Certification - August 2008 - (Page 12)

DEAR TECHIE To Grow in Servers, Create a Career Plan and Get Certified Dear Techie, I have been working at Wipro for the past two years. Initially I was in business process outsourcing (BPO) and my role was to support all U.S.-based customers who are using Dell products. Now I have been selected for Wipro Technologies’ State Street Project. My project is based on working on a server, and I am working as a service desk analyst. I want to know which certifications I should select to grow in this field and to have better opportunities. – Priyanka Roy Wayne Anderson: In order to grow yourself in the server space, you need to determine the kinds of environments you intend to support throughout your career. Are they going to be large environments? Do you anticipate them to be primarily Microsoft shops or another platform and vendor? Right now, it sounds like you are at the classic turning point, where one makes the transition from a direct customer-support environment to getting involved in the infrastructure side of information technology operations. I would advise two things for you at this juncture: Build a lab to gain experience, and then plan for 36 months of self-development. First, ensure you have gathered the necessary resources to invest in your learning. The odds are that your employer is not going to provide a lab machine that you can build and tear down server products on, so you will need to build that at home. To save money and enhance the effectiveness of your investment, I strongly recommend using one or two machines and implementing the free VMware Server product, available at www.vmware.com. Unfortunately, getting experience on server products often is expensive, particularly in the case of Microsoft Windows-based server products, as you will need to ascertain a technical subscription to MSDN or TechNet to gain personal access to serverclass products at minimal cost. An alternative is to use trial download versions of these products, which stop working properly after 120 days. Build things and tear them down. Configure infrastructure services such as DHCP, DNS and directory services. Doing so is one of the best ways to learn for most IT professionals. 12 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE August 2008 As for your development plan for the next 36 months, assuming you work in a Microsoft shop, I would advise focusing on your MCITP: Server Administrator credential during that time. This will apply a series of five exams to build your framework of knowledge with the Windows Server 2008 platform while you separately are building your experience. If you are in a Linux environment, I would advise you to choose one of the major distributions, such as Red Hat or SUSE and plan to certify to the engineer level with that platform. Ken Wagner: I agree with Wayne: Start developing your professional development plan and determine in which environment you intend to work. However, one certification program you may want to check out is CompTIA’s Server+, a non-vendor-specific program that is geared to server technologies and will assist you in whichever route you choose. Other certification programs I would recommend would include: • The Dell Certified Systems Expert (DCSE) • The HDI Support Center Analyst • ITIL v3 (IT Infrastructure Library) • Prince2, CompTIA Project+ and/or Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) • Six Sigma Green Belt program 8 Wayne Anderson is a highly certified instructional consultant and the certification lead for Avanade, a global Microsoft consultancy. Ken Wagner is an IT network manager and parttime IT lecturer in the United Kingdom. He has lived in the United States, Asia and Europe. To pose a question to Ken and Wayne, send an e-mail to DearTechie@certmag.com. http://www.wipro.com/ http://www.vmware.com http://www.ogc.gov.uk/guidance_itil.asp

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Certification - August 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream jVirtual Village Tech Careers Dear Techie Troubleshooting Academic Connection What We Like Look Ahead The China Boom United in IT: Tech Culture Breaks Down Barriers Abroad Interface Digital Home Technology Integrator: Specialized Skills for the Smart Home Inside Certification Ad Index Endtag

Certification - August 2008

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