The World According to Mitch

A little over a year ago I spent two days sitting at a Starbucks in Atwater Village preparing for what turned out to be one of the easier exams I have taken over the years.  I earned my first one-star badge from Microsoft (Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals).  I did not do much to follow it up, as I was not working in Azure.  I honestly took the exam so that I could teach the course internally at the company where I was working at the time.

Now that I am once again independent, and especially as we are all essentially working from home, I am hoping to deliver more training.  There is not as much of a market for Windows Server trainers as there once was, and while I have my Microsoft Office 365 certifications, those do not seem to be flying off the shelf either. 

What does seem to be hot is Microsoft Azure.  I have been working with that technology for a few years now, so when I put my mind to it I was able to sit the exam yesterday afternoon and pass AZ-103.  (There is also an AZ-104 which has the same credentials, but the exam for it is still in the beta stages.)

For bragging rights, it is the 57th official certification exam I have passed… which does not hold a candle to some friends and colleagues who are in the high hundreds.  Still and all, I beam with pride every time I earn a new cert.

Interesting trivial facts of my certifications journey:

• First certification attempted: 70-215 Windows 2000 Server (December, 2001)
• First certification passed: 70-210 Windows 2000 Professional (March, 2003)
• Years since 2001 during which I did not take a cert exam: 1 (2013)
• Greatest streak of consecutive passes: 9 (current!)
• Worst streak of failures: Sorry, I do not discuss or disclose my failures.  I will say that I have probably failed more exams than most IT Pros have taken.
• Most exams in a single day: 4 (January 23, 2014)
• Most exams passed in a single day: 3 (May 3, 2011)
• Most exams taken in a calendar year: 12 (2008). (I took 11 in a year twice – 2010 & 2012)

Yes, I was bored this afternoon after the exam, and I decided to write a fluff piece!  With that said, Microsoft Azure is an extremely important technology, and if you are considering it, let’s discuss a training plan for your team!