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Microsoft Planning to Certify Half a Million in China
5/27/2003 ¡ª China is a potentially huge market for
the IT industry. And, of course, Microsoft would never miss out
on an opportunity like that.
To that end, the software giant plans on training¡ªand
certifying¡ªabout half a million Chinese people over
the next five years.
It¡¯s an initiative driven by the Chinese Ministry of
Education, according to Lutz Ziob, general manager for training
and certification at Microsoft. During a wide-ranging interview
with MCP Magazine, Ziob said the company wants foreign governments
to ¡°look at Microsoft and say, ¡®How can you
help us bring up our workforce to where it can compete with the
world?¡¯¡±
The students will be trained at local polytechnic schools, using
curricula co-designed by Microsoft and China. Certification achievement
will be a required part of the program, Ziob said. Redmond is working
with the Chinese company ATA to develop testing materials. The paths
will be similar to current training programs for certifications
like the Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) and Microsoft
Certified System Administrator (MCSA).
Ziob said that Microsoft, like any other company, has to compete
in the global marketplace. He emphasized that the program¡¯s
purpose isn¡¯t to develop a new, cheap pool of labor
in order to move more jobs offshore. He does believe that more offshore
outsourcing is inevitable, however. ¡°The development
we¡¯re seeing around the globe will happen with or without
Microsoft,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re
a part of it. That development [in China] will happen, because the
Chinese government will make it happen.¡±
In other matters, responding to a recent series of news stories
on MCPMag.com that exposed the allegedly illegal and unethical business
practices of a Certified Technical Education Center (CTEC) in Florida,
Ziob said he ¡°doesn¡¯t believe we have an
ethical agreement with companies.¡±
The CTEC agreement a company must sign to be approved by Microsoft,
Ziob said, ¡°doesn¡¯t regulate how they behave
as an organization. If things are going astray, on a one-by-one
basis, we¡¯d clearly look at this. If they abuse and
mistreat our agreement, we will, and have in the past, taken steps.¡±
On the other hand, Ziob continued, ¡°Microsoft can¡¯t
be the employee morale and treatment police¡± for the
approximately 1,500 training companies with which it has agreements.
Turning to the newly created Microsoft Skills Assessment initiative,
Ziob said he¡¯s excited about the free program that analyzes
a test-taker¡¯s areas of strength and weaknesses and
designs a training course to get IT skills up to par. (Check it
out at http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/assessment/)
The 30-question assessments aren¡¯t certification-preparation
tests, Ziob stressed. ¡°The assessments check readiness
[to implement and administer Microsoft technologies]. We have to
make sure the message is right,¡± and that a clear
distinction is made between these assessment tests and a standard
diagnostic exam, Ziob said.
Ziob also touched on the topic of braindumps. He believes Microsoft
is making headway in protecting the integrity of its exams by shutting
down Web sites that post exact questions and answers to its tests,
although it doesn¡¯t usually make its efforts public.
¡°What motivates us mostly is protecting our intellectual
property. Publicizing could easily be [seen as] bragging. We¡¯re
more successful in the way we go about it. We work very proactively
wherever appropriate. We don¡¯t employ investigators¡±
to go after alleged brain-dumpers, Ziob said.
He knows those sites are still out there, though, and said that
the fight continues, even if it¡¯s a battle that will
never be completely won. ¡°As far as I know, there¡¯s
not a silver bullet.
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