I missed the announcement, but at some stage in recent years, Microsoft revamped its IT Professional certification scheme. It seems as though I still qualify as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) for both the NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 tracks; although I never did get around to upgrading my MCSE to Windows XP and Server 2003… maybe I’ll follow the Vista and Longhorn Server track when it’s released.

Anyway, earlier today I passed the Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 – Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting exam (70-262), making me a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005.

I guess that’s just like an MCP in the old days but it’s another logo to display on the IT Services page. Actually, the real reason I did it was that I was incentivised by the prospect of a free iPod from my employer if I was one of the first three people to take (and pass) the test by a particular date!

This was the first Microsoft exam that I’ve taken for a while and Microsoft’s non-disclosure agreement prevents me from saying too much about it but as I took Monday off work, spent all day Tuesday (and Thursday evening) at Microsoft events and had to do some real work too, it’s been a challenge to cram in all of my revision… hence the lack of blog posts this week. I plan to make up for that after the long weekend (when I finally get around to writing up my notes from the Microsoft Management Summit and Vista After Hours events)… watch this space.