Microsoft Certifications are broken up into a series of technical areas, designed to map to various job roles in a business. The technical series begin with the Specialist series, designed to show in-depth knowledge of a key Microsoft product or technology, and ends with the Architect series, which validates your skills as a professional in IT architecture and includes a demonstration of business and technology knowledge in front of a Review Board of experts.

Specialist Series

The Specialist series, also know as the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) series, is the foundation of the Microsoft Certification program. The names of these certifications all begin with MCTS and end with the name of the technology they cover. For example, there are three specific to WIndows Server 2008 – MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Configuration, MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration, MCTS: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure Configuration. Each one has a different exam and has different, though similar, prerequisites the professional must satisfy. Typically you will need to take one to three exams to obtain that product’s MCTS certification and new MCTS certifications are offered as new technologies are brought to market (for example, they just recently added a MCTS: Windows 7 – Configuration certification.

Professional Series

The Profession series certifications center around job roles, rather than on products. There are two Professional series certifications:

• Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP)
• Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)

The MCITP is a certification for IT professionals, demonstrating they have the ability to administer Microsoft technologies. The MCPD is a certification for software developers, demonstrating they have the ability to work with Visual Studio and the Microsoft .NET framework. The certifications include a series of exams, each of which may or may not have a MCTS pre-requisite, as well as “refresh” requirements. There are also upgrade paths, for example upgrading your MCPD from Visual Studio 2005 to Visual Studio 2008, as needed.

Master Series

As you can begin to see, the breadth of business problems you’re able to solve increase as the certifications increase in complexity. The Specialist series taught you how to work with a particular technology, the Professional series collected those skills into a larger job role bucket, and the Master series takes it a step further by adding exams that demonstrate your ability to solve more complex business problems. The Microsoft Certified Master program (MCM) includes classroom training and experience based curriculum presented by Microsoft and partner organizations. There are six MCM certifications with their own set of pre-requisites, which may include MCSE certifications, and upon completion of the prerequisites, you attend a three week course ending in an computer-based exam and a lab exam.

Architect Series

The Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) series is the most complex and “highest” of the tracks in the Microsoft Certification program, designed to validate your skills and experience as a professional in information technology architecture. There are seven certification tracks segregated into three main groups. There is the Infrastructure certification, Solutions certification, and then five Microsoft Technology certifications (Exchange Server, Office Communications Server, Office SharePoint Server, SQL Server, and Server: Directory). Before you can earn a technology MCA certification, you need an MCM certification in that same technology.

These Microsoft certifications are recognized by the industry and having them can help improve your marketability. They’re not cheap though, the fee to appear before an MCA review board is $5,000! Hopefully we’ve done a good job explaining how the Microsoft Certification program works at a high enough level so you know which bucket of certifications is right for you. If you’re just starting out and you’re working with specific technologies, I suggest you begin with the Specialist series to hone your skills and ensure you have a completely breadth of knowledge about a technology (rather than just familiarity with your day to day activities). As your responsibilities grow, that’s when you should consider adding more certifications to your resume.