Microsoft Certified Master - The Journey Begins

On April 4, I begin the ascent to achieving Microsoft's most coveted professional technical certification - the Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) designation. I chose the Active Directory Server 2008 R2 MCM but other MCM offerings include Exchange Server 2010, Sharepoint Server 2010, Lync and SQL 2008.

The MCM program is not for the feint of heart - not only do you have to meet the stringent prerequisites as defined here, but once accepted, there are also significant pre-reading requirements. For the AD R2 program, this is a 4 page list of technical articles comprising some 3000 pages of techno-grizzle to digest before you even take the first step to the summit.

Base camp is Microsoft Campus, Building 40 in Redmond, Washington where 13 fellow climbers and I will attempt the ascent together. They are already experienced Active Directory administrators and architects from all over the world: China, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States. This is not an individual journey but a team effort and our goal is for all 14 of us to stand together on the summit and celebrate our success. It won't be easy and it will tax our limits - so wish us luck as we begin our journey together and keep track of our progress along the way.