Notes on Developer Certifications

I have been focusing on trying to get some Microsoft Certifications completed and a couple of people have emailed me about them.  The following list are all the ones I would like to get.  There are a lot so I don't expect to actually get them all done.  To be clear I am only going after the latest certifications.

• For developers this is the MCPD series (the MCAD series was for .NET 1.x)
• For databases this is the MCITP series (the MCDBA series was for SQL Server 2000)

So the new certification and the order I plan on getting them are:

• Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) 
• The Microsoft Certified Professional Developer: Web Developer (3 exams)
• Microsoft Certified Professional Developer: Windows Developer (2 additional exams)
• Microsoft Certified Professional Developer: Enterprise Applications Developer (2 additional exams)
• Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP)

There are several MCTS Certifications.  Some are not really available yet and some I am not interested in.  The ones I am interested in that are available are listed below in the order I plan to get them:

1. Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications (Part of the MCPD Web and is two exams)
2. Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications  (Part of the MCPD Windows and is one additional
3. Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications (Part of the MCPD Enterprise Applications Developer and is one additional exam)
4. Technology Specialist: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Configuration (No Study materials on this I am relying on a few books and the MCPD and is one exam)
5. Technology Specialist: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Application Development (No Study materials on this I am relying on a few books and the MCPD and is one exam)
6. Technology Specialist: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Configuration (No Study materials on this I am relying on a few books and the MCPD and is one exam)
7. Technology Specialist: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Application Development (No Study materials on this I am relying on a few books and the MCPD and is one exam)
8. Technology Specialist: SQL Server 2005 (Part of the MCITP Database Developer and is one exam)
9. Technology Specialist: SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence (Part of the MCITP Business Intelligence Developer and is one exam)

There are also several MCITP Certifications.  The ones I am interested in and the probable order are:

1. MCITP: Database Developer (3 exams)
2. MCITP: Database Administrator (2 exams)
3. MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer (2 exams)

So to get 15 certifications it takes 18 exams (once you get rid of the common exams).  The number of exams and certifications is as follows:

1. To get the MCPD and MCTS developer certifications (6 certifications) it takes 7 exams.
2. To get all of the MCTS Certifications for Sharepoint (4 certifications) is 4 exams
3. To get the MCITP and MCTS for Database developer Certifications (2 Certifications) is 3 exams.
4. To get the MCITP for Database Administrators (1 Certification) is 2 exams.
5. To get the MCITP for Business Intelligence Developers (2 Certification) is 2 exams