I've spent a little time with Greg Low recently and one of the things he's involved in is the board directing the SQL Server Master certification.
This program is the elite certification program for SQL Server DBA's and consists of a rigorous three week training course delivered by guru's in SQL Server (Greg does a couple of days worth, Kim Tripp and Paul Randall are doing the first week). This training is deep and technical – Greg spends half a day explaining tempdb.
Because the master certification is about to go through its first public Beta the team are offering a 50% discount on the first scheduled event in October. The October course starts on October 20 and finished on November 8. Given the fees are nearly US$20k, this is a significant discount.
For more details on the master program, start here. To see what it takes to register, check this page out, register here.
The McMaster programs look good. I would be interested in the Directory designation. The cost is prohibitive though. Even with the Beta discount you still need to factor in the travelling costs to Redmond, accommodation while you’re there, plus the 3 weeks out of work. I’d estimate the total cost being closer to USD45K. That makes it hard for most organisations (of any size) to justify. The ROI is going to be over a good few years.
Given that some people out there are already experts in their chosen technology area I think Microsoft should allow people a shot at the certification by taking the exam without the 3 weeks training. That would save a lot of money.
Just my 2 cents…
Tony
Hi Darryl,
Not on the board directing it but definitely involved in content creation and will be delivering week three in the next iteration of the course.
Regards,
Greg