Thrive redux

Back in February I did a post called “Helping Partners Help Themselves…".  The first part of that was around something called Skills Week and the second part was around something called “Thrive”.  Well, the Skills Week has come and gone, and hopefully you were able to take advantage of it, BUT in case you’ve forgotten, THRIVE is an on-going scenario.  Without making you have to go back and read the old post, here’s a recap in a nutshell: “Visit the Thrive site and learn how to enhance your skills, advance your career and elevate IT as the business leader.  Go ahead - find out how YOU can Thrive!”.  As I pointed out before, although it appears to be oriented toward IT Pros, partners need the same skills and knowledge of technology in many cases.  With virtualization being such a hot topic these days, I thought this would be a good time to do a redux on Thrive since it features some new offers around virtualization.  Check out #2 below – even if you don’t take the exam, here’s $160 worth of virtualization training for FREE!

Here’s a rundown of the current offers and a link: Thrive offers

• Career Assist Package: Register for Second Shot and get any Microsoft E-learning collection for just $35.00(US)

  In today's challenging economic times, how do you stand out from the crowd, stay up-to-date with relevant technologies, and get the top jobs? Becoming a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) is a great start. Until June 30, 2009, as a part of Second Shot, we are offering a Career Assist Package. Along with enjoying the benefits of Second Shot, you can access a collection of Microsoft E-Learning courses, which provide 8 to 20 hours of on-line instructional content to help you master a product and prepare for a certification. Normally priced up to US$350, these e-learning collections are just US$35 when you register for Second Shot.

• Prepare for Exam 70-652 (TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring) for Free ($159.99(US) value)

  This collection of five 2-hour courses helps you develop the skills necessary for implementing and managing Hyper-V in an IT environment, as well as creating and managing virtual machines and hosts in a virtual environment.

• Get Certified Through Exam 70-652 (TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring) with a 25% Discount

  Once you’ve taken the preparation course, you can take the certification exam at a reduced price. This exam will test your skills in installing, configuring, and optimizing Hyper-V; and in deploying, managing, and monitoring virtual machines using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008.

• FREE E-BOOK: Understanding Micrososft Virtualization Solutions

  Understanding Micrososft Virtualization Solutions - Mitch Tullock provides a thorough look at the capabilities, features, and operations of Microsoft virtualization technologies from the desktop to the datacenter, and how to plan, implement, and manage virtual infrastructure solutions.

note: if you are interested in any of the above the best way is to use the Thrive link at the top vs the direct links in the bullets; if you should go direct and have any issues, try going thru the main Thrive link.