Microsoft's NT Certification Slammed

Over the years Lanop (http://www.lanop.com/) has prepared hundreds of network technicians to be certified by Microsoft. Many of these people now hold important decision making positions for a variety of companies. One thing they had in common was outrage when they heard Microsoft planned to discontinue NT testing at the end of this year - and dissolve NT certification completely at the end of 2001. These people had worked hard to earn their Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certificate and had discovered it was going to be made worthless, in a very short time, as part of the Microsoft effort to force its customers to upgrade to Windows 2000.

More important, many of them were now responsible for managing networks which rely on NT operating systems. They had upgraded to the latest version of NT just last year in order to be assured their systems would survive the potential dangers of the Y2K scare. The memory of not only the software upgrades but also the required hardware upgrades and training of both technical staff and users was still fresh in their minds.

Now, just as the upgraded systems are stabilized and staff fully trained, the managers are being pitched on the latest OS - Windows 2000. They see some advantages to the new operating system. Most managers expect to eventually convert to Win2000--eventually. But the benefits of the new operating system do not outweigh the costs in terms of money, work and re-training. They are not ready to make that change immediately.

But the effect of the Microsoft decision to discontinue support--and the manner in which they are ending it--is not just a problem that they will have to cope with over the next two years. The day that Microsoft made the announcement, technicians who were in the process of earning their MCSE degrees had to make immediate decisions about which tests to prepare for. The shortage of qualified support technicians has already begun.

The solution came when Lanop announced that they were organizing a consortium consisting of corporate IT managers, training centers, and suppliers of certification training materials to provide continued certification for the NT operating system.

NT Certified Independent Professional (NTCIP) certification testing will begin the day that Microsoft ends their MCSE NT testing. To earn their NTCIP, candidates will be required to pass four tests: Basic Networking, NT Workstation, NT Server, NT Enterprise. The Basic Networking requirement can be certified by passing the Novell Network Technologies test or Microsoft Networking Essentials test or the CompTIA Networking++test or Cisco CCNA test.

Those who have already passed these tests in the MCSE program will automatically be awarded NTCIP certification. Those currently in an MCSE program will get credit for all tests that they have passed while Microsoft is still administering these tests. The NTCIP certification can be earned by any combination of tests passed through Microsoft before the end of this year--or through NTCIP after the end of this year.

The material covered by the NTCIP tests will be the same as outlined in the Microsoft objectives - and covered in the current tests. All textbooks, CBTs, simulated tests and videos used to prepare for the current MCSE tests will be sufficient to prepare for the NTCIP tests.

The consortium is committed to maintaining the integrity of the tests from the first day that they are offered. Although the NTCIP tests will cover the same material as the current tests, the questions will, of course, be different. The questions will be drawn from a large pool of questions and will be changed frequently to assure that the answers do not appear on the internet.

Is there a chance that the NTCIP certification will never see the light of day? Yes. Microsoft may decide to play fair with their customers and technicians and extend their NT certification for another couple of years. If this becomes a reality, the NTCIP program will be dissolved. Lanop, and the consortium, are interested in seeing the network community served properly, not in getting into the certification business.

Information on the NTCIP program is updated on a regular basis at: http://www.lanop.com/ntcip.

John Goodfriend is the founder of Lanop Corp. based in New York. Lanop prepares computer professionals for Novell, Microsoft and Cisco network certification tests.