January 2010 - Posts

Second shot at Second shot
31 January 10 04:34 PM | ronaldg

For those of you who are Microsoft technology certified already, or for those who are thinking about the value of adding technology certifications to your portfolio of industry acumen, there WILL be exams (to use a variation on the movie title phrase that’s really popular these days).  [Those already certified may well be refreshing or updating those certs for the Windows 7/Server 2008 wave of technology.]  For those that have done these kinds of exams, you know that sometimes they can be tricky.  Perhaps some of you even joined myself and Beatrice for some of our “Certification Prep Series” webcasts we did a couple of years back.  And, you may also remember the “Second Shot” testing promotion that has been very well received.  Well, I have really good news – the Second Shot program is back!

Microsoft Learning (MSL) is bringing back Second Shot as part of its new Career Initiative, which is designed to help you (partner) and perhaps in some cases even some customers/clients to get trained and certified on Microsoft technologies.

Those of you already certified certainly understand the value of having a Microsoft certification, whether it be for meeting the requirements of the higher levels of the Microsoft Partner Program (now Microsoft Partner Network) or just differentiating yourself from the crowd for other job or business purposes. 

Well, since these exams are not free, a “bad day” in the test room has some potential financial impact.  For instance, I know some of you have employers who will reimburse for these exams, but even if you get reimbursed, they don’t necessarily reimburse for failed exams.  But with Second Shot you can now register for a free retake (should you need it), and then take the first exam with less anxiety and fear of not passing. Second Shot is not available to everyone for any exam, but most of my partners who read this blog should qualify.

A couple of key things to note:

You must purchase a qualifying exam to be eligible for this offer (in case this wasn’t obvious <smile>)

This current promotion is valid from January 13, 2009 – June 30, 2010. (meaning you must sit for both the first and (if necessary) second retake exams before June 30, 2010.

Eligible Exams: All 070 and 083 exams.

Second Shot is available worldwide (except India and China) and only at Prometric Testing Centers.

Here’s the link to get more info on the Second Shot offer:
Special Offers on Training and Certifications from Microsoft

And while I’m on the subject of certification, here’s a link to a new MSL site that lists job roles, learning paths and other resources for getting certified in the Microsoft technology area of your choice: Microsoft Professional Career Portal.

On a side note, one of the things I’ll be doing now that I’m back in TS2 is being the “Champ” if you will for Microsoft Learning and our Learning Solution (CPLS) competency and our CPLS partners. So expect to see more posts from me around certifications in the future.

Great new opportunity to connect with other partners and Microsoft!
20 January 10 06:21 PM | ronaldg

One of the key “benefits” of the TS2 style public events that our team did (and many of you likely attended), and something we always got good feedback on, was that those events were opportunities for our mainstream partners, especially our core Registered Partner base, to meet and mix, aka network, with other partners who were also invested in the Microsoft technologies and partner “ecosystem”.  Well, since we’ve stopped doing those events, some of our partners have had to look for other vehicles to leverage for networking.  And, if you’re not familiar with them, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce and put a “shout out” to the IAMCP (International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners) organization – they’re a great org for any Microsoft partner to invest in, especially if you’re interested in the personal/business networking aspect.  But this post really isn’t about IAMCP, it’s about another brand new opportunity for you to join the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) Community.

The MPN Community is a place, hosted right on the Partner Portal, where you can connect and collaborate with other partners and with Microsoft as well.  In fact, the MPN Community was designed specifically to facilitate real-time networking opportunities between people, like yourselves, who are selling or building Microsoft solutions and Microsoft. This is way better than the TS2 events because now you’re not just networking with a small group of local partners, but engaged with a much larger sphere of influence and opportunity. 

So, by way of introducing you to the new MPN Community, let me suggest some ways for you to engage with your peers and Microsoft globally or directly within your region. Among other things, you can:

1. See what’s happening in your local community and region, as well as attend partner events and engage in social media with people in your community.

2. Get involved in Microsoft communities focused on student talent for hire, public policy affecting the technology industry, technology training and education and much more.

3. Join the conversation with Microsoft and other partners through online social media like Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft and partner blogs.

4. Keep up to date with the latest partner relevant news, webcasts, and videos, and find product specific information and training within the broader Microsoft partner network.

And, finally, I’d like to direct you to a few partner network community resources that may be of interest to you and help you start the conversation with other partners and Microsoft.

· Join the community Twitter feed and the partner network Facebook page (and the home page even has a link to a FAQ to learn more about “social media” in case you’re a slacker like me who hasn’t really gotten immersed in all that stuff as yet.)

· Watch short video series on SMB, Windows 7, and Azure.

· Take a sneak peek at what is being planned for the 2010 Worldwide Partner Conference

Hopefully, I got you at least curious enough to check it out now, and even more so, I hope you’ll find it to be a useful tool to engage with other Microsoft partners, as well as Microsoft, to help you get even more out of your investment in being a part of our partner.