What is the best path for mcse 2003 ?what would you like to

What is the best path for mcse 2003 ?what would you like to chose and why ?

70 -270 or 70-620

70-284 (70-285) or 70-236

70-350 or 70-351

Best

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Comments

nel

To be fair it doesnt really matter what we think is best, its best to choose the right option for your situation.

I.e. one person may want to specialise in exchange where someone may want security or another may want both!!!

BeaverC32

The best bath for MCSE looks something like this:

cacharo

This one may fit an MCSE's needs well:

blargoe

Slowhand

See, this is why I take showers instead:

Seriously, though, I'd go with the following, if I were you:

Take 70-620, it'll apply not only to the MCSA/MCSE, but also towards MCITP: Enterprise Administrator. You can always pick up an admin-guide to XP, but you don't need to get certified on it. As for the Exchange exams, that's a tougher call. If you have the time and motivation, I'd recommend doing 70-284 and 70-285, then 70-236. If you don't have the inclination to do all three exams, I'd say that going for the Exchange 2007 exam would be a better choice at this point. There are still plenty of companies running Exchange 2003, and knowing how to administrate it is important, but you'll get a lot more out of having a current cert on your resume.

Choosing between 70-350 and 70-351, go for the ISA 2006. Although, if I were you, I'd go for the more generalized security exams on the MCSE path, (70-298 and 70-299,) then do Security+, giving you not only MCSE: Security, but an additional, stand-alone security certification as well.

HeroPsycho

Slowhand wrote:

Choosing between 70-350 and 70-351, go for the ISA 2006. Although, if I were you, I'd go for the more generalized security exams on the MCSE path, (70-298 and 70-299,) then do Security+, giving you not only MCSE: Security, but an additional, stand-alone security certification as well.

He could actually take 298, and take 70-351 and still get MCSE 2003: Security if he gets Security+.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcse/security/windowsserver2003.mspx

In my experience, no one cares what your electives were to get any of the MCSE 2003 certs and specializations if all they are looking for is the cert. However, sometimes potential employers do care to see if you have skills with specific products like Exchange, so if one of your electives are one of those, that will benefit you.

In other words, for MCSE 2003: Security, 70-299 won't do you as much good in the eyes of potential employers as say 70-351.

I'd personally go for Exchange certs, as Exchange seems more in demand for enterprise apps.

blumenberg

Thanks all , for nice input

but do you think, it is beter sto study for 284,385 and 236 -->exams

and then

350m 351 -->exams

OR

just to see to get mcse ASAP ?

HeroPsycho

I've found personally that MCSE is valuable to get.

Even better is MCSE plus validated experience with an Enterprise level application that's commonly used, like SQL or Exchange.

If your next step in your career is an admin level position, I'd shoot for MCSE, with 284 as an elective. If you want, you could then take 285 later to get MCSE 2003: Messaging. E2K3 is still far more common the E2K7. However, if you're trying to become an implementer, you might consider 70-236 instead.

Recommended path:

70-620 (allows you to apply this toward MCITP: Enterprise Administrator as well)
70-290
70-291
70-293
70-294
70-298 (In case you want MCSE 2003: Security later)
70-284 (or 20-236)

Other electives to consider instead of 284 if you're more interested:

70-431 (SQL2K5), 70-630 (MOSS2007)

I'd personally do 431 if Exchange doesn't interest you. MOSS requires SQL to function, so what's the point in certifying in MOSS if you don't know SQL? Plus, another benefit of 70-431 is it's one of three exams for MCITP: Database Administrator.

I wouldn't do 70-351 as your enterprise app elective simply because ISA is not nearly as prevalent as SQL or Exchange. Only do that if you're trying to get MCSE: Security.