Microsoft Silver Partner

Burnsy2023 · 10 Feb 2011 at 11:59

Has anyone gone through the process of becoming a MS silver/gold partner? Does anyone have any advice?

mikeh501 · 10 Feb 2011 at 13:25

My only advice is that its a complete nightmare and be prepared for lots of trawling the partner site, calls to MS to work out WTF it all means. Also be prepared to spend quite a bit of cash to get the badge (unless it just so happens you meet the requirements) and also be prepared to do it all again every couple of years when they change the rules (which they do... often)

Burnsy2023 · 10 Feb 2011 at 13:28

Surely the only cost is the £1.5K enrollment fees (annual) + Microsoft exam fees? (For Silver)

mikeh501 · 10 Feb 2011 at 13:32

Burnsy2023 said:
Surely the only cost is the £1.5K enrollment fees (annual) + Microsoft exam fees? (For Silver)

It depends on what kind of business your in. Were an ISV and one of avenues to get points was to have some of our software veritested to get various accreditations in order to accrue points. This wasnt cheap once you factored in the travel/accom/time etc. We also found that you cant use the same product twice in 3 years so had to do it all again. Very tiresome.

In addition we didnt have any/many MSCD's around the place so would have had to put various people through bootcamps and exams to secure the last few points etc. IIRC it was 2 points for a MCSD etc and we needed 100 or thereabouts.

Maybe theyve made it easier, as we last looked about 3 years ago.

ZeniTimes · 10 Feb 2011 at 13:34

I've heard that any MS certs only last a few year, anyone know if this is true?

Burnsy2023 · 10 Feb 2011 at 13:45

mikeh501 said:
It depends on what kind of business your in. Were an ISV and one of avenues to get points was to have some of our software veritested to get various accreditations in order to accrue points. This wasnt cheap once you factored in the travel/accom/time etc. We also found that you cant use the same product twice in 3 years so had to do it all again. Very tiresome.

In addition we didnt have any/many MSCD's around the place so would have had to put various people through bootcamps and exams to secure the last few points etc. IIRC it was 2 points for a MCSD etc and we needed 100 or thereabouts.

Maybe theyve made it easier, as we last looked about 3 years ago.

So was that for Gold ISV competency?

mikeh501 · 10 Feb 2011 at 13:53

Burnsy2023 said:
So was that for Gold ISV competency?

Yes, but im not sure if it was something ISV specific. IIRC it was just one of the routes to get points which was most specific to us. The gold partner status was the same as any other gold partner status.

ethos · 10 Feb 2011 at 14:11

ZeniTimes said:
I've heard that any MS certs only last a few year, anyone know if this is true?

Q. How long will the certification be valid?

A.Today, most of our Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS), Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP), and Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) exams retire when Microsoft discontinues mainstream support for the related technology. The certification will still appear on your transcript but will be listed in an inactive section with an expiration date. In most cases, an upgrade path, which allows candidates to earn the certification with fewer exams (usually one), will be available for individuals who hold the certification on the previous version of the technology.
The legacy Microsoft certifications, such as Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA), currently do not expire, but some may no longer be awarded because all exams are retired or because Microsoft has ended extended support for the technology. In most cases, individuals who hold the certification on the previous version of the technology can earn the certification on the next version of the technology with one upgrade exam.
To maintain the relevance and value of our certifications and ensure that candidates possess up-to-date skills on technologies that are constantly changing, recertification may be necessary for some certifications. In these cases, the certification will remain valid as long as the candidate continues to recertify at appropriate intervals.
Note that Microsoft reserves the right to retire exams and certifications as well as change our recertification policy at any time.

ZeniTimes · 10 Feb 2011 at 15:40

good stuff. I'd say a MSCITP would be good for at least another 2-3 years

Ev0 · 10 Feb 2011 at 19:59

ZeniTimes said:
good stuff. I'd say a MSCITP would be good for at least another 2-3 years

Remember (and this is a real pet hate of mine), what MCITTP are you talking about?

Server?
SQL?
Messaging?
BA/Development?

Server 2008 is down as going out of main stream support July 2013 on the MS site, sooner than I was expecting for some reason even though it'll have been around a while then.

Burnsy2023 · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:54

Ev0 said:
Server 2008 is down as going out of main stream support July 2013 on the MS site

If that is indeed the date, it'll almost certainly get extended. Most places are only just upgrading from 2003.

PistolPete · 10 Feb 2011 at 22:54

Burnsy2023 said:
If that is indeed the date, it'll almost certainly get extended. Most places are only just upgrading from 2003.

Dunno which places you've been but I've yet to work for any larger org running a mostly W2K3 infrastructure. My current customer is running about half machines on2003 and they've only been going that way recently. I dont even think they know 2008 exist!