Microsoft Cowboy needs to get certs...

I have been building and supporting networks as an independant consultant for over 8 years. Some of my clients are growing to 80+ users and have no onsite IT employees, it's just me... on call 24/7. I've survived by playing with lab setups and finding answers via search engines and Technet. No formal training. Before my clients outgrow my knowledge and need move to more advanced services, I wantto get some advanced training and certifications. Can anyone give me a quick path to take? What do I need to get certified on first? Can I do all self study and not have to take formal classes? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Comments

chrisduggan

Start off with CompTIA A+ you will walk the exams, maybe Network+ also nothing too stressing. Then an MCP. Thats the road im on. From there it really depends on where you want to go. Good luck, your experience should help youa great deal

freetech

Yes, you can do all self-study. It's the path I took. Never took a class until my CCNA.
MS Press books come with the trial-license software to practice with.
Self-study is probably not the easiest path, but will be the quickest. Of course that depends on your discipline and motivation.
If you've already been doing the work, the cert will come MUCH easier. Experience always helps learn the material.
Good luck!

Mishra

I would jump right into the MCSE certification (I'm guessing you work with microsoft products a lot). The MCSE is largely recognized by businesses and it will probably make you sell yourself better.

sprkymrk

Mishra wrote:

I would jump right into the MCSE certification (I'm guessing you work with microsoft products a lot). The MCSE is largely recognized by businesses and it will probably make you sell yourself better.

+1

I would skip the A+ and Net+ at your level and go for whatever you support, be it MS or Cisco. Since you mentioned Technet I assume you setup and support MS. Go for the MCSE 2003 track, and take whatever electives apply to you the most, whether it is Exchange, SQL, or ISA, or whatever. Security+ might be worth a look as well.

Good luck and welcome to the forums.

Megadeth4168

Here's another vote for jumping right into the MCSE. Don't get me wrong the A+ and Network+ are nice to have but it sounds like you would benefit more from MS study in your current work environment.

cisco_trooper

If you have networks approaching 100 users you may also starting having a need for CCNA level knowledge. You may be able to get away with just the Network+, but you are going to want to know exactly how to implement different things within the network infrastructure once you start hitting 100+ users.

AVT

Wow, lot of ideas and support here. Now i just need to find the most affordable/convenient place to get books and/or online e-learning. Yes, doing lots of MS and some Cisco... Tried a practice exam for A+ & W2K and came real close to passing... problem is there are lots of questions about 95/98/W2k that I haven't worked with for quite a while. Just need to find a quick refresher reference for A+ so I can get that out of the way quick and have something besides being self proclaimed "MS Cowboy".

hypnotoad

Try the XP MCP exam (or material) and see if you think it's something you like, do a self-assessment after you're familiar with the cirriciulum.

cisco_trooper

AVT wrote:

Wow, lot of ideas and support here. Now i just need to find the most affordable/convenient place to get books and/or online e-learning. Yes, doing lots of MS and some Cisco... Tried a practice exam for A+ & W2K and came real close to passing... problem is there are lots of questions about 95/98/W2k that I haven't worked with for quite a while. Just need to find a quick refresher reference for A+ so I can get that out of the way quick and have something besides being self proclaimed "MS Cowboy".

If you have been doing this for 8 years, you might skip the A+ unless you are doing it for purely personal reasons. The A+ wouldn't get you the jobs that you already have, so while you may not know some of the older details, you are probably beyond it in the more practical sense.

snadam

Megadeth4168 wrote:

Here's another vote for jumping right into the MCSE. Don't get me wrong the A+ and Network+ are nice to have but it sounds like you would benefit more from MS study in your current work environment.

Make that 3 votes. You already have 8 years in the biz; you have more than enough experience for the MCSE.

welcome, BTW