Saturday, April 15, 2006

Dynamics of VS 2005 Upgrade Exams

Upgrade exams for VS 2005 are very useful but may be confusing at times... Check these equations below and that will help you understand the dynamics of VS 2005 Upgrade exams:

Folks who are MCAD can take 551 and/or 552 upgrade exams... MCADs have an opportunity to choose which of the above upgrade exam to take based on their inclination towards Web Dev or Windows Dev... MCADs also have the liberty to take both 551 & 552 incase they are inclined towards both Web and Windows area... Although, do note that MCADs CANNOT take 553 & 554 as they are meant only for MCSDs... Truthfully, nothing stops MCADs from taking 553 & 554 but unfortunately taking these exams will not yeild into any certification for MCADs unless they later complete their MCSD .Net certification...

Folks who have MCSD .Net have got all the options that MCAD folks have plus have an opportunity take 553 & 554 upgrade exams, which are specifically designed for MCSD .Net folks...

First let us quickly take a look at equation of the NON-UPGRADE exams with certifications:
MCTS:Web = 536 + 528
MCTS:Win = 536 + 526
MCTS:DA = 536 + 529
MCPD:Web Dev = MCTS:Web + 547
MCPD:Win Dev = MCTS:Win + 548
MCPD:EA Dev = MCTS:Web + MCTS:Win + MCTS:DA + 549

Now let us look at each upgrade exam to understand what kind of credits do each one of them offer (if you PASS them :-)):
551 = 536 + 528 + 547 = MCTS:Web + MCPD:Web Dev
552 = 536 + 526 + 548 = MCTS:Windows + MCPD:Win Dev
553 = 536 + 526 + 528 = MCTS:Web + MCTS:Windows
554 = 529 + 549 = NO certification by itself

ANALYSIS FOR MCTS

Now here is how the dynamics start coming into play, let us look at what options do MCAD or MCSD folks have to become MCTS... I am intentionally leaving out MCPD right now as we will talk about it after we are done with MCTS...

Case 1: MCAD can become MCTS:Web by using any of the following options:
Option 1.) 536 + 528 (Regular Option)
Option 2.) 551
Option 3.) 552 + 528
Case 2: MCAD can become MCTS:Win by using any of the following options:
Option 1.) 536 + 526 (Regular Option)
Option 2.) 552
Option 3.) 551 + 526
Case 3: MCAD can become MCTS:DA by using any of the following options:
Option 1.) 536 + 529 (Regular Option)
Option 2.) 551 + 529
Option 3.) 552 + 529
Case 4: MCSD can become MCTS:Web by using any of the following options:
Option 1.) Any option that MCAD folks have (plus)
Option 2.) 553
Case 5: MCSD can become MCTS:Win by using any of the following options:
Option 1.) Any option that MCAD folks have (plus)
Option 2.) 553
Case 6: MCSD can become MCTS:DA by using any of the following options:
Option 1.) Any option that MCAD folks have (plus)
Option 2.) 536 + 554
Option 3.) 553 + 554
Option 4.) 553 + 529

ANALYSIS FOR MCPD

Now as we have already talked about MCTS let us talk about MCPD... I am going to list down certain important points and then let you figure out the combinations yourself...

So the First important thing to remember in Upgrade Dynamics for MCPD certs are the equations which we talked about earlier:
MCPD:Web Dev = MCTS:Web + 547
MCPD:Win Dev = MCTS:Win + 548
MCPD:EA Dev = MCTS:Web + MCTS:Win + MCTS:DA + 549

Second important thing to remember is the exam credit equations for upgrade exams which we talked about earlier:
551 = 536 + 528 + 547
552 = 536 + 526 + 548
553 = 536 + 526 + 528
554 = 529 + 549

Third important thing to remember is that MCADs cannot take 553 & 554 but MCSDs can...

Now using the above three important things and also the Analysis for MCTS, MCADs and MCSDs should be able to figure out what exams they need to take to earn their MCPDs...

I hope this dynamics of VS 2005 Upgrade Exams help... Feel free to write back if you have more questions...

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post! I would like to upgrade from MCAD to MCPD: Web + MCTS: DA and the info here is spot-on. Thanks much :)!

Rob Farley said...

I feel like it's worth mentioning the fact that 551+552+554 will get an MCSD.Net person the full set of MCPD certs. I like to think about it in the 'exam equivalents' approach.

MCPD:Web = 536 + 528 + 547
MCPD:Win = 536 + 526 + 548
MCPD:EAD = 536 + 528 + 526 + 529 + 547 + 548 + 549

So then using your 551 =... chart, it's plain to see that:

MCPD:EAD = 551 + 552 + 554
MCPD:EAD = 553 + 554, but this won't include MCPD:Web or MCPD:Win

Rob

Vishal R Joshi said...

True Rob now your comment will expalin it all... Thanks...

Anonymous said...

Hi Vishal,

Is this MCPD:EAD = 551 + 552 + 554 confirmed already? will this work??

Vishal R Joshi said...

MCPD:EAD = 551 + 552 + 554 should work if you have MCSD....

Anonymous said...

Hi Vishal,

Thanks for your explanation. Its awesome. I am a MCSD looking to upgrade to MCPD. This is quite useful to me.

Venkat

Anonymous said...

Vishal, how much does the new exams cost now.
Earlier it was 50 dollars per exam so effectively Rs. 2,500 (INR)
I am an MCSD, I plan to give 70-551, 70-552, then 70-529 and 70-549 (not 70-554)
I would be achiving MCPD:Web,Win,EAD with the above path.
Can you tell me the cost for the each of the exams(70-551, 70-552, 70-529,70-549)?

Anonymous said...

Hi Vishal,

Good explanation but I think you missed out clearly defining how to get from MCAD to MCPD:EAD which is a question that really bugs a lot of people.

Let me give it a stab ..

MCAD + 551 Web Upgrade + 549 + 526 + 529 = MCPD:EAD

MCAD + 552 Win Upgrade + 549 + 528 + 529 = MCPD:EAD

Regards, Benny

Anonymous said...

Benny I think this is more accurate for an MCAD wishing to achieve MCPD:EAD

MCAD + 551 + 552 + 549 + 529 = MCPD:EAD

as 551 includes 526 and 552 includes 528 there is no need to do them seperately but I think you need to do all four above to me MCPD:EAD in addition to your MCAD

Cheers
Matt

Anonymous said...

I'm an MCPD and I just took 526 (TS: Windows Client Development) but I didn't get an MCTS:Win. Microsoft is telling me that I still need 70-536 to obtain it. Doesn't make sense to me but well, i'll just take 70-548 to obtain MCPD (this time it's indicated in their site so no arguments there).

Anonymous said...

As a follow up for my previous post. I got 70-551 and took 70-526. Contrary to what the representative from Regional Education Service Center told me via email and phone call, I received my MCTS Windows for passing 70-526 without needing to take 70-536 (Foundation).

Tapamay said...

Hello Vishal,
It was really a brilliant post.Can you please do me a bit more favor.I'm working in ASP.NET(Framework 2.0)(Web Development).I've no certification yet.I'm eager to do Microsoft Certification in ASP.NET.Can you please suggest me what should the best approach for me??

Thanks & Regards,
Tapamay