MCSE vs MCITP - Why?

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Hey peoples of CF,

So arguably one of the most prestigious certifications Microsoft offer the MCSE, but why has this been replaced by the MCITP? Just like they have started phasing out the MCDST by the MCITP also, I have been reading about the upgrade path from MCSE to MCITP.

Excuse the below for sounding noobish as it were, I still don't fully understand.

I recently read something about IT employment, that basically said... The oldschool server admins/empoyers are only just starting to transition to the MCITP and upon reading applicants C.V's are still tending to look for the word 'MCSE' as a pose to the 'MCITP'. The thing is, I'm almost an MCITP in Client (Win7 685) Enterprise Desktop support admin, and if I were to apply for a desktop support role would this leave me at a disadvantage because I'm not an MCDST? (Even though about 90% of companies are still using xp clients) I would actually have thought being an MCITP is more advantageous because its newer (win7 and not winxp), is this the case or are employers still looking for MCDST / MCSE :/

 

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Surely that's going to depend on what OS the company is using? If they are a Windows 7 environment then having the Windows 7 MCTS or MCITP is going to work to your advantage but if the company are a Windows XP or Vista environment then it could well sit against you.

The MCSA\MCSE has a bad reputation against it because of dumpers, it was easier to get the MCSE than it is to get the MCITP (certainly when I did 83-640 which had the simulations you needed to have actually had hands on experience to pass the exam), another reason MS brought in the MCITP is due to the retirement factor with the MCITP, unlike the MCSA\MCSE, the MCITP actually has a retirement date against it (usually when Microsoft discontinues mainstream support for the related technology).

 

Oh ritee,

What do you mean by dumpers, and how has this given the MCSE a bad rep?

 

Brain dumping, cheating on the exam by getting the answers to the exam before taking it. Sooo many people cheated on their NT4 and 2000 exams that for a while that the MCSE became a laughing stock, Windows 2003 made things better because that got harder, the MCITP again was a move in the right direction when 83-640 was around but MS dropped that after a while due to performance issues at various test centers.
The MCITP is still a harder set of exams now, it definitely wants to you to have more experience in the enterprise than prior exams.

 

Your not wrong, I think the scenario questions from my experience really does simulate being on the job, and without actually being on the job as it were ;) would make this difficult to understand. Good shout thanks Si, any advice for the 70 685 got this one booked in first week of feb. CBT nuggets a good resource since I'm almost allergic to reading the books I have :L

 

Also keep in mind that more and more companies are now transitioning to Windows 7 and Server 2008... From what I can see, at least in North America, a lot of the companies are a mix of Windows 7/XP and not just Windows 7 or just Windows XP so I would be pretty comfortable having MCITP and not worry about MCDST... The best thing you can do regarding certs is concentrate on what you're currently doing and what you're looking to work with.

 

Don't kid yourself that the current sims make it harder for dumpers, they don't. Most certifications are still a laughing stock, have a look around the web, particularly at Indian certification sites. I've heard of people taking an exam a day, sometimes for months at a time. Its not uncommon for these people to have 20+ certs.

The only real winners are the vendors, who must be pissing themselves laughing, why develop 2+ million lines of C++ and assembler into an OS and sell it for 100 quid, when you can put together 100+ questions and sell that for 100 quid...