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[Michael Jo]

In response to public backlash against the changes it had made in its certification landscape, Microsoft recently announced that it’s doing a 180. The company is phasing out the new MCITP and MTCS certification programs and returning to its legacy MCSE, MCSA, and MCSD titles. By billing the new certification program as cloud-centric, the tech giant hopes to modernize its certification program and capitalize on its highly popular and profitable legacy titles.

While the names have reverted to legacy abbreviations, the certification paths have changed yet again, leaving some IT professionals hesitant to pursue the new certifications. As a result, Microsoft is actively trying to sweeten the deal for certified professionals.

First, existing MCITP title holders will be granted the new MCSA title. The new certification title will show up automatically on the MCP transcript and require no input from the certification holder. It’s interesting to note that with the previous certification track, MCITP was held to be equal to the legacy MCSE certification. Yet with the new certification track, Microsoft is transferring current MCITP holders to a lower-level certification instead of to the new MCSE certification. Microsoft has not yet released information about how current MCITP holders can upgrade to the new MCSE title.
Second, in an effort to entice people to get certified before the entire new MCSE program is available, Microsoft is offering a two-for-one exam promotion for a variety of MCITP and MCTS exams. With this promotion, test takers who pass certain certification exams will receive a voucher to take a new Microsoft exam for free after the new round of exams is released. For example, a candidate who passes the current 70-647 exam will receive a voucher to take a Windows Server 2012 exam for free.