementing Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0	•Inside Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Version 3 (ISBN 9780735623200) •Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0 Inside Out (ISBN 9780735623231) •Microsoft® Windows® SharePoint® Services Version 3.0 Step by Step (ISBN 9780735623637) •Microsoft SharePoint Services Administrator's Pocket Consultant (ISBN 9780735623828)

Resources and more info

MCTS for developers: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/spserver/appdev/default.mspx
MCTS for IT Pros: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/spserver/config/default.mspx
SharePoint Learning Portal http://www.microsoft.com/learning/sharepoint/2007/default.mspx
TechNet SharePoint site: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc303422.aspx
MSDN Developer Center: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905503.aspx
MSDN Magazine Columns: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc501054.aspx
SharePoint Community Portal: http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/sharepoint/default.aspx

A few related offers:

Save 35% on Office SharePoint 2007 Administrator’s Companion and other titles: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9240278
Save on e-Learning: Core Training for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with collection 5266. Save 20% on this collection of four individual courses if you order by September 30, 2008. Just enter code SHARE20POINT at checkout. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9240278
Register for SharePoint Server 2007 Conference by August 1 and Receive a Free Book. Microsoft Press authors Bill English (MVP, MCT) and Ben Curry (MVP) put their expert insights and field-tested best practices into their newest book, SharePoint Server 2007 Best Practices, and will share even more as hosts of a Best Practices Conference in Washington, D.C., September 15-17, 2008. Register by August 1 to receive a free copy of the book! Learn more about the conference.