MCSA or MCITP?

Hi everybody - first post here.

A little background on myself: I started working at a small time, mom and pop PC repair shop in high school. I continued to work there while I got my AAS in Network Support and A+ a few years ago. We primarily handled home users' PC/network problems with the occasional business call here and there. Through my experience with this company I've gained strong PC and general network troubleshooting skills, but have never really worked in the corporate world. I do have limited experience with Server 2k3 and AD, but only to the extent of setting up a small office network with 10-20 users every now and then - no continual administration.

After 5 years with this company I moved into a teaching position at a local high school vocational complex where I'm finishing my 3rd year. I teach a 2 year curriculum that basically covers A+/Net+ topics with some programming and HTML thrown in. I still work at the local repair shop from 3-6 every day after school as well.

So....I feel like I'm stagnating in the IT world and should be moving on to bigger better things. I'm 24 currently and I think I'd like to move into Microsoft stuff and see how I like it. With the state of the economy and the security I have working for the state, I figure I could spend my next year teaching and work on updating my skills. If that were my plan should I look at certifying for 2003, or go ahead and get the MCITP for 2008? What would be the best move if I won't be job hunting until 2011?

Edit to add: I'm working on Net+ and Sec+ before they change the renewal policy, and would have those going for me when it comes to the MCSA track.

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Comments

mistervince

Well our answers are based purely on what kind of work you will be interested in... soooo... lets hear it!?!

xenodamus

I'd like to find a Jr. Sys Admin position to get my feet wet with Active Directory, Exchange, and the like. I know that no one is going to let me touch their servers with no experience, so I want to certify to prove that I've done the self study to compliment my small amount of exp. I just don't know if 2k3 is still the way to go for now, or if I should go ahead and work on the MCITP for 2k8.....especially if I might not be job hunting until next year.

On a side note.....Do a lot of sys admins deal with AD, Exchange, as well as Database stuff? Or do most organizations try to fit different people with the adminstration of each? I'm just trying to decide what areas would be the best use of my study time.

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

xenodamus wrote: »

I'd like to find a Jr. Sys Admin position to get my feet wet with Active Directory, Exchange, and the like. I know that no one is going to let me touch their servers with no experience, so I want to certify to prove that I've done the self study to compliment my small amount of exp. I just don't know if 2k3 is still the way to go for now, or if I should go ahead and work on the MCITP for 2k8.....especially if I might not be job hunting until next year.

On a side note.....Do a lot of sys admins deal with AD, Exchange, as well as Database stuff? Or do most organizations try to fit different people with the adminstration of each? I'm just trying to decide what areas would be the best use of my study time.

It depends on the organization. If it's a small company then you can expect to do everything including desktop support. If it's a larger company then you may have separate administators who have specific roles. For example, at my company you have the operations administrators who deal with systems specific to the network infrastructure (DNS, DHCP, Active Directory, Exchange, BES, etc). Within the operations administrators group, they're divided even further into a linux admin, windows admin, desktop technicians, etc. We also have our dedicated database administrators who are in charge of the databases that run our enterprise systems. Then you have me, the enterprise systems administrator. I deal with the enterprise systems that are used throughout the company. I primarily work with IIS, Tomcat, SQL server, Oracle, Filemaker Pro, and various business intelligence tools. I hardly ever work with AD (I wish I did). When there's an infrastructure issue then I really don't get involved unless it impacts the enterprise systems I support. However, I work very closely with the database admins, operations admins, and developers since everything is so closely related and dependent upon each other.

DV27

xenodamus wrote: »

I'd like to find a Jr. Sys Admin position to get my feet wet with Active Directory, Exchange, and the like. I know that no one is going to let me touch their servers with no experience, so I want to certify to prove that I've done the self study to compliment my small amount of exp. I just don't know if 2k3 is still the way to go for now, or if I should go ahead and work on the MCITP for 2k8.....especially if I might not be job hunting until next year.

On a side note.....Do a lot of sys admins deal with AD, Exchange, as well as Database stuff? Or do most organizations try to fit different people with the adminstration of each? I'm just trying to decide what areas would be the best use of my study time.

Hi there - If I was you I would be looking at MCTS exams for Windows Server 2008, and If you're really forward looking, Exchange 2010.

Maybe take a look at the exam I have started to study for, 70-640 (Windows 2008 Active Directory) and see if that ticks any boxes for you.

As regards to your side note, usually medium to large companies have separate teams to do database stuff. If you are looking at Sys-Admin I would only look at Database stuff as a side qualification. I know I am.

Hyper-Me

MCITP EA
MCITP EMA 2010
MCITP EDA7

is a good enterprise path. If you are wanting to work on SMB's then do the MCTS SBS 2008 and maybe client exams.

rsutton

I would recommend the MCITP route. A year from now, it's probable that the MCSE will be less valuable than it is today and the MCITP will be more valuable.

On a personal note, I enjoy working with server 2008 way more than 2003. I find it to be an easier system to administer. I probably would not apply for a company that isn't using server 2008.

stephens316

Well I would recommend that you go for MCITP as well but I will give you an easier track to follow

You need :
70-680 Windows 7 exam
70-290 Windows 2k3
70- 291 = MCSA
70-648 Upgrade exam
70-647 MCITP EA

Your looking at spending $625 plus the cost of Security +
I would put off Security + until at least MCSA done there is the second chance option and I would suggest getting as many certs with that so you don't lose money.

Just my take on it then go back and get you MCSE what I am currently doing .

Hyper-Me

stephens316 wrote: »

Well I would recommend that you go for MCITP as well but I will give you an easier track to follow

You need :
70-680 Windows 7 exam
70-290 Windows 2k3
70- 291 = MCSA
70-648 Upgrade exam
70-647 MCITP EA

Your looking at spending $625 plus the cost of Security +
I would put off Security + until at least MCSA done there is the second chance option and I would suggest getting as many certs with that so you don't lose money.

Just my take on it then go back and get you MCSE what I am currently doing .

He would also need to throw 70-643 in there as well.

RouteThisWay

stephens316 wrote: »

Well I would recommend that you go for MCITP as well but I will give you an easier track to follow

You need :
70-680 Windows 7 exam
70-290 Windows 2k3
70- 291 = MCSA
70-648 Upgrade exam
70-647 MCITP EA

Your looking at spending $625 plus the cost of Security +
I would put off Security + until at least MCSA done there is the second chance option and I would suggest getting as many certs with that so you don't lose money.

Just my take on it then go back and get you MCSE what I am currently doing .

If you do the Sec+ before the end of the year, it will never expire. If you become certified Jan 1 2011 or after, it is applied to the renewal rule.

Just something to think about if Sec+ is something you want (many DoD contracts require a security related cert, Sec+ being one of the options).