News

SharePoint 2010 Added to Microsoft Certified Architect

A Microsoft guide shows that the track itself is slated for general availability in early 2012.

• By Michael Domingo
• 10/05/2011

The Microsoft Learning Group has officially announced the addition of a SharePoint program to its growing Microsoft Certified Architect Certification. Microsoft Learning released the announcement to coincide with the Microsoft SharePoint Live Conference taking place in Anaheim, Calif. this week.

The MCA SharePoint track is currently under a closed beta, with some of the beta participants meeting at the conference to complete the board portions of the certification process. A Microsoft guide shows that the track itself is slated for general availability in early 2012.

The MCA SharePoint works much like the other MCA certifications. A candidate must first pass the Microsoft Certified Master: SharePoint 2010 certification prior to putting in an official application. The MCM SharePoint 2010 itself requires passage of four SharePoint 2010-related exams, two at the Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist level and two at the Microsoft Certified IT Professional level.

In a TechNet blog post, Microsoft Learning also said that it had tweaked elements of the board review process. Scoring is product-specific, which includes new "technology/workload-specific supplemental scoring criteria for each product," according to the blog. Also tweaked: grading process, the portfolio review process, and approval process. Microsoft Learning said it also no longer uses role-playing exercises during the review process, now that it has added a product-specific case study process. The revisions and additions affect all of the MCA certifications going forward.

With the MCM SharePoint 2010, the fees for the MCA SharePoint program can be upwards of $10,000, with $7,500 of that going toward just the board exam, which must be taken in Redmond. For more about the MCA SharePoint, including details on fees and schedules, go here.

In related news, process management solutions company OpenText released results of a survey it conducted into SharePoint 2010 deployments among its customers. Of the 362 surveyed, nearly half are using SharePoint 2010, while 43 percent remain on SharePoint 2007 deployments. The shift to the newer platform appears significant when compared to results from last year's survey, which showed only 8 percent of customers using the newer platform, while 81 percent were using SharePoint 2007. The result of this year's survey can be viewed here.