[dba-SQLServer]MCDBA

Steven W. Erbach serbach at new.rr.com
Tue Feb 25 10:56:09 CST 2003


Allan,

I can appreciate the structured learning bit. I was wondering because I had a conversation with a good friend who, in the past, always kept up the certifications that he had. He seems to be despairing of the cost and bother. Unless one is focused very clearly on one skill these days, certification can become very expensive very quickly. Some--Cisco, for example--require re-certification every two years. I just wonder what that buys you once you get it. Continued advancement? Better-paying jobs?

I looked up MCDBA certification classes in my area and found some being offered by another old friend of mine in the Chicago area. The certification tests apparently cannot be taken unless one also takes the courses. I found that a bit of a put-off.

I was also curious that, on the Microsoft site, the MCDBA is geared for those with big company experience and big servers and big databases. Somehow I doubt that these required courses offer anything in the way of simulation of huge databases or multiple platform connections...or do they?

I've worked with PCs since 1982 and on mainframes for a bit before that, back to 1975. It seems demeaning somehow that I cannot take a certification test without going through an approved set of courses for which I pay a large sum of money. I'm perfectly capable of learning SQL Server--or anything else, for that matter--just fine on my own or in connection with my client experiences. I guess I'm whining about having to take those courses. If I do and if I get an MCDBA, what does it mean?

Regards,

Steve Erbach
Scientific Marketing
Neenah, WI

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits." - Mark Twain
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