In-Depth

MCP Magazine's Certification 17

Click on a chart number to view companies listed in that chart;
companies in bold italics are profiled in the main article.

Chart 1. Becton Dickinson | BlueRidge Solutions | Corporate Software & Technology |
              Creative Business Technologies | DRT Systems

Chart 2. ENTEX Information Services | First Tennessee National Corp. | Intel Corp. |
              Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc.| NCR Corp.

Chart 3.  New Horizons Computer Learning Centers | Quantum Consulting Group |
               SARCOM | Sprint Paranet | Shell Services International

Chart 4. Star One Federal Credit Union | Systems Evolution, Inc.

Chart 1
Company Becton Dickinson and Company, Microbiology Systems, a Franklin Lakes, New Jersey-based company that manufactures and sells healthcare supplies, devices, and systems.
www.bdms.com
BlueRidge Solutions, a consulting firm in Phoenix, Arizona specializing in Internet solutions, custom software, and networking infrastructures.
www.brslc.com
Corporate Software & Technology, an international software consulting firm based in Norwood, Massachusetts.
www.corpsoft
.com
Creative Business Technologies, a Buffalo Grove, Illinois corporation that provides IT consulting services.
www.creabustech
.com
DRT Systems, part of Deloitte Consulting, based in Toronto, provides technology consulting, systems integration, and training services in North America.
www.drtsystems
.com
Total No. of employees 19,000 employees in the entire corporation 15 1,200 Under 100 25,000 in all of Deloitte & Touche
No. of branches 82 locations worldwide 1 3 1 12
Does your company pay for the cost of all certification training (including travel), study / exam prep materials, and exams (pass or fail)? Always Always Always Always Always
Does management have a policy allowing paid time off for attending training courses? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does your company factor in certifications when determining compensation? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does your company factor in certifications when determining promotions? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does your company have a written compensation plan that includes increases based on certification? No Yes Yes Yes No
Does your company offer a bonus based on achieving certification? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does your company actively seek Microsoft Certified Professionals in the hiring process? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does management use some public manner for recognizing when you or a co-worker passes an exam or earns a title (i.e., a public e-mail)? Always Yes Yes Always Yes
Does your company put the MCP logo on the business cards of those achieving certification? Sometimes Yes Not yet Always Yes
Does your company give project assignments to IT professionals on staff based on level of Microsoft certification? Yes, though not formally Always Yes No Sometimes
Does your company stress the number of MCPs on staff when bidding for consulting jobs? No Always Always Sometimes Yes
When outsourcing IT jobs, does your company hire consultants based on their Microsoft certification? Sometimes (MCPs "preferred") Yes Always Always Sometimes
Is your company a Microsoft Solution Provider? No Yes Yes Yes Yes

 

Chart 2
Company ENTEX Information Services, a PC systems integrator in Rye Brook, New York.
www.entex.com
First Tennessee National Corp., parent company of First Tennessee Bank, based in Memphis, Tennessee.
www.ftb.com
Intel Corp., IT Business Technology Unit, Northwest division, provides internal IT services.
www.intel.com
Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc., an information technology services firm headquartered in Springfield, Illinois.
www.lrs.com
NCR Corp., an international company based in Dayton, Ohio that specializes in data warehousing solutions, transaction processing, and support services for retail and financial markets.
www.ncr.com
Total No. of employees 8,500 6,600 68,000 worldwide; 15,000 in Oregon and Washington Approximately 450 33,100
No. of branches 60 266 157 U.S. siites 5 Over 100
Does your company pay for the cost of all certification training (including travel), study / exam prep materials, and exams (pass or fail)? Always Always Always Always (sometimes pay for exam simulation products) Always
Does management have a policy allowing paid time off for attending training courses? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does your company factor in certifications when determining compensation? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does your company factor in certifications when determining promotions? Yes Yes Sometimes Yes Yes
Does your company have a written compensation plan that includes increases based on certification? Yes No No No Handled on a case-by-case basis.
Does your company offer a bonus based on achieving certification? Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Does your company actively seek Microsoft Certified Professionals in the hiring process? Yes Sometimes Yes, particularly MCSEs and MCSDs Yes Yes
Does management use some public manner for recognizing when you or a co-worker passes an exam or earns a title (i.e., a public e-mail)? Nothing formal. Individual groups have their own practices. Yes Yes, at business meetings Always Yes
Does your company put the MCP logo on the business cards of those achieving certification? Always Sometimes Yes Never Always
Does your company give project assignments to IT professionals on staff based on level of Microsoft certification? Yes No Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes
Does your company stress the number of MCPs on staff when bidding for consulting jobs? Sometimes No Yes Always Sometimes
When outsourcing IT jobs, does your company hire consultants based on their Microsoft certification? Sometimes No Not applicable Not applicable Sometimes
Is your company a Microsoft Solution Provider? Yes, a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider Partner No Not applicable Yes Yes

