What to Expect from Microsoft In 2021-2022?

Technology never stands still. It shapes the way the modern society lives and works. For IT area new technology means new opportunities of business development and the demand for the relevant skills of employees. The latter in its turn is closely connected with IT certifications, which equip candidates with the most updated skills required on the IT market.

The current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed the way people work and conduct their businesses. Most employees have been working remotely, and thus, the usage of online video conferences and the implementation of the relevant skills to cope with daily tasks have greatly increased. Collaboration as well as learning, have become digital.

This means that it’s time to retire some certifications and introduce the new ones.

Starting from January, 2021, Microsoft retired MCSA, MCSE, and MCSD designations, thus leaving the role-based accreditations in its Certification Program. Starting from June, two role-based certifications will be discontinued such as the Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals, and Microsoft Certified Dynamics 365+ Power Platform Solution Architect Expert. The thing is that the main goal of this IT giant is to equip its candidates with the most relevant skills to work with the latest Microsoft technologies as well as help organizations to conduct their digital transformations.

Starting from 30th of June, 2022, Microsoft has planned to discontinue the MTA certifications. This is closely connected with the job task analysis (JTA), which forms the basis of the accreditation. It’s applied for all role-based, and specialty exams to help candidates gain the most relevant skills and be successful in the chosen job role. The JTA is a criterion for reviewing the objective domains, and Microsoft does this regularly – every two months. When the changes cover one-third of the exam, it gets a new code, as the content has been changed significantly. Sometimes, the JTA impacts the name of the certification or/and exam. For example, the Azure DevOps Engineer designation was renamed to DevOps Engineer, to shift the emphasis from the product to the job role. So, all these measures, help to make exams stay relevant and up to date, which is essential for the vendor, its candidates, and organizations.

One more thing you are to note, is that all exams you take after June, 2021 will bring you a certification, that is valid for 1 year. After a 6-month period, you will start getting emails, reminding you that your certification is going to expire soon. Overall, you will receive 4 emails, with links on the Microsoft Learn platform, where you can renew your certification for free, after taking the definite training, and passing the given assessment. If you’ve taken the exam before June, 2021, your certification is valid for 2 years and you don’t need to worry.

It should be noted, that Microsoft is a loyal IT vendor. It offers a list of fundamentals and associate-level certifications on its official website, which you can gain just for $15 only, if you’ve lost your job because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The designations on offer include the Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals, Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals, Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate, to name a few. The requirements you are to fulfill are the following ones:

• to schedule the exam by 30th of December, 2021
• to complete the exam by 31th of December, 2021

Taking into consideration the current realities, they make the IT area move forward and Microsoft keeps the pace as well. Thus, during the Windows Server Summit in September 2021, Microsoft has announced about the upcoming Windows Server certification, the Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, by name. This virtual event took place after the introduction of a new product Windows Server 2022 recently. Windows Server 2022 is the first hybrid product designed by Microsoft and issued as a Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC), which means that is it eligible for support during the period of 10 years. To add more, the product is fitted with a number of new features related to management, security, and containerization. So, candidates, who will gain skills to work with Windows Server 2022, will obtain the Windows Server Hybrid Administrator certification. For that, they need to pass two new exams: AZ-800 and AZ-801. These beta exams will be available in December, 2021. The first evaluation is focused on administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure and will check your skills in completing tech tasks related to managing AD DS in cloud and on-premises environments, operating Windows Servers in a hybrid environment, managing VMs & containers, hybrid networking infrastructure, file services as well as storage. The second exam deals with configuring Windows Server Hybrid Advanced services. To be more precise, your proficiency in securing Windows Server hybrid and on-premises infrastructures, using Windows Server HA, migrating servers, applying disaster recovery, and troubleshooting Windows Server environments will be tested. So, the certified professionals will possess the top-notch skills to work with such tools and technologies, as Azure Arc, Windows Admin Center, Azure Security center, Azure Monitor, and Azure Migrate.

To sum up, the current time has changed the moderate pace of development of IT sphere and IT vendors, such as Microsoft, have to keep pace with it. The tendency to virtualize the workload is reflected in retiring exams and certifications (MTA and some role-based) that are no longer able to equip candidates with the most updated knowledge and skills. Thus, the constant updating of exam objectives based on the JTA is a perfect measure to monitor new skills required in the present job roles to complete tasks effectively. In addition, with new products and technologies, it’s a necessity to introduce new exams and certifications, which reflect the demand of the IT market to certify professionals able to work in hybrid environments.