The past few months have been an absolute rush for the SharePoint MCM program. We delivered two "firsts" just 6 weeks apart - our very first upgrade rotation for the program at the end of May, followed by our very first full rotation for the new program in July. That's 32 days of SharePoint 2010 MCM in just 11 weeks - all starting a mere 5 weeks after product RTM!

Here are a few fun facts and figures on the full program in its latest incarnation:

• Total Duration: 20 days (yes, we include the all-important weekends)
• Days of Lecture: 14
• Instructors: 10+
• Classroom Modules: 20+
• Hands-on Labs & Team Exercises: 20+
• Lab Environment: 23 Virtual Machines, 7 SharePoint Farms
• Course Material Volume: 2000+ slides

The breathtaking scope of the new product, coupled with the recency of its release, makes demonstrating master-level skills a truly awesome challenge. Although there are a number of folks nipping at their heels who are sure to make the grade in the near future, four individuals succeeded in the throwdown on the first try:

• Ali Mazaheri works as a SharePoint SME and Worldwide Information Worker IT-Pro community lead at Microsoft, designing and implementing enterprise solutions based on Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies.
• Ram Yadav is a Senior Consultant with Microsoft Consulting Services based in Las Colinas, TX.
• Spencer Harbar (www.harbar.net) is an independent enterprise architect who helps enterprise customers implement solutions based upon Microsoft SharePoint.
• Vesa ”vesku” Juvonen is a Principal Consultant in Microsoft Consulting Services. He has been involved in numerous global SharePoint deployments working as lead architect for infrastructure and customizations. He also works as instructor for the SharePoint 2010 MCM program.

It's a true delight to start the SharePoint 2010 MCM comunity with these folks as the inaugural members.

My hearty congratulations to everyone who attended both rotations - it was a true joy working with such a talented, dedicated, and enthusiastic group of experts. We look forward to many more joining the community in the coming weeks and months!