“ Know what you know. Know what you don’t know. Don’t ever confuse the two. ” Per Farny, founder of the original Microsoft Certified Master and Architect program How do you know if you are ready to take the Microsoft Certified...

I just found out today that one of our own SQL MCMs (2005/2008) & MCA, Christian Bolton , is a co-author for the recently published book Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Administration for Oracle DBAs . I just wanted to congratulate Christian on yet another...

Today's a dual anniversay - it's been exactly one year since I finished my first SharePoint MCM rotation as Program Manager, and it's also the official end of retakes for the SharePoint 2007 MCM program. So that's it - at a final count of exactly 50,...

I'd like to introduce everyone to Rob Silver. Rob went through the MCM Directory program nearly two years ago and shares his experiences on his personal blog. You can read all about it here - http://robsilver.org/mcm/mcm-a-personal-perspective/ ...

...have completed their rotation as of yesterday. This month has been quite successful for us in general. Please join me in congratulating the following folks from the 10th Directory rotation who successfully completed all of the requirements: ...

I have a new “double SQL MCM” to announce today. SQL Server 2005 Microsoft Certified Master David Sheaffer just added SQL Server 2008 MCM to his list of achievements. Here’s a little background on David: David Sheaffer , Senior...

SharePoint MCMs and MVPs will be fielding questions during the monthly SharePoint MVP expert chat on MSDN next week. You can join us on Wednesday, October 27th between 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM PDT ! Learn more and add these chats to your calendar by visiting...

We're not quite 80 years old yet... However, we did hit a different milestone. We wrapped up the 9th MCM Directory rotation last Sunday (October 3rd) and after some retakes over the past few days we have crossed the mark of 80 certified individuals...

The time between rotations is a busy one on the program management side of things - we update the course based on the rich feedback we get from candidates, we screen a whole new group of applicants for the next rotation, we deal with the nuts & bolts...

More good news to share today. Meet our latest SQL Server MCM, Alessandro Recino: Alessandro Recino , Senior Premier Field Engineer , Microsoft Italy. Alessandro has 15 years of IT experience during which he has worked on a number of technologies with...

I’m happy to announce a new SQL Server 2008 MCM  today: Steve Tetrault , Technical Architect . Steve is a professional with IT in his blood. He holds degrees in Computer Science and Education. He is the fourth SQL MCM from Canada (third outside of...

We kicked off the 9th rotation of Directory today with a great bunch of candidates. Check back in late September to see how many of them met the bar for certification. On a related note I would like to point out the rotations we have scheduled for...

It’s been a great month for adding new SQL Server MCMs. Please meet our newest community member: Guillaume Kieffer , Senior Premier Field Engineer, Microsoft. Guillaume joined Microsoft France 9 years ago. He started as a SQL Server support engineer and...

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...

New day, new SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master to announce. Everyone please meet Pat Martin! Pat Martin , Senior SQL Server Support Engineer, Microsoft Gulf. Pat started in the I.T. Industry in 1980 and has held various positions during...

We have another very accomplished new SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master to announce today. Meet Yasser Abdel Kader: Yasser Abdel Kader , Microsoft MEA HQ Architect, Microsoft. Yasser is a Regional Development Architect in the Microsoft...

Been a little quiet lately, but today I have a new SQL Server MCM to announce: Randall Neth , Microsoft Design Architect for Alexander Open Systems in Overland Park, KS. Randall has worked in IT for nearly 15 years with over 10 years being in...

I’m happy to announce one more new SQL MCM today: · Dandy Weyn , Learning and Development Specialist, Microsoft . As Technical Evangelist and consultant, Dandy has traveled to world teaching SQL Server, and has been engaged in many...

Another SQL MCM introduction today: Bruno Guardia , Senior Software Design Engineering in Test, SQL Connectivity ADO.Net team, Microsoft . Bruno has 25 years in the IT industry, most of them in his native Mexico involving diverse areas of...

We’ve had four new SQL MCMs join the community in the last week. Today I’ll introduce of them - Michael De Voe: Michael De Voe , Premier Field Engineer – Dynamics, Microsoft . Michael De Voe is a graduate of the University...

The ninth SQL Microsoft Certified Master rotation just finished up last Saturday and I have three new Microsoft Certified Masters to announce (and more coming soon so stay tuned): Lei He , Senior Premier Field Engineer, Microsoft . Lei has...

The ninth rotation of the SQL Microsoft Certified Masters program begins Monday. I'm really looking forward to meeting this next batch of candidates and future MCMs. A few days ago I drew up a summary of each attendee's experience and background and then...

We just added another two new SQL MCMs to the community yesterday (total SQL MCM count in the world = 73). Meet one of our new SQL MCMs now, Daniel Zavalza: Daniel Zavalza , Dedicated Support Engineer, Microsoft . Daniel started as an end-user support...

Mary-Jo Foley did a ZDNet profile of our very own SQL MCM - Margarita Naumova. Check out the article here: Margarita Naumova: Microsoft Women Worth Watching We're very proud to have Margarita in the SQL MCM community!

Our next new SQL Microsoft Certified Master from the March 2010 training rotation may not need much of an introduction – you’ve likely read his blog , followed him on Twitter , seen his presentations, or referenced his community knowledge base : ...