SHOULD I PURSUE MY MCSE Cert ON WINDOWS SERVER 2000 OR 2003??

[dijitaldiva]

Hello ALL!!

I've been doing deskside support and now have a position doing security for an app called SAP and BASIS. I'm now going to advance my career in IT Security. Since I have only worked with networking on a small scale I think this will be a good start and learning experience.. Would it be best to pursue my MCSE certification on windows server 2000 or 2003???


PLEASE ADVISE!

Thank You

MCSE: Security on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 ??

 

[mrdenny]

It all depends on what you are supporting.

Windows 2000 still has a couple of more years left in the Enterprise. There are still plenty of companies which are running off of a Windows NT 4 domain.

Why not get it on Windows 2000 and then upgrade to the Windows 2003 cert? That way you get them both.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[SimonDavies]

Actually if you will be doing more work on the side of SAP then you need to know if it's Unix or Windows based.

Having an MCSE is great but if you are going to be doing specific application support that won't be using that product then it may be a waste of your time.

Have you done your 70-270 MCP? Any Security+ training?

One thing to realise is that the MCSE isn't a learning stage certification, it's designed for experienced engineers wanting to prove their worth and experience by being certified in that particular flavour of Server OS.
Perhaps looking at some MCP's leading towards the MCSA would be a good idea?

As for MrDennys comment about NT4 domains, my company still use them (one of the largest Investment Banks in the world) and have no immediate plans to stop using them, we also have Novell, 2000, 2003 and Unix in place.

I would suggest that you look at what area you want to be in, do you want to specialise in SAP support or general Network support? Desktop? Servers?

Specialising in applications can pay very well, the market can be small meaning you're in demand (for example Tivoli by IBM is a very niche market and the pay is extremely good) and once you're in the door the world is your oyster.

Have a think and see what you feel would be the right area for you and then perhaps move towards that area of speciality.

SimonD.

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[mrdenny]

One thing to realise is that the MCSE isn't a learning stage certification...

That's a very good point that many people don't realize. Lots of people want to take the exams to learn. The studying is the learning part. At the beginning of most of the books (and I think the exams as well) say that the material is targeted for folks with 1-2 years managening a large multi-site network.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com