Passed Microsoft Exam 70-178: Microsoft Project 2010, Managing Projects

Having worked with Microsoft Project for over 12 years and used Project Versions 98, 2000, 2003 and now 2010 [skipped 2007!] I decided to deep dive into the project application as I had some time on my hands and see if I could pass the exam.
Resources wise I relied primarily on Bonnie Biafore’s knowledge using her ‘Microsoft Project 2010 Inside Out’ and ‘Microsoft Project 2010 The Missing Manual’ books.
I downloaded the freely available Microsoft Training Template Project Plan and working through the books utilised that plan working on every feature.

The exam is 55 questions, the pass mark is 700/1000 and you have 2hours and 15 minutes. The exam title is Project 2010 and that is where the focus is so new features, tools, functionality, etc. are all tested extensively. Note this is not a project management exam per se. It is a difficult exam and one critique I would have without breaking the NDA is there should be more hands on with Project 2010 itself. You basically have to remember the new features, exactly where they are located and exactly how they function.

Finally Microsoft is offering a free 2nd shot of any of their exams if taken before May 31st 2013. Simply register for the 2nd shot and when booking your exam, type in the code. If you pass 1st time, great, if you don’t they will send you a 2nd code and you can take the exam another time for free.
I hope this helps anyone thinking of improving their knowledge of the MS Project 2010 application. Now onto Prince2!

Regards,
Stephen Bowes B.Sc. PMP MCTS

References:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-178

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=project+biafore&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aproject+biafore&ajr=1

More Microsoft SQL Exam Developments.

I recently completed a SQL 2012 beta exam and was surprised and quite happy with the process – more realistic type of questions involving sequences, gaps, etc. placing more emphasis on real life experience – Microsoft have now announced even more realism through the use of short answer code questions. To quote them =>

We are proud to announce that short answer code questions will soon be available in an exam near you. Short answer code questions test your ability to write code that will solve the problem described in the question.

To answer, you will type the necessary code into a free text entry field. Your answer is scored by comparing it to a list of possible correct answers. (And yes, many SMEs were involved in developing and reviewing the list of correct answers.)

Here are some key features about this question type:

• The question will specify any necessary information (e.g., table names, field names, variable names, etc.) needed to write the code.
• You can check the syntax of your answer to ensure the syntax is correct—this does NOT check to see if your answer is correct, though. It simply checks that the syntax is correct.
• Spelling matters, but if the misspelling is related to relevant names/words in the question, the syntax checker will highlight those errors as well. In other words, limited spell-checking is provided in addition to syntax checking.
• Usually rely on IntelliSense when writing code? No worries! We are providing a list of key words that will include many commonly used commands that you might use when writing code. And, we’ll continue to work through how to make IntelliSense available during exams with these types of questions.

This new question type will come as no surprise to some of you. We talked about it at Microsoft Certified Career Conference in March and blogged about it last October. For those of you who completed the survey associated with that blog post, we sincerely appreciate your participation, because it helped us refine and improve our prototype for this question type. In addition, the subject matter experts who wrote the questions you’ll see on your exam provided additional feedback on how to make short answer code questions more real-world and relevant.

We believe that short answer code questions will help distinguish those who are truly fluent at writing code.  Candidates who attempt exams without these skills will have a hard time with these questions. Candidates who are qualified will find that these questions are a more real-world and rigorous evaluation of their skills.

Curious about what these questions will look like? Check out this screen shot. We’ll provide a demo for you to learn more at a later date. Stay tuned!

Ref:
http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/btl/b/weblog/archive/2012/05/11/short-answer-code-questions-coming-soon.aspx

New blog appearance & direction

Well, as mentioned in a previous blog entry I moved from the Cisco network arena post my CCIE  Lab attempts into a technical and line management role. Within this role I have responsibilities for an enterprise production SQL database infrastructure, electronic discovery requirements and project infrastructure for a financial institute. With this in mind my posts going forward will be more along these lines and Management in terms of content and less network specific.

Blog changes made today were the site title changing from Stephen Bowes CCIE SP Lab Blog to Stephen Bowes Blog, the tagline changing from CCIE Service Provider Study Plan to Thoughts on IT management, databases, project management, e-discovery and pretty much anything else… and finally the layout colour was changed.

Its official – Cisco have shot themselves in the CCIE foot, but…

Well we all drew breath when the v3 of the Service Provider Lab Exam was announced, the hardware list was incredibly expensive, no appetite amongst either candidates or vendors and this has been borne out nearly two months in.

1. There are no vendor labs – Cisco have seen this and placed a Sample Lab together on the Cisco Learning Network ->
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccie_service_provider?view=all

Note the lack of V3 discussion on the forums.

2. There are no rack rentals – only Gigavelocity are looking to potentially put a rack together depending on feedback from potential customers ->
http://www.gigavelocity.com/blog/gigavelocity/gigavelocity-news/ccie-service-provider-v30-sample-lab/

3. No passes from INE or IPExpert – I have reviewed their Hall of Fames – Highest SP Number I have seen is 28471 and that was for V2.

4. The number of CCIE’s is dwindling anyhow – some good research done by Morton & Reese here ->
http://bradreese.com/blog/5-24-2011.htm

5. To finish on two positive notes for potential candidates – here is a solid breakdown of the sections of the V3 Lab from a recent candidate and combined with the Sample Lab provided in Point 1 above may assist those still brave enough to dive back in ->
http://ieoc.com/forums/t/15652.aspx

&

Our friend Antonio Soares has updated some Dynamips files & topologies for candidates here ->
http://www.ccie18473.net/dynamips5/dynamips5.htm

 

HTH, Regards

Steve.

 

Finally Linked In and a blog direction update!

Well it’s probably about time I joined the 85 million other professionals who have linked in with each other over the last number of years.

Here is my public profile ->
http://ie.linkedin.com/pub/stephen-bowes/29/863/60b

As you will see from the profile – the Cisco\Networking side has fallen away over the last year from a professional perspective and this is reflected in the additions to my blog. Combining that with the SPv3 changes announced [I have no IOS-XR experience] means there is little benefit to my continuing to pursue the service provider track. Nevertheless I intend to maintain blogging on Cisco and other tech related issues and I’m curious to see how future candidates find the new SP track.

The CCIE is definitely changing and I’m not sure for the better – statements from Wayne Lawson over at IPExpert regarding not providing materials for the CCDE\CCIE SP Operations and other tracks indicates a niche-ness that is not good given that Cisco have in the past dropped tracks that were not profitable – Design springs to mind. Combined with the large % of current CCIE’s allowing the cert to expire speaks volumes.

Anyhow I hope you continue to touch base – feel free to connect up via Linked In and I look forward to talking to you through 2011.

Thanks, Steve.

Congratulations to IPExpert…

Well a sort of plug I guess but anyhow congratulations to IPExpert on their 10th Birthday.

Ref:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/01/11/prweb4957114.DTL

I started this journey at that time and apart from the impossibly expensive ccbootcamp the cheapest alternative was IPExpert and my first version of the R&S labs was 2.1. Since then I migrated to the SP path in 2007 and have been an SP customer since. I hope they continue strong for the next 10 years and that I no longer need them at that time!!!!!!!!

The potential cost of the new CCIE SP Lab Exam…

Kit List: [Rough Pricing]

1. Cisco 7609 Router = $3000 each [2/3 required?]
2. Cisco 7204 Router = $1000 each [4/5 required?]
3. Cisco ME3400E Series Switches = $2000 [2 required?]
4. Cisco XR12000 Router – Basic 4 Slots List Price = $18000 – will require chassis, IOS s\w, PRP, memory\ATA, relevant cards, etc. [1/2 required?]

In summary looking at about $35000+ for a multiple of the above.

Currently no rack rentals advertising pricing – I would not be looking forward to the 1st day this puppy goes live in April if that was my date!