Random MCSE qualification given to me

So this morning I woke up and do the usual checking of my emails to find one from Microsoft congratulating me on my MCSE. I thought to myself "My last exam isn't till December, have they messed up?" I click on it and see MCSE: Productivity.

What the heck is this?!

"The Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE): Productivity certification validates that you have the skills needed to move your company to the cloud, increase user productivity and flexibility, reduce data loss, and improve data security for your organization."

I look at the requirements and it says I needed the O365 MCSA and an elective, and in my case its the 70-331. Not going to complain, first MCSE I've ever had

It's even on my Transcript.

Has anyone else got this?

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Smilymarco

You can find all the information about the new MCSE stuff here:
https://borntolearn.mslearn.net/b/weblog/posts/microsoft-streamlines-technical-certifications
https://borntolearn.mslearn.net/b/weblog/posts/top-12-questions-about-the-new-streamlined-certification-paths

knownhero

I should mention I don't have the O365 MCSA

Smilymarco

They also added the MCSA: Server 2012 as requirement (somewhere in the comments...).

knownhero

Yeah I saw. But is this the new MCSE: SharePoint qualification?

Krusader

Same happened to me this week.
I passed 70-346 to complete my MCSA Server 2012 and was awarded MCSE Productivity but I haven't completed the full track, also I don't have MCSA 0365 or have done any Exchange/Sharepoint/Lync exams. I was also able to download the cert and it's on my transcript aswell.
I also received an email saying I was MCSE Sharepoint but that wasn't on my transcript and the cert wasn't downloadable.
Weird!

knownhero

Krusader wrote: »

Same happened to me this week.
I passed 70-346 to complete my MCSA Server 2012 and was awarded MCSE Productivity but I haven't completed the full track, also I don't have MCSA 0365 or have done any Exchange/Sharepoint/Lync exams. I was also able to download the cert and it's on my transcript aswell.
I also received an email saying I was MCSE Sharepoint but that wasn't on my transcript and the cert wasn't downloadable.
Weird!

It feels like Microsoft made this change silently. Just woke up with an MCSE.... Cheated is the feeling I feel

DatabaseHead

I love it, certs shouldn't take that much time. Good for you two.

tmurphy3100

Same here except I took the 74-409 exam for my MCSA and now I am MCSE...

powerfool

It seems a bit odd... I did receive this message, but I anticipated it.

The outlined requirements were MCSA on O365 and an elective from Exchange/Lync/SharePoint, but they also grandfathered any current MCSE: Messaging, Collaboration, or Communications (which could include folks with MCSA on Windows Server). If you don't have any of these, it seems a bit odd.

Personally, I seem short-changed because I spent the first part of this year completing the MCSE: Communications after finishing my MCSE: Messaging last year... so, now my two MCSE credentials that I worked very hard to attain (being that Exchange and Lync/SfB are really dissimilar products) have just been consolidated into one.

Personally, I don't like the change. I don't like the annual recertification even though I understand that things are changing frequently (mainly because I highly doubt that they will keep refreshing the exams annually, so what's the point). Also, from a differentiation perspective, I have the same credential as someone that has taken a single SharePoint exam... and I don't touch SharePoint other than as a user. We appear the same on paper, but we do very unrelated things other than them being under the same broader umbrella. And I was also very much looking forward to recertification through Microsoft Virtual Academy, but that appears to be a non-option before I even had the chance to use it.

knownhero

@Powerfool

I 100% agree with you and I also brought it up with Microsoft. Their answer...... "Show your boss your transcript".

What kind of answer is that?! Productivity means absolutely nothing at face value. Personally I don't want to be associated with anyone who does Lync or Exchange

DatabaseHead

MCSE Productivity.