March 9, 2009 at 3:54 am
Hi SQL Central Forum,
First post so here goes..
I am in the very fortunate position with my company of having the opportunity to formally qualify my SQL skills. My company have decided they are willing to send me away for training with all expenses paid. My question to the forum is which version of the MCTS | MCITP do you guys & girls think I should do? My big issue which Steve brings up frequently in his posts is the number of changes and the quick release cycle of MS SQL products.
My company currently use SQL Server 2000 for all production and 90% of our test systems. They are looking to migrate the production environment to SQL Server 2005 and I will be a key player in this. It would then seem most logical to do the MCTS | MCITP in SQL Server 2005. My concern is that although these skills are currently very important to the company and at this time very important to me so that we can have 100% successful migration, will these skills be short lived? I have always been continually training to help me take the next step and get to where I want to go & I try to ensure my skill-set is current and up to date.
Should I be pushing for the company to migrate the production systems to SQL Server 2008? Should I push for training in SQL Server 2008 instead of 2005 seeing it's lifespan is better from this point? Would training in SQL Server 2008 mean I'm missing a lot of the necessary knowledge needed for this critical migration?
I would really appreciate some help with this! Any questions or points of view on things I should be thinking about at this time would be most welcome.
Thanks & best regards,
Daniel
MCTS | MCITP | Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Administration & Development
MCSA | MCSE | Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012
March 9, 2009 at 6:51 am
From what I understand, SQL 2008 has more Administrator tools than 2005, but most of the developer tools have remained the same. Therefore, it would behoove your company to upgrade straight to 2008 at this late date rather than going to 2005.
As far as the certs go, though, it depends. There are 3 tracks, BI, DBA & Developer. Which type are you supporting? I'd go for the one you'll be working in the most first. Then, if you still want the other certs, by all means, upgrade.
SQL 2008 certs are still in their infancy. There aren't a ton of study materials available yet, like for SQL 2005. And you can always upgrade your certs from 2005 to 2008 once you get them. Also, the SQL 2005 certs will tell you what has changed between 2000 & 2005. This is good information to have as I don't know if the 2008 cert studying materials include this.
Yet, again, it depends on whether your workplace will go straight to 2008 or just to 2005. Your skills won't be completely obsolete if you get the 2k5 certs. Like I said earlier, most of the changes between the two versions are additions to the Administrator toolset.
Wow. I'm seriously rambling here. Did any of that make sense to you?
March 9, 2009 at 7:30 am
Sure that MCITP and MCTS is with SQL Server 2005, and it would be better if you go for MCTS and MCITP SQL Server 2008 ( no other way)!
There it is all info about Certification Paths and Upgrade Options:
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcitp/sql/2008/default.mspx
Now, you have available from Microsoft also MCM certifications for SQL Server 2008 and all other new versions of technologies like Windows Server 2008, SharePoint Server, Exchange Server etc etc!
March 9, 2009 at 9:36 am
danielthompson (3/9/2009)
Should I be pushing for the company to migrate the production systems to SQL Server 2008?
That depends on whether or not you need any of the 2008 features and if the business is willing to spend the time testing for compatability with 2008. Lots of people are staying on 2005 with the plan to upgrade to the next major version after 2008
Should I push for training in SQL Server 2008 instead of 2005 seeing it's lifespan is better from this point? Would training in SQL Server 2008 mean I'm missing a lot of the necessary knowledge needed for this critical migration?
If you're working a lot with 2008 or expect to be working with 2008, then take the 2008 exams. If you're mostly working with 2005, take the 2005 exams. There is an upgrade path from 2005 to 2008 if you decide to do the 2005 now and the 2008 later.
The reason I say that is that the exams are set with the expectation that the candidate has been working with the product. If you've never worked with 2008, don't write the 2008 exams. They're no harder than the 2005 ones, but they do require a good knowledge of the new features.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
March 9, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Brandie,
Thanx for your help on this your post made a lot of sense..
most of the developer tools have remained the same
This is the part of SQL Server I'm most interested in - so this is definitely one point for 2005.
There are 3 tracks, BI, DBA & Developer. Which type are you supporting?
I would mainly be supporting the Developer side of things. I would of course be stepping into the DBA & BI shoes occasionally as expected. 😎
it depends on whether your workplace will go straight to 2008 or just to 2005
I think it would be a heavenly stretch for them. I work for a big corporate around 70k ppl. They have only recently embraced Project Management Framework for managing IT projects. Along with this has come very strict change management processes which stop me being able to do what I'm good at. Anyway that's another post!
Sorry - I'm rambling now but if all the Developer features are in 2005 this looks like the way to go for me.
Thanks again - Daniel
MCTS | MCITP | Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Administration & Development
MCSA | MCSE | Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012
March 9, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Gail,
if the business is willing to spend the time testing for compatability with 2008
I can't see them doing this. The database is the back end for an off-shore banking bespoke application and the jump from 2000 to 2008 is just to great for them. They have too much to lose if any mistake was made.
If you're working a lot with 2008 or expect to be working with 2008
Currently I haven't touched 2008 so definitely looks like 2005 is the way to go for me. Further 2005 is my bread & butter tool at work. If I did the 2008 exams I would be ahead of the game yes but getting the company to buy in to 2008 would be very difficult at this point. It may take a new application or a re-engineered front end to bring about the decision to change to 2008. I feel this could be a battle where I could either end up leaving because they didn't want to embrace my skills or I could stay and let my skills rot - not a great choice either way.
Thanks for your help..
Daniel
2 - 1 to SQL Server 2005 so far..
MCTS | MCITP | Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Administration & Development
MCSA | MCSE | Business Intelligence SQL Server 2012
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