 

Chart 3
Company New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, Boston, Burlington, Westborough, Massachusetts franchise.
www.newhorizons
.com a
nd www.nhboston.com
Quantum Consulting Group, Inc., recently renamed New Channel Technologies, is a Cleveland, Ohio systems consulting firm specializing in software development.
www.quantum-
consulting.com
SARCOM, an integration consulting firm based in Columbus, Ohio.
www.sarcom.com
Shell Services International in Houston, Texas provides consulting and help desk services worldwide.
www.shellservices
.com
Sprint Paranet, a Houston-based computer network services company.
www.sprintparanet
.com
Total No. of employees 120-150 in this franchise 8 2,000 1,500 in division 1,500 technical analysts
No. of branches 235 branches 1 30 10-plus 24
Does your company pay for the cost of all certification training (including travel), study / exam prep materials, and exams (pass or fail)? Always Always Always, though self-study is encouraged. Always Always
Does management have a policy allowing paid time off for attending training courses? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does your company factor in certifications when determining compensation? Yes Yes Yes Sometimes. It depends on the certification.
Does your company factor in certifications when determining promotions? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Does your company have a written compensation plan that includes increases based on certification? Yes No No; it’s simply policy. No No
Does your company offer a bonus based on achieving certification? No Yes Yes, if you achieve it through self-study. Yes No
Does your company actively seek Microsoft Certified Professionals in the hiring process? Yes Sometimes Frequently Yes Yes
Does management use some public manner for recognizing when you or a co-worker passes an exam or earns a title (i.e., a public e-mail)? Always Yes An email message is sent out to the branch where that person works. Yes Always
Does your company put the MCP logo on the business cards of those achieving certification? Always Sometimes Up to the employee Not as a policy Never
Does your company give project assignments to IT professionals on staff based on level of Microsoft certification? Always No Where it makes sense. Yes Sometimes
Does your company stress the number of MCPs on staff when bidding for consulting jobs? Always No Always Does not apply Sometimes
When outsourcing IT jobs, does your company hire consultants based on their Microsoft certification? Not applicable No Does not apply Yes Sometimes
Is your company a Microsoft Solution Provider? Yes, a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider Partner No Yes, a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider Partner No Yes

 

Chart 4
Company Star One Federal Credit Union, based in Sunnyvale, California.
www.starone.org
Systems Evolution, Inc., a Cincinnati company specializing in client/server development and data warehousing.
www.sysev.com
Total No. of employees 109 44
No. of branches 2 1
Does your company pay for the cost of all certification training (including travel), study / exam prep materials, and exams (pass or fail)? Always Always
Does management have a policy allowing paid time off for attending training courses? Informal, yes. Yes
Does your company factor in certifications when determining compensation? Yes. Bonus paid on certification. Sometimes. Compensation is performance-based, and thus indirectly affected by certification.
Does your company factor in certifications when determining promotions? Yes Yes
Does your company have a written compensation plan that includes increases based on certification? No; informal policy No
Does your company offer a bonus based on achieving certification? Yes; informal No
Does your company actively seek Microsoft Certified Professionals in the hiring process? No, but encourage current employees to become certified Yes
Does management use some public manner for recognizing when you or a co-worker passes an exam or earns a title (i.e., a public e-mail)? Yes Yes
Does your company put the MCP logo on the business cards of those achieving certification? Plans to Not logo; certification titles only. May be starting to add logo due to requests from employees.
Does your company give project assignments to IT professionals on staff based on level of Microsoft certification? Yes Sometimes
Does your company stress the number of MCPs on staff when bidding for consulting jobs? Does not apply Sometimes
When outsourcing IT jobs, does your company hire consultants based on their Microsoft certification? Yes Does not apply.
Is your company a Microsoft Solution Provider? No Yes

 

Featured

  • Microsoft Starts Countdown to Dynamics GP End-of-Support

    Dynamics GP, Microsoft's venerable enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for midsized businesses, is set to lose support in four years.

  • Image of a futuristic maze

    The 2024 Microsoft Product Roadmap

    Everything Microsoft partners and IT pros need to know about major Microsoft product milestones this year.

  • Windows Recall Preview Starts Rolling Out with Windows 11 24H2

    Microsoft on Tuesday began rolling out Windows 11 version 24H2, describing the update as a "full OS swap that contains new foundational elements required to deliver transformational Al experiences and exceptional performance."

  • An image of planes flying around a globe

    2024 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.