MCSM: SharePoint - Beta Complete, Product Pages Live!

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For those of you who've been following the MCSM: SharePoint program, you're probably saying to yourselves, "but you're already delivering RTM versions of the training - didn't the Beta happen a while ago?" Yes, it certainly did, but the end of the Beta training is far from the last milestone in the Beta process. Although the leading-edge nature of our course means that it's constantly evolving, this is an important milestone in the development of the program.

What did we evaluate in the Beta process?

  • Instructor-led Training Materials
  • Hands-on Lab Assignments
  • Training Lab Infrastructure
  • Knowledge Exam Content
  • Lab Exam Content
  • Lab Exam Infrastructure

When did we do this?

  • Mid-October 2012
    • Beta registration opened to SharePoint 2010 MCMs - those eligible for MCSM: SharePoint recertification training
  • Mid-December 2012 through Mid-January 2013
    • Remote Beta Training Launch (labs only) - labs open over the internet to Beta candidates
  • Mid- to Late January 2013
    • Onsite Beta Training - Instructor-led Training and ongoing hands-on lab work in Redmond, WA, USA
    • Beta Knowledge Exam delivery - January 25
    • Beta Lab Exam delivery - January 26
  • February 2013
    • Revisions to instructor-led training materials
    • Revisions to hands-on lab assignments
    • Revisions to training lab infrastructure
  • February through mid-April 2013
    • Beta Knowledge Exam analysis
    • Beta Lab Exam analysis
    • Revisions to lab exam infrastructure
    • RTM Knowledge Exam publication (available to those who have attended the training)
    • RTM Lab Exam publication (available to those who have attended the training)

Who was involved?

It's a given that a lot of folks from Microsoft Learning were involved, but the following figures should give you some idea of the scale of the effort in terms of SharePoint community participation. Here's a quick headcount on the number of SharePoint SMEs from the MCSM, MCA, MVP, SharePoint Product Group, SharePoint Online, and Microsoft Services communities who were involved in the various aspects of the Beta and content development.

  • Course Objective Design (AKA course topics) - 15 team members
  • Knowledge & Lab Exam Development - 15 team members
  • Course Materials Development - 15 team members
  • Beta Instructors - 8 team members
  • Beta Attendees - 26 recertification candidates

We couldn't have done it without you!

Where can I learn more?

Detailed descriptions of our training, knowledge exams, and lab exam are now listed in the Microsoft Learning training catalog, as it is a somewhat more prominent, official, and search engine-friendly place to go looking for detailed info on our training than this blog. :) You'll see that the course topics list is identical to the early preview I shared on this blog a few months ago.

As described in the training catalog entries, you can register for the training (which includes the initial attempts at the exams) through our registration site. Hope to see you in Redmond someday!