Fourteen Microsoft Exams Set To Retire

Microsoft has announced the following fourteen exams will retire as of October 31. Most of the test exams are still currently available as of this writing:

• Designing, Implementing, and Managing Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 (70-089)
• Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Software Asset Management (SAM) Program (70-123)
• Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 – Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting (70-262)
• Planning, Deploying, and Managing an Enterprise Project Management Solutions (70-281)
• Designing a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Organization (70-285)
• Implementing Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 (70-350)
• Designing a Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution (74-131)
• Deploying a Portal Solution with Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies (74-132)
• Customizing Portal Solutions with Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies (74-133)
• Pre-Installing Microsoft Products and Technologies (74-134)
• Developing E-Business Solutions Using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 (74-135)
• Developing Microsoft Office Solutions Using XML with Office Professional Edition 2003 (74-137)
• Planning and Building a Messaging and Collaboration Environment using Microsoft Office System and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (74-138)
• Deploying Business Desktops with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Office 2003 (74-139)

Comptia's Green IT Exam Now Available Worldwide

As part of the Strata certification, CompTIA's Green IT exam (which covers "green technologies, techniques, standards and policies") is now available worldwide. In a press release, Terry Erdle, senior vice president of skills certifications for CompTIA said, "Green IT is at the heart of virtually every aspect of sustainability, from the power grid, smart buildings and environmental control systems to telepresence, telecommuting and virtualization. To fulfill the promise of green IT, technology professionals must add new skills unique to its environment. We're taking a big step in that direction through the training around CompTIA Strata -- Green IT and the validation delivered by this important new program."

The exam is 60 minutes and has 30 questions which must be answered with a passing score of 70 percent or higher.  More information can be found here.

Book of the Week: The Portable MBA In Entrepreneurship, 4E

Whether we like to admit it or not, we are really all in the business of business. You can have a dozen certifications and advanced degrees in software development, but unless you can interpret a financial statement, you are the mercy of others. The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship, Fourth Edition, edited by William Bygrave and Andrew Zacharakis, is one of the best books on the market for bringing the non-business graduate up to speed in a short period of time. It skips past the usual background information of use only to a theorist and gives you fifteen chapters of true meat and potatoes:

1. The Entrepreneurial Process
2. Idea Generation
3. Opportunity Recognition, Shaping, and Reshaping
4. Entrepreneurial Marketing
5. Business Planning
6. Building Your Pro Forma Financial Statements
7. Equity Financing: Informal Investment, Venture Capital, and Harvesting
8. Debt and Other Forms of Financing
9. External Assistance for Start-ups and Small Businesses
10. Legal and Tax Issues
11. Intellectual Property
