In the Global Knowledge Salary Survey, conducted at that end of last year, one of the questions put to respondents was "What skill set will your company be looking to add in 2010?" The skills listed by respondents include the perennial favorites: security, network administration, and Windows administration. Also included are virtualization/cloud computing and Web development. Meanwhile, an old favorite, business analysis, makes a come back. Here's the complete list, with the No. 1 skill listed being in the highest demand.
The Born to Learn bloggers, as they criss-cross the country by bus, wending their way to Tech Ed in L.A., still manage to muster time for a few posts about the goings ons in the Microsoft Learning Group.
You might be happy to hear that with the impending release of Windows 7, there's been some significant progress in developing the certification exams; the group will be releasing a beta exam early next month.
On Tuesday Cisco Systems announced three new specialties -- Security, Voice and Wireless -- that can be added on to its popular entry-level certification, the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) .
Microsoft releases three new exams for its newest network operating system in March.
Windows 2008 Exams Go LiveThe Microsoft Learning Group has released three new exams for Windows Server 2008. All three are available worlwide at Prometric testing centers. The release comes quickly on the heels of the official release of Microsoft's newest network operating system software in Los Angeles at the end of February.
Last month, a number of notable certification leaders came together to form the Information Technology Certification Council (ITCC) to seek ways to revitalize growth in the field. Founding members of the consortium include test deliverers (Prometric and Pearson VUE), vendor-neutral certification organizations (CompTIA and the Linux Professional Institute), educators (Kaplan) and IT giants (Microsoft, Novell, Sun, HP, IBM).
Salaries and bonuses for IT pros have stabilized or are growing slightly since we surveyed IT professionals last year - but for employees in several management positions, salaries are still on the roller-coaster ride we revealed a year ago.
Microsoft plans to retest two Vista exams, 70-621 and 70-622, that were originally beta tested in January and February this year.
Beginning next week, Microsoft plans to retest two Vista exams, 70-621 and 70-622, that were originally beta tested in January and February this year. According to an e-mail notification sent to beta candidates of those exams, Microsoft "errantly left out" coverage of some topics that were listed on its exam objective domain.
With new exams for Windows Vista, Exchange 2007, Office 2007 and Microsoft Dynamics in the pipeline in the next few months, Microsoft has relaunched its popular exam discount program. Microsoft divides the discount among partner groups this way:
* Registered members: 25 percent, limited to five vouchers per registered organization.
* Certified Partners: 25 percent, limited to 25 vouchers per partner organization.
* Gold Certified Partners: 30 percent, limited to 100 vouchers per partner organization.
Vouchers must be ordered by June 30, 2007, with redemption requirements based on the exam topic. For example, vouchers for SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005, BizTalk, Live Communications Server and Windows Mobile expire August 31, 2007. Because Microsoft has yet to go live with the Windows Vista, Exchange 2007, Office 2007 and the new Microsoft Dynamics exams, vouchers for those exams won't expire until Nov. 30, 2007.
Vista, SQL Server BI Exams in Beta
Microsoft this month has released a number of exams into beta testing phase, including another slated for the new-generation Windows Vista track. Already under beta testing from now until Dec. 20, 70-622 PRO: Installing, Maintaining, Supporting and Troubleshooting Applications on Windows Vista - Enterprise is among two exams that count toward the new, higher level MCITP: Enterprise Support certification.