Please join me in welcoming our newest SQL Server Certified Master, Eric Strom. Here is a brief introduction to Eric: Eric Strom is a Database Consultant with Digineer, Inc , a business and technology firm in the Twin Cities metro area. He has been working with SQL Server for over 10 years and specializes in performance tuning, database design and architecture. He served on the PASSMN executive board from 2009-2010. While a board member, he presented at and helped plan the first SQL Saturday (on...

It's mid-winter and also the midpoint of our first hybrid rotation delivery, with the "R11" candidates working hard at attending remote instructor-led training, remote office hours, and doing LOTS of lab work and study. Six weeks down, six to go... While R11 has been underway, we've had the great pleasure of adding to the SharePoint MCM ranks while several candidates from past rotations completed their certifications. Here are the latest members of our community: Bill Ayers (R6...

It's mid-winter and also the midpoint of our first hybrid rotation delivery, with the "R11" candidates working hard at attending remote instructor-led training, remote office hours, and doing LOTS of lab work and study. Six weeks down, six to go... While R11 has been underway, we've had the great pleasure of adding to the SharePoint MCM ranks while several candidates from past rotations completed their certifications. Here are the latest members of our community: Bill Ayers (R6...

I am delighted to introduce another new SQL Server 2008 Certified Master to the MCM community. Please join me in welcoming Argenis Fernandez, our newest SQL Certified Master. Here is a brief introduction: Argenis has been working with SQL Server for around 14 years. An active member of the SQL Server community, he has presented at multiple SQL Saturday events, and also at the PASS Summit 2011. His main areas of interest are SQL and OS internals, scripting and HA/DR. He loves making things run fast...

Please join me once again in congratulating Benjamin Wright-Jones ( blog| @superlatch ). Benjamin was already a double SQL Server MCM (2005 and 2008) and is now the newest SQL Server Certified Architect (MCA). Here is a brief bio of Ben has worked at Microsoft (UK) for nine years specialising in data solutions; specifically large relational databases, high availability, performance tuning, benchmarking and scalability. Prior to Microsoft, he worked at various services and ISV companies using SQL...

Please join me in congratulating our newest SQL Server MCM, Gavin Payne. I met Gavin at the SQL PASS Summit last year and knew he would be joining our ranks very soon. Here is a brief into to Gavin: Gavin ( blog | @GavinPayneUK ) is a Senior Consultant for Coeo , a Microsoft Gold Partner providing SQL Server services for mission critical environments, where he architects, implements, troubleshoots and optimizes SQL Server environments to meet the performance, scalability and availability requirements...

Back by popular demand: SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) Accelerated Exam Preparation Program Our first online live accelerated training program for SQL Server MCM was such a hit that we’re bringing it back starting March 6. Whether you’re preparing for SQL Server 2008 MCM exams, or just looking to take your SQL Server skills to the next level, don’t miss out on this unique training opportunity. Starting March 6: Accelerate your path to SQL Server MCM This series...

Please join me in welcoming our newest member of the MCM community, Sean McCown. Here is a little info about Sean: Sean McCown is a Certified Master in SQL Server 2008. He is also a SQL Server MVP with over 15yrs experience in databases. Sean is also founder and co-owner of the renowned website MidnightDBA.com where he records free SQL Server training videos and co-hosts the popular webshow, DBAs@Midnight . Sean blogs at http://www.MIdnightDBA.com/DBARant and can be found on Twiiter as @MidnightDBA...

We're kicking off an initiative to conduct regularly-scheduled LiveMeetings on Advanced Certification offerings. These will be hosted by the program managers and include detailed program overviews as well as time for live Q&A. You can find them here on MS Events - if you want to learn more about our programs from the folks who run them (and are all MCMs themselves), sign up today! And for those of you who can't attend the live sessions, they'll be archived in MS Events for your asynchronous...

SQL Server 2008 Certified Master (MCM) and SQL Server Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Brent Ozar ( blog | @Brento ) offers up his advice on how to pass the SQL MCM knowledge exam . Sorry, Brent doesn't give out the answers, but he does give a unique viewpoint on studying your tail off versus diving right in. Check out the blog post here: http://ozar.me/2012/01/how-to-pass-the-sql-mcm-exam/ Brent Ozar ( blog | @Brento ) is founder of Brent Ozar PLF . Read More...

Looking for options for taking the SQL Server Certified Master lab exam? For a limited time, Microsoft Learning will be offering remote delivery of the SQL Server Certified Master lab exam for a reduced price of $2000 US (normally $2500 US). Remote delivery allows you to take the exam from a quiet location of your choosing and saves you the cost of travelling to a distant testing center. Remote delivery requires a working webcam, the full Microsoft Lync client, and a reliable internet connection...

Please join me in welcoming our newest SQL Server 2008 MCM Qikan Fang. Here is some info on him. Qikan ( @qkfang ) is Chief Developer at Health-e Workforce Solutions ( www.healthewfs.com.au ). His experience focuses around SQL Development, Data Integration, Performance Tuning, BI and Security. His career started as a R&D developer in China using SQL Server 7.0. After a few years work and study in Melbourne, he published a paper about biometric authentication and was fortunate to present it at...

SQL Server MVP Jason Strate ( blog | @StrateSQL ) has started a SQL MCM study group on Yammer.Yammer is free to join So check out the new study group and get involved. Head over to Jason Strate's blog post to learn more and join: http://www.jasonstrate.com/2011/12/sql-mcm-study-group/ Read More...

Please join me in welcoming Martin Cairns to our community of certified Masters. Martin is very active in the SQL community, and I think we will definitely benefit from having him join us. Here is a brief bio about Martin: Martin Cairns , Senior BI Consultant ( blog | twitter ). Martin is a consultant with Purple Frog Systems a Business Intelligence & Data Warehousing Consultancy. He provides expertise for some of the UK's most prestigious clients including ASOS, AOL and Tesco. Martin has...

After nearly four years I'm moving on as the PM of the Lync and OCS MCM programs. It has been quite a ride..... On January 12 th 2009 the first rotation of OCS MCM kicked off in building 11 on Redmond campus. Almost four years later we have achieved the following… Run 12 rotations Moved classrooms once Revised the content 7 times and gone through one complete rewrite Made 4 people sing ‘I’m a little tea pot’ for being late to class (you know who you are) Delivered 32256...

We wrapped up SharePoint 2010 MCM R10 (AKA R1010 for all you binary folks out there) a little over a week ago in not-so-sunny Redmond, and I'm very pleased to announce a number of additions to our community and new certifications for current community members. We have four new SharePoint 2010 MCMs from our most recent rotation: Anthony Wong (R10) is a Senior Premier Field Engineer at Microsoft based in Hong Kong. Specializing in SharePoint, BizTalk and .NET application development in general...

Folks often ask me about the cost of MCM Exchange training, and at $18,500 I understand the sticker shock. I also know that the MCM program provides incredible value for the right candidate. We don't let anyone teach this stuff...we get the very best subject matter experts from the product group, support organizations, and services organizations to develop unique content you can't get anywhere else and deliver it directly. I attended the 6 week MCA program in 2005, and it has paid for itself...

We are pleased to announce two new training opportunities being launched by Microsoft Learning to help prepare candidates for the Certified Master exams or for anyone looking to take their SQL Server skills to the next level. Coming November 29: Accelerated Prep for Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008 As an experienced SQL Server IT Pro looking to become a Microsoft Certified Master (MCM), wouldn’t you appreciate some expert help as you prepare for the Knowledge Exam and Lab Exam? With...

Congratulations to Dimitri Furman who became our newest SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master this past Friday. Dimitri Furman is a SQL Server consultant working for Microsoft Consulting Services. In the last four years, he has been involved in a number of diverse SQL Server projects for Microsoft's customers, in areas s ch as performance tuning of Tier 1 OLTP systems, multitenant database design, ETL and data warehouse design. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dimitri worked as a DBA and Data...

SharePoint MCM instructors, candidates, and community members have been going at a fever pitch through late summer and early fall. We made a number of updates to our content, labs, and exams following the release of SharePoint 2010 MCM Service Pack 1, and are halfway through a marathon of training and community activity that wrap up just before the US Thanksgiving holidays: SharePoint 2010 MCM Rotation 9 (September 12 - October 1, Redmond, WA) SharePoint Conference 2011 (October 2-6, Anaheim, CA...

With Rotation 11 of Lync MCM done and dusted I'm pleased to welcome four new Lync MCMs to the ever expanding community. Lars Harbeck Sørensen who comes from Denmark and works for Atea A/S Timothy White who works for Dimension Data in Australia Abi Maggu who upgraded is OCS 2007 MCM to Lync. Abi works for Microsoft in the US Thomas Binder from Austria and also works for Microsoft Congratulations to all on a job well done! Adrian Read More...

I spend a lot of time talking with potential MCM candidates about what to expect from attending the Lync MCM training in an effort to help them understand the expectations, demands and also rewards of the program. In an effort to provide a first hand perspective I have asked attendees from the most recent delivery to share their thoughts and experiences of what the program meant to them and what hints they can provide to others. Here is the first of these posts - from a double MCM (OCS and Lync)...

We informally announced the newest Certified Master for SQL Server 2008 last week. I am pleased to officially introduce our newest SQL Server MCM to you: Reeves Smith is a SQL Server consultant specializing in data warehouse projects. He is currently working for Catapult Consultants delivering a financial data warehouse to the federal government including the Department of Defense (DoD). Reeves has been working with SQL Server for over 14 years beginning with SQL Server 6.5. During that time he has...

Today at the SharePoint Conference in Anaheim, California, Microsoft is excited to announce a new addition to the suite of Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) certifications: MCA: Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. Joining MCA Exchange Server, SQL Server and Windows Server: Directory, this new certification is intended to recognize and validate the expertise of the highest-achieving SharePoint architects. The MCA Program administers a unique, rigorous review board and case exam process to help enable...

We are proud to announce the first wave of SSAS Maestros v1.0. After three 3-day sessions in Redmond, London, and Hong Kong in Feb/Mar 2011 with hundreds of applications and eighty one attendees, we now have the first wave of SSAS Maestros who completed the course and passed a comprehensive lab, exam, and case study. Once we resolve the logistics, we will be publishing some of these case studies on sqlcat.com as well! Ulf Ackerman (R1) is based out of Hamburg, Germany and is a BI specialist at Initions...