VS 2008 / .Net 3.5 Certifications Available

I've been tasked with researching the necessary/recommended certifications for my company.  I've noticed that the MS Training site is not always the easiest to understand.  I've summarized the .Net developer focused exams here.

Basically, there are two levels of certification

• MCTS (Technology Specialist)
• MCPD (Professional Developer)

MCTS:

This certification is broken into 6 areas.  You can get certified in any/all of the 6 areas.

• MCTS - WPF (70-502)
• MCTS - WCF (70-503)
• MCTS - WF (70-504)
• MCTS - ADO.Net (70-505)
• MCTS - Windows Applications (70-561)
• MCTS - ASP.Net Web Applications (70-562)

Two exams are required for each of these certifications.  70-536 is the "version agnostic" exam that is required for each certification.  For each certification, you have to pass one more exam.

MCPD:

This certification is broken into 3 areas. You have to have an MCTS as a pre-requisite for the MCPD

• MCPD Windows Developer 3.5
  • Requirements
    • MCTS Windows Forms Applications 3.5
    • Exam 70-563
• MCPD ASP.Net Developer 3.5
  • Requirements
    • MCTS ASP.Net Applications 3.5
    • Exam 70-564
• MCPD Enterprise Application Developer 3.5
  • Requirements
    • MCTS Windows Forms Applications 3.5
    • MCTS ASP.Net Applications 3.5
    • MCTS ADO.Net Applications 3.5
    • MCTS WCF Applications 3.5
    • Exam 70-565

Upgrades:

MCTS 2.0 -> MCTS 3.5:

No upgrade path available.  There's only one exam necessary for this certification anyway so an upgrade is pointless.  70-536 was required for MCTS 2.0 certification.  So you've already taken it.  Next take the exam that gives you the certification you are looking for.

MCPD 2.0 -> MCPD 3.5:

• Windows Developer 2.0 -> 3.5
  • Requirements
    • Exam 70-566
  • Gives you
    • MCPD Windows Developer 3.5
    • MCTS Windows Forms Applications 3.5
• Web Developer 2.0  -> 3.5
  • Requirements
    • Exam 70-567
  • Gives you
    • MCPD ASP.Net Developer 3.5
    • MCTS ASP.Net Applications 3.5
• Enterprise Application Developer 2.0-3.5
  • Requirements
    • 70-568
    • 70-569
  • Gives you
    • MCPD EA Dev 3.5
    • MCTS ASP.Net Applications 3.5
    • MCTS ADO.Net Applications 3.5
    • MCTS WCF 3.5
    • MCTS Windows Forms 3.5

MCAD/MCSD -> MCTS/MCPD 3.5:

No direct upgrade path exists.  You must upgrade to MCTS/MCPD 2.0 first then move to MCTS/MCPD 3.5

• MCAD -> MCTS 2.0
  • 1 Exam (70-552) Windows Developer
  • 1 Exam (70-551) Web Developer
• MCSD -> MCPD 2.0
  • 2 Exams
    • 70-553
    • 70-554

After you complete your upgrade, you can upgrade to 3.5

Hurry Up:

• MCAD/MCSD/MCDBA all retire on March 31, 2009

Exam Cram:

• Exam 70-536 on June 11, 2008 as live webcast.