Landed a Systems Engineer job with no certs, only help desk experience

Hello! This is actually my first post here. I've been reading about exam prep and such and feel like this is a great technical forum to become a member of.

So, I was just wondering if anyone could give me some tips and maybe some suggestions of what to study to help me prepare for my new job.

Here's my background:

Studied various majors in college and never finished a degree. Then I got my current job (still no degree but will finish with something eventually)

I have been employed at a healthcare organization at their technical help desk for almost 4 years. I started in February 2012. When I started, I was jsut a technology enthusiast and had built many computers and had a fairly solid understanding of computer hardware and intermediate Windows stuff. Basically I had no IT experience and was just "that guy in the family who everyone calls to get help fixing their broken computer" if you know what I mean. I started as a "computer operator" which was really just swing shift for our help desk. At first it was simple troubleshooting and a lot of assigning tickets to other teams and other people. Then the job description changed to Desktop support Analyst - although I was still basically doing the same job but expanded to be a lot more in depth troubleshooting and less assigning off tickets. I moved to daytime and I pretty much lead my whole team in the technical realm. I pick things up fairly easily and am able to conceptualize things to the extent that with the knowledge I have about my employer's IT operations, I am a master at my job now. I was promoted to the level II position (more projects and technical troubleshooting) and recently, I interviewed and landed a systems engineer job. I thikn I impressed my boss and our server teams' boss because I was able to understand and lead the way when it came to troubleshooting our 2-factor VPN system. I was completely honest with my experience with servers and technology in general when I applied. I did not interview that well (usually I am very good at interviewing) and even so they chose me for the position...

So now I am starting this new position next Monday. Basically, the job I was hired for is supposed to focus on "monitoring and alerts." I won't really be engineering anything but rather using the Microsoft product "System Center Operations Manager" (SCOM). My question to you folks is, do you have any tips for getting started with this? I have very little server experience. I am currently studying for the MTA 98-365 exam. It is fairly easy content for me to understand so far - I think I'll be able to study a few weeks and ace the exam. Other than that, any suggestions for some fundamental stuff I could study to prepare for a job that is centered mostly around SCOM monitoring and alerts? Does anyone here have a job that is centered around SCOM? From what I'm told by my new boss, this is an entry level sys engineer job and as long as I am eager to learn and motivated that I will be fine. I can't imagine I won't with how honest I was - I think they really admire my work Ethic and competency at my current job so they are willing to be patient as I learn what I am doing. Has anyone else been in a position like this where they were worried if they had the technical knowledge to be successful? I am sure If I study up and get some experience starting out I'll be fine. But boy is it nerve-wracking! I never imagined I'd land this position 4 years ago when I started as basically a peon.

Anyways, any input much appreciated! I hope my story of progression inspires any of you who are just trying to get into IT. If you manage to get your foot in the door, have good work ethic, and make a point to do the best job you possibly can every day, you can really land fantastic positions. I don't even have a college degree or any certs and I got here. Now I'm jsut hsivering in my boots wondering how difficult this transition will be!