MCSD MCSE

Passing Marks And The MCSD MCSE

Four out of five candidates are failing the free exam for Microsoft certified systems engineers (MCSE) to upgrade from NT4 to Windows 2000, which Microsoft says is deliberately tough to weed out "paper MCSEs".

Microsoft is retiring the NT4 portion of the MCSE, forcing engineers trained in NT4 to sit an exam in Windows 2000 to retain their MCSE certification after December 31.

The company is offering a free upgrade exam for NT4 engineers, but its figures show only 20 per cent of candidates are passing.

"It's tough, and deliberately so," Microsoft Australia technical community manager Derek Kerr said. "The failure rate is almost 80 per cent." People at the MCSD MCSE exam were "getting a shock" but those who prepared properly were "passing without a problem".

Mr Kerr said the NT4 certification had been overwhelmed by "paper MCSEs", who read a book and passed the certification without necessarily having used the product.

"The bar has been set high to thin out those who are not ready to be certified," Mr Kerr said. "The message to employers is that the ones who are certified are really ready."

Microsoft reviewed the failure rates of MCSD MCSE and would adjust the exams if they were too difficult.

Engineers certified in NT4 must pass four exams in Windows 2000 to keep their MCSE status, compared with seven exams for new MCSE applicants.

Candidates get one shot at the free upgrade exam, which rolls all four components into the one exam. And they must pay to sit the exams individually if they fail.

The pass mark is about 90 per cent for both the separate tests and the free accelerated exams. Jann Westermann, a systems administrator at a bank, agreed "paper MCSEs" were a problem and said it was a good move to make the exam harder.

"Microsoft's certification process was losing value because of these certified schmucks," he said. "It was a double whammy for Microsoft because these people weren't good and when things went wrong they blamed the software.

"It was making the certification look stupid and making the company look stupid.

"It will probably increase the value of the certification by weeding out people. I just get peeved that I'm losing the certification when my company is an NT4 shop and will remain an NT4 shop."

But Westermann said it was "a slap in the face" that the free upgrade exam bundled all four components together and there was only one opportunity to pass.

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