News
Microsoft Opens 'Partner Exam Academy' Exam-Prep Service
- By Gladys Rama
- August 15, 2011
Microsoft has unveiled the new "Partner Exam Academy," an online resource that gives those pursuing Microsoft certifications access to free and for-fee exam-prep materials.
"[T]oday we are happy to announce another resource designed to help our partners in their quest for certifications for their individuals as well as to achieve their desired competencies for their company," wrote Eric Ligman, director of Worldwide Partner Experience at Microsoft, in a blog post on Monday.
The Partner Exam Academy's aim is to gather links to existing Microsoft exam-prep offerings in one place, categorized by exam and competency. According to a Tweet by the Microsoft Partner Network Training Team, it is essentially designed to be a "one-stop shop for exam prep materials."
The Partner Exam Academy currently has two exam categories, which were chosen "by popular demand," Ligman said -- one category for exams related to the Desktop competency, and one for exams related to the Virtualization competency.
The Desktop competency offerings are aimed at partners who are planning to take Exam 70-681 -- TS: Windows 7 and Office 2010, Deploying and comprise a free, downloadable proof-of-concept jumpstart kit with a step-by-step guide, and two for-fee training courses.
The Virtualization competency offerings address three Microsoft exams:
For each exam in this category, the Partner Exam Academy offers a link to a for-fee classroom training program and a link to a no-cost online training module.
According to Ligman, more exams and competencies will be added to the Partner Exam Academy "as we move forward." He also pointed readers to Microsoft's other exam-prep resources, including the Microsoft Partner Learning Paths page, the Training Offer Locator tool and the Microsoft Partner Training and Events page.
The Microsoft Partner Exam Academy is accessible here.