This month I have a few observations I would like to share. First, it's goal-setting time once again. This time last year I talked about the importance of having a development plan for the upcoming year. That idea is still very important, so please make sure you take the time to give some thought now on your plans for the year and how you will achieve them. Even if you don't actually complete everything you have set yourself, you'll be way ahead of those folks who don't make any plans at all.

If I look back to my original plan from last year, I did build my skills in Windows XP (upgraded one my home machines), .NET Server, Notes/Domino R6 (upgraded my CLP certification), and project management (IT Project+). I also completed my MCSA. I did do some reading on Samba but didn't manage the depth of exposure I was originally intending. That leaves my Citrix CCA, which I hope to complete in the next month.

This year, my main certification plans are to upgrade my MCSE to Windows .NET Server 2003, as well as complete the upgrade for my Notes/Domino R6 Principal CLP (the R6 CLP upgrade exam is available already, but this second Principal exam is still to come). I also have two remaining subjects to complete for my MBA that will take much of my time up until mid-August. Once I complete these, I suspect it is time to really give my career some deep thought into where I want to head next – both in terms of technology and type of role. However, I probably won't go too far down that path right now, since it will distract me too much from what I need to get done in the meantime!

When Will Microsoft Make Up Its Mind?
There were a lot of negative comments posted on Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine's Web site recently based on the news of the about-turn Microsoft has done on their Windows 2000 and Windows .NET MCSE plans.

After thinking about this for a while, the new plans for two upgrade exams rather than the original parallel stream of four core exams does make some sense given the incremental nature of the underlying product itself. This upgrade isn't compulsory, and doing two further exams every few years isn't going to be the end of the world

But what really unnerved me about these changes is the way that Microsoft has, once again, simply gone back on their previously announced plans without warning. A year before, they did the same thing when they announced that they wouldn't decertify NT 4.0 MCSEs. Without debating the merits of that decision, there are so many of us making our certification plans based on what Microsoft has announced, and having them so capriciously change their mind is very unsettling. Sure, Microsoft will rationalize this decision saying that this is what the market has wanted -- and it probably is -- but I would argue that the time for that market analysis was before they make their announcements, not after!

The Certification Debate: Is It Art vs. Science?
There's been a lot of discussion by many of you about the pros and cons of training and certification, lately, and I had a couple of thoughts on this. Perhaps much of this disagreement could be due to (a) the relative youth of IT as a profession, which means we are yet to have very clearly defined training and career paths, and (b) some fundamental disagreement between the real essence of our work – whether we see ourselves as mostly artistic or scientific.

For example, no matter how much training or practice someone has, if they don't have any natural ability they won't get far as a professional musician. At the same time, someone wanting to be a microbiologist has no choice but to complete years of formal education to understand the body of knowledge of that field in order to be able to work within it. I occasionally come across folks who build perform server builds and always love to add their favorite personal tweaks, almost as if they were Michelango working on a statue of David. However, putting on my pragmatic manager hat, I have the opposite view and only want to see a repeatable automated process used that produces identical results at the lowest cost. I also have seen programmers in my time that had a similar perspective in their work. I am not saying that creativity has no place in our work, but generally this has to be within the technical bounds in which we are working. It's not much use having all of these great ideas if they can never work with the technology.

What got me thinking along this track was a report of research last year that looked into the world of computer programming. Rather than the utopian world of knowledge workers that futurists have been speaking about, this research saw the majority of programmers as high-tech process workers. (I could imagine that the same case could be made for system administrators). I'm not sure I totally agree with this view, although I can see where this kind of thinking has come from.

I'd like to know your thoughts on this: How do you see our profession? Does how we perceive our function play a role in the great certification debate? Post your comments below and let me me know.