Career Advice: MCSA 2003 or MCITP, where do we go from here??

falcon101

This past weekend I was able to pass my Net+ exam which also completed my requirements for a Win2000 MCSA (wait for it). I got back in the certs game after 7 years since have been sitting pretty at my current position but the company is very unstable right now.

Now obviously, I am not releasing an APB on me obtaining MCSA on Win 2000 but i do have a question about "where do i go from here?"

I am an IT Manager and deal with ALL aspects of IT in my company. One of the users on this board explained my position to a T.... I have not specialized in one thing but have my hands on several which really is sometime NOT the best thing thing when trying to move up or look for a better job. You may know about A LOT of things but maybe not ALL about it.

I would like to stay in Management (IT, HELPDESK, SUPPORT, SYS/NETWORK) but wanted to set a clear goal on certs.

My first goal is to obtain my CCNA. Now i understand that maybe specialization in CCNA is not the best path to IT Management but having applied to few jobs on the past few months has opened my eyes. Companies want a "KNOW-IT-ALL". If you cant beat them, join em.

Secondary goal is where i need help with. I can either go the MCSA 2003 route and take 290/291, since there is no 292, OR skip the 2003 track and go to MCITP 2008 track. At work we have mostly 2003 servers and few 2008 but again, the ugly truth is that I am NOT a master on those. Of course i manage. maintain and support the AD environment but to a limit.

Lastly, i even have considered ITIL certs for Management purposes.


Any Thoughts, comments or suggestions are appreciated.

earweed

If you are good to go on your 2003 knowledge then you should probably go for the MCITP:SA/Ea whichever one you think would be better for you. The CCNA would be good for you as you'll understand more about the network and if you want to go into management it would be good to be able to communicate with the network team.
The MCITP:SA would only require you to take the 70-640,642,646 and Server 2008 is not that big a change from 2003 and here's a link Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to Windows Server 2008 to show you what is new about 2008.

erpadmin

Keep in mind too that W2K3 servers will probably start to get phased out as more and more software (like Oracle's Peoplesoft, but that's one of many examples) have to go in a 64-bit environment. That's going to be Windows Server 2008 R2. (R2 only exists in 64-bit).

If I had to choose between MCSE/MCSA 2003 and MCITP:EA/SA, I'm going with the latter. In the chance that I have to support a 2003 environment at a new place, there isn't much overlap between 2K8 and 2K3. (dcpromo still exists in 2K8....it's not all Server Manager...and stuff like AD, DNS and DHCP GPOs are still managed just about the same). Server Manager just puts everything in one place.....but you can still find stuff you need to find the "old" way....

it_consultant

You will hear people say that MCSE tests are harder. I just failed the EA test last week, it was friggin hard. I haven't failed a cert test since 2007 and I have taken MS (Exchange and MS networking infrastructure), Cisco, and ITIL tests during that time. If you went the 2008 route; by the time you complete it it will be become more commonplace, and you can comfortably say "MCSE Equivalent".

za3bour

I would say for for MCITP-EA route first and if you do have time you can squeeze CCNA as well.

I don't think there is easier or harder exams, it's what you know and you study well all exams are just fair.