A retrospective look at the MCP program's rapid growth and how it was covered in the pages of this magazine.
Five Star Years
A retrospective look at the MCP program's rapid growth and how it was covered in the pages of this magazine.
- By Linda Briggs
- March 01, 2000
This month, March 2000, marks five years since we published
the premier issue of Microsoft Certified Professional
Magazine in March 1995. In that time, we’ve watched
along with you as huge changes have taken place in the
IT industry, within Microsoft, and in the whole concept
of technical certifications. Although I—and you,
judging by your many letters—have disagreed with
Microsoft plenty over the years, it’s not a company
that has ever left us bored with our jobs.
Many of you know that Microsoft was started in Albuquerque
in 1975, Windows first shipped in 1985, Microsoft went
public in 1986, and the first version of NT was shown
at COMDEX in 1991. But if you’re an MCP, here’s
a scattering of additional salient facts. They lend a
bit of historical perspective to the story of Microsoft
certification and the growth of Windows NT/2000…
In our inaugural issue in spring 1995, we report that
Microsoft is introducing a developer title, the MCSD,
to complement its MCSE and “MCPS” (Microsoft
Certified Product Specialist, today’s MCP).
Also in that first issue, we report that there are 15,600
MCPs worldwide, “up from just over 2,000 a year ago.”
How many are MCSEs? Just a thousand. And it’s probably
worth noting that those first MCSEs earn their certifications
almost completely without today’s study guides, Web
sites, plethora of books, boot camps, CTEC courses, and
practice exams. They also often have to explain to employers
what the title means (“It’s sort of like a CNE,
only from Microsoft...”) At that time, Microsoft
offers 27 MCP exams, with nine more in development (today,
I count 45 live exams—several to be retired—with
13 others in active development).
Novell’s far greater number of CNEs (70,000 at the
end of 1995), appears to tantalize Microsoft. In a newsletter
to its training centers, Redmond admits to “[continuing]
its aggressive pursuit of Certified Novell Engineers (CNEs).”
For example, the company creates marketing seminars to
help CNEs to get training on NT.
Microsoft works to raise the visibility of the MCSE title
with an ad campaign for IT managers that warns, “Before
you let anyone into your BackOffice, make sure they’ve
been through ours.”
Our second issue shows a nerdy-looking “IT guy”
on the cover, generating enough reader mail to convince
us never again to make fun, even lightly, of our readers.
(Well, we thought it was funny.)
In our July/August 1995 issue, Microsoft’s Nancy
Lewis, then director of the education and certification
program, estimates 35,000 open positions for MCPs around
the world at Solution Provider companies. In our July
1999 issue, Microsoft’s Donna Senko, current Director
of Certification and Skills Assessment, estimates 647,000
openings for qualified IT professionals worldwide.
In the January/February 1996 issue, our first annual
salary survey reports that an MCSE or MCSD (there aren’t
enough MCSDs to measure their incomes separately) earns
an average income of $64,000 a year—$7,000 more than
uncertified coworkers.
Demand for MCPs starts to grow, as do the numbers: There
are 62,000 by the fall of 1996. Microsoft launches a $4
million branding campaign to promote MCPs and the term
“certified.”
In fall 1996, NT 4.0 ships, to much more fanfare than
previous releases received from the industry. Right on
its tail, the certification group releases its NT Server
4.0 and NT Server 4.0 in the Enterprise exams. For the
first time, the OS exams differentiate between running
NT on smaller vs. larger networks.
In January 1997, average pay for MCSEs has risen to $70,700
(MCSDs average $76,400). In the same issue we report that
the number of Microsoft certifications is nearing 100,000;
still, just 14,696 people are MCSEs.
As NT begins to penetrate the market at a remarkable
pace, the value of MCSEs begins to soar. Suddenly, it
seems everyone is migrating from NetWare to NT (everyone
isn’t, of course); and they all want MCSEs on staff
to manage the new system. Job shops and training companies
are quick to take advantage of the hype, sometimes promoting
the title to unskilled career-changers as a ticket to
IT riches.
The number of MCSEs grows rapidly in 1997. In February,
Microsoft announces it has issued 100,000 certifications.
Although the press release doesn’t say so, that number
is almost certainly reached earlier than internal projections.
In the fall of 1997, Microsoft releases beta 1 of NT 5.0.
And late in 1997, the NT Server 4.0 exam overtakes Windows
95 as the most popular Microsoft exam administered. It
remains at the top of the list.
Outside the U.S., the MCP growth rate is even faster.
In an “@microsoft.com” column in the July/August
1997 issue, Senko reports 120,000 MCPs worldwide and growing;
and “the proportion outside the U.S. grows even faster.
Currently, 60 percent of all MCPs are based in countries
other than the U.S.” That proportion continues to
hold true today.
At the very end of 1997, Microsoft announces a new title:
the MCSE+Internet, which requires passage of nine exams.
This arrives a year and a half after Lewis calls Internet
certification “inappropriate at this time.”
The certification group says the title reflects the growing
importance of the Internet in a systems administrator’s
job, and cites job analyses to prove it.
Our third annual salary survey runs in the February 1998
issue, as we switch from a bimonthly to a monthly format.
We report that MCSEs average $67,600, a slight drop from
the previous year, and question whether the much-vaunted
MCSE is losing some of its shine. Turns out it is, but
not necessarily in a bad way. Employers seem to be awakening
from a short-lived practice of accepting an MCSE as proof
of capability. Instead, they gradually return to asking
for experience along with certifications and degrees,
a practice that continues today. Still, we report that
the certification carries value: “Earning an MCSE
adds an average of $11,000 to a non-certified individual’s
salary.” The number of MCSEs has tripled in 15 months,
to over 35,000 at the beginning of 1998.
Microsoft begins introducing new testing technologies
promised earlier. The changes are motivated by a desire
to thwart inadequately prepared test-takers, so-called
Internet “brain-dumps,” and some products that
appear to expose actual questions.
The MCSD is revamped to require three core exams and
one elective. We report on a handful of additional certifications,
like Cisco’s, to help readers boost the value of
an MCSE title.
In the fall, as the Windows 98 exam is released and the
very first NT 5.0 training begins to appear from Microsoft,
the numbers of MCPs reach ever greater levels: 360,000.
IDG Books raises the wrath of some of you with its “Certification
for Dummies” series. We profile a 12-year-old MCSD
and immediately hear from even younger candidates (and
their parents). And Microsoft changes “ATECs”
to “CTECs” to build on its branding of “certified.”
In 1999, we run an article on “Best
Companies to Work for as an MCP.” When we ask
you to evaluate how your companies treat MCPs, hundreds
of readers write to report on job conditions and nominate
their firms. Being an MCP has obviously become part of
the job culture in IT departments.
Our fourth annual
salary survey, meanwhile, reports that MCSEs now report
average earnings of $76,776 (both direct and non-direct
compensation, which we separate out for the first time).
By now there are an incredible 138,351 MCSEs among 509,085
MCPs worldwide.
As 1999 winds down, Microsoft chooses a ship date for
Windows 2000. The certification group announces major
changes to the MCSE title to accommodate Windows 2000
and begins retiring exams. Every MCSE will have to pass
several exams and certify on Windows 2000 by the end of
2001 to retain the title. Oh—and Bill Gates steps
down as Microsoft’s CEO, the first Windows 2000 virus
is reported, and there are now 220,500 MCSEs worldwide.
Interesting five years, eh? To those readers and writers
and columnists who have been with us from the first, thanks.
To the rest of you, stick around and see what the next
five years bring. In the inimitable words of Auntie Em,
our back page columnist since the first issue, “We’ve
run the gauntlet and are now proud members of an elite
corps of super-cool ultra-geeks that rarely see sunshine.”
Back to work.