Recently, I took the Betas for Exams 71-630: TS: Office SharePoint Server 2007, Configuring, and 71-631: TS: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Configuring. Indeed, a specialist certification for the SharePoint Products and Technologies has been in demand for quite some time. During the SPS 2003/WSS 2.0 timeframe, Microsoft had a certification exam, for SPS 2003, exclusively for partners.
First, I took the 71-631 exam , Preparation Guide for Exam 70-631. I submitted a number of comments for various questions. Overall, the exam was great. That is, it assessed a test takers ability to manage the various areas, customization, authentication, access policies…etc., of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS 3.0).
Next, I took the 71-630 exam, Preparation Guide for Exam 70-630. Likewise, I submitted comments for a number of the questions. All things considered, the exam was great. This exam measured the test taker’s ability to manage and configure a SharePoint solution on the farm level. That is, the test taker needs experience working with web applications, site collections, list and libraries and other components.
Altogether, these exams are great assessment tools for experienced administrators and consultants. Granted, it requires some hands on experience. By the way, get your SharePoint on.