MCSM: SharePoint delivery is well underway - we're nearly halfway through the first RTM delivery of the training - but there's still quite a bit of activity going on with SharePoint 2010 MCM candidates completing their certifications. I'd like to extend my congratulations to the following three MCMs who recently completed their cert:
Congratulations to all of you for this outstanding achievement, and hats off to all the hard work along the way. Welcome to the SharePoint MCM community!
Evgeny Garaev has been working as database administrator since 2005. He started his career as Oracle DBA in 2005. In 2008 he decided to becomeMS SQL Server DBA. Since then Evgeny has been working as MS SQL Server database administrator, developer and architect. He specializes in databasearchitecture, performance tuning, and disaster recovery.
Evgeny currently lives in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Paul is a freelance SQL Server professional who first started working with SQL Server 14 years ago.His first exposure to SQL Server was using version 7.0 as a Visual Basic 5/6 programmer. He continued on using .Net and C# working on Windows forms and web site development before moving on to concentrate purely on SQL Server.Paul has worked on projects in all areas of SQL Server from development, reporting, ETL and administration. He still also enjoys writing C# and is making more extensive use of Powershell in his administrative tasks.Paul lives just north of Manchester in the UK and when he's not busy in front of a computer enjoys playing golf at his local golf club and getting out riding his mountain and road bikes.Further information about Paul can be found on his Linkedin page at http://www.linkedin.com/in/sqleganand on twitter @SQLEgan
Sergiu is a Senior Consultant - SQL Server with RockSolid SQL.
Sergiu graduated from University with a degree in Electronics and Telecommunications.
He started as a research scientist in the telecommunications field and later while working as a specialist for RomTelecom –Bucharest, Sergiu transitioned towards IT and database administration.
At the start of 2000, he immigrated to New Zealand where he worked as a database specialist and then as lead database specialist for ASB Bank.Size, complexity and criticality of the environment together with team’s pragmatism and high standards, contributed to and defined Sergiu’sdevelopment. The entire database environment spectrum was covered, from highly transactional eftpos transactions switching to data warehousing andgeo-clusters.
At the end of 2005, Sergiu moved to Australia, working as senior SQL Server consultant for RockSolid SQL in Melbourne. As member of theconsulting team, he provides support and consultancy in business intelligence, administration and development areas of SQL Server technology for customers inAustralia and New Zealand across very diverse environments: retail and supply chain, banking, insurance, lottery, infrastructure, financial services,tourism, transport and logistics, government departments and agencies.
Warner is a SQL Server Team Lead at Pythian, a global Canadian-based company specialized in DBA services.
A brief stint in .NET programming led to his early DBA formation working for enterprise customers in Hewlett-Packard ITO organization.
From there he transitioned to his current position at Pythian, managing multiple customers and instances all the way from 6.5 to 2012 while leading a highly talented team of SQL Server DBAs.He specializes on core engine features, performance tuning, scalability and high availability but has general interests from BI and data modeling all theway to engine internals. When he's not working on some new client out of the office in Ottawa, Ontario he can be found in the sandy beaches of his homecountry of Costa Rica.
Blog: http://www.pythian.com/blog/author/chaves/
David Levy is a developer turned DBA.
He began his career in 2000 after graduation from Northern Illinois University with a degree in Operations Management andInformation Systems with an Emphasis in Information Systems.
After several years of increasingly complex development work David moved into a support rolethat allowed him to indulge his interest in quick fix engineering. In this role he had the opportunity to tune a critical business query reducing the run timefrom 6 minutes to a few seconds. At this point it was decided that David should move to the database team to work on other poorly performing queries as well asto head off any future issues.
In this new role David worked with the development teams of the company to tune the existing workloads whiledeveloping coding standards and a code review process. During this time he developed the skills and experience to allow him to move into his current roleas a Premier Field Engineer at Microsoft.
In David’s current role he works with Microsoft customers to ensure they have the best possible experience with SQLServer through a mix of proactive education and mentoring and reactive assistance with system issues.
Blog: http://adventuresinsql.comTwitter: @dave_levy
Ben Miller is an Enterprise DBA Architect working for HealthEquity Inc. in Draper, Utah. HealthEquity (http://www.healthequity.com) is one of the largest HSA (Health Savings Account) providers in the nation. Ben is responsible for the scalability and performance of all databases in the company.
Before joining HealthEquity, Ben worked in various SQL Server positions such as Director of DBA Services and Sr. DBA, he also worked at Microsoft for 7 years in various positions related to SQL Server, including MVP Lead.
Ben has been working with databases since 1997 and is currently a 3 year SQL Server MVP and speaks regularly at User Group meetings as well as SQL Saturdays. Ben contributed chapters in the SQL Server MVP Deep Dives 2 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1617290475) book and the PowerShell Deep Dives (http://manning.com/hicks/) book soon to be published. He is also the author of the SQL PowerShell Stairway on SQL Server Central (http://www.sqlservercentral.com/stairway/91327/).
Blog: http://dbaduck.comTwitter: @DBAduck
Please watch your inbox for an invite to hear Darmadi Komo and Luis Daniel Soto Maldonado present the SQL Server Roadmap.
This event will occur next week. I am working on finalizing the time.
You must have an active NDA in place in order to attend. You may not Tweet, blog, Facebook, PIntrest etc. about any of the material.
A violation of the NDA can lead to you losing your certification.
Currently for the MCM SQL Server 2008 Knowledge Exam, there is a built in delay in the test taker getting their results. This is due to the fact that the exam was listed as Beta during publishing to Prometric. There is then a once a month rescored that occurs, with your results being sent to you in the mail.
This will change for the MCSM: Data Platform Knowledge exam (88-986). We cannot change it for the current MCM Exam 88-970.
Now you can expect to receive your Lab exam results in around 5 business days (or less when possible).
These pages will outline the topics covered by the Knowledge and Lab Exams for the MCSM: Data Platform Certification
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exam.aspx?ID=88-986&Locale=en-us
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exam.aspx?ID=88-987&Locale=en-us
The newest MCSM Knowledge exam was released to Prometric yesterday and you can begin scheduling your exams at any time.
If you are a current MCM SQL Server 2008, we are still trying to get the adminstration tasks accomplished to grant you the MCSM: Charter Data Platform certification.
You will not be strictly required to take the exam until your recertification period nears. Plese see here for the original post
The Lab Exam 88-987 is in development, and we hope to have that live by May along with our Practice Labs which will closely resemble the types of tasks that you will need to accomplish to pass the Lab Exam.
More information on the Practice Labs to follow.
Also, the proposed MCSM training rotation for May has been postponed until next fiscal year (November).
Ok, what does that mean to me?
The Data Platform Advisors is a Yammer Group that connects you directly to the Product Group, gives you first visibility into TAPs and Betas and allows unprecedented access to the PMs and Devs in SQL Server.
It's been an eventful several months for SharePoint MCM/MCSM/MCA since our last program webcast:
...so on that note, we're overdue for a few announcements.
First - a hearty congratulations to the newest SharePoint 2010 MCMs!
Well done, and welcome to the community!
Second - our spring Program Overview webcast is available for registration on Microsoft Events. I'll provide a detailed overview of the training & certification, and will update you on the latest developments in the program. This will include more detail on program content and upcoming training schedules that weren't available for our prior webcast in November.
Recordings will be available shortly after the live webcast for those unable to attend. Hope to see you online!
James is the Owner/Principal of Exorior Limited
James has been working with SQL Server for thirteen years. Initially a VB6 programmer, he quickly moved into .Net and started working withSQL Server. It was love at first sight. Since then he has concentrated on SQL Server, specialising in development but also encompassing administration, ETL,and BI. His programming skills have not been lost and C# is now his weapon of choice.
James lives in Mancehster, UK with his wife Frances, his three children Ethan, Lucy, and Patrick, his dog Jack, and his thirty year oldVespa.
He can be found on Twitter as @TheSQLPimp and blogs at http://sqlpimp.com
I've received a LOT of inquiries for a recommended reading list for MCSM: SharePoint over the past couple of months. Our prior pre-reading list (which is still a great but exhausting read on SharePoint-related topics) deservedly received a lot of attention as an essential tool for preparing for the course and the exams. The new reading list will continue to play an important role in candidate preparation, but it's important to provide some additional context so those of you pursuing the certification know how (and how not) to use it.
The "master plan" (pun intended) for MCSM: SharePoint is this list that I posted a few months ago - it's what drove the developent of all of our training content, our labs, and our exams. It'll attain a more official status when it is posted to the Training Catalog in the very near future, but those pursuing MCSM: SharePoint should consider it to be the comprehensive list of topics for the course.
The recommended reading list posted in this blog entry is a sampling of those topics. It's an important sampling derived from references provided by our instructor team, but it's certainly not 100% coverage of the topics. You'll need to use the reading list and the topics list together to guide your preparation.
Without further ado, you can download it here.
Below is a "rude FAQ" that provides additional guidance for using the list.
How should I use the recommended reading list?
This should be a supplement to your overall preparation, which should include both theoretical knowledge hands-on experience. Use the readings listed below in the followingorder:
Is this an exhaustive list of everything I need to know to pass the exams?
No. :)
Then why should I bother to read it?
This is a compendium of links that our instructors identified as useful either as preparatory or additional readings for the various labs and lectures in the course. Being familiar with these readings will help you get more out of the course and may help you prepare for the exams.
OK, so what's the best way to prepare for the course and the exams?
See the game plan provided above. Review the topics covered by the course and exams and ensure that you have both theoretical and hands-on knowledge in all of them. This is the "master plan" that our exams, labs, and lectures are based on. Our labs will give you practical experience across a wide range of these topics, but the more you know before you arrive, the more efficiently you'll be able to use the finite amount of time you'll be able to commit to the training.
Some of these are for SharePoint 2010/SharePoint 2007/Windows 2003/SQL 2008 - why are they here?
Because they're still useful! :)
What's the rationale behind the categories?
With the exception of the "core knowledge" category, they're used only to make the list a bit less unwieldy. Many readings span multiple categories. Don't fret over the "rough fit" of the taxonomy.
There are a lot of readings on {insert subject here} - does that mean it's weighted heavily in the exams or the course?
Nope. We just happened to gather a lot of additional recommended readings on that topic. Same applies for topics that are underrepresented in the list - don't assume that a weak showing in the reading list is indicative of skimpy coverage in the course or the exams.
Anything else worth noting about the content in the list?
Readings that pointed to API documentation are deliberately excluded, as familiarity with SharePoint APIs is assumed for all candidates as part of their MCSA/MCSE/MCSD credentials.
Jason is a SQL Server database architect and Microsoft SQLServer MVP. He has over 15 years of experience developing, architecting,and managing data platforms. He is a highly-skilled database administratorwith a strong background in database/data warehouse architecture and bestpractices, business analysis, mentoring and leadership. He works with clientsto review and analyze their SQL Server environments and make recommendationsrelated to performance improvement and reliability in their data platforms.
Blog link if you have one - www.jasonstrate.com
Owner / Principal of LobsterPot Solutions (lobsterpot.com.au)
Blog: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rob_farley
Bio:Rob Farley runsLobsterPot Solutions (http://lobsterpot.com.au),a Gold Partner SQL Server and Business Intelligence consultancy, a companyproviding consulting services and training in almost every aspect of SQL Server.
He came into the SQL Server world from development background, having spent manyyears creating data-driven applications. His understanding of T-SQL stems fromstudying Pure Mathematics at university before he'd gone anywhere near adatabase.
He has been a SQL Server MVP since 2006, and is also a Microsoft CertifiedTrainer. You may have seen him present (or even sing) at conferences in manyparts of the world, including events run by PASS, for which he sits on theBoard of Directors. His real passions are his Christian walk, his wife andchildren, and Arsenal Football Club.
He is based in Adelaide, Australia, and blogs at http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rob_farley,although you can also find him in print in both of the MVP Deep Dives books,and in the book Professional SQL Server 2012 Internals and Troubleshooting.
Sergey has been working with SQL Server since SQL Server 2000 version as a databaseadministrator and database developer, focusing on high availability anddisaster recovery solutions, ETL, troubleshooting and performance tuning.
Sergey is a regular speaker at SQL Server user group meetings and SQL Saturday events.He is currently living in Moscow, Russia and likes reading, traveling andconstantly learning new things.
Blog link: http://olontsev.ru/
Justin Langford is a Principal Consultant for Coeo, a Microsoft Gold Partner based in the UK. Justin works at Coeo providing consulting and support services for upgrade,performance tuning, scalability and availability solutions for SQL
Server. Justin is an MVP and has co-authored SQL Server five titles includingWrox IT Pro: SQL Server 2012 Internals and Troubleshooting, as well as the sametitle for SQL Server 2008, Wrox SQL Server 2005 Performance Tuning and two SQLServer exam guides.
Gokhan Varol started his SQL Server career in 1996as a database developer for the telecommunications company NTera.
On that role Gokhan was exposed to challenges typical of a centralized highly transactionsystems, which generated several million events per day. Later Gokhan took ontraditional DBA roles for Sungard and Citrix sytems, where he performed routineadministrative tasks managing thousands of databases in hundreds of servers. Currently he is a senior database architect at Corelogic, one of thelargest providers of real estate data in the country, and now he works onproblems typical to VLDB systems. Gokhan broad range of experience shaped himinto a well versed SQL professional with solid experience in diverseenvironments. On each role Gokhan has been very passionate about thoroughlyunderstanding the problems and how to apply SQL Server resources to mitigate oreliminate them.
Simon has been working with SQLServer for 14 years now, since SQL Server 6.5. Having started out as aproduction DBA Simon now works as an architect for online environments. He has spent most of his time in recent years working on online advertising and gamingsystems in the UK and US.
His specialties include design and architecture, high availability and service broker.
Simon can be found blogging at sqlstash.com.
Jacky van Hogen is working as a Premier Field Engineer for Microsoft in The Netherlands.
She has been working with SQL Server since 2005 and specializes in SQL Server infrastructure, SQL Server performancetuning & troubleshooting and SQL Server administration.
Vincent DiPippo is the President of Focus24.
His blogs can be found at: http://www.scomnivore.com
Biography: http://www.focus24.com/vdipippo.html.
Simon Liew is currently Database Solutions Designer at Westpac BankingCorporation, Sydney, Australia.
Simon has a Masters Degree in Computer Science (Distributed Computing)and is passionate about SQL Server.
He has more than 10 years of DBA experience with specialties inperformance tuning, database
admin\dev\design and BI Suite (SSAS\SSIS\SSRS).
Nick Colebourn is a Senior Consultant working for Coeo, a Microsoft Gold Partnerproviding SQL Server services for mission critical environments. Consultingacross the product stack, Nick provides expertise for clients in architecture,implementation, troubleshooting and optimisation.
Working with SQL Server for over 10 years, Nick has a particular passion for designingand building enterprise scale Data Warehouse and Business Intelligencesolutions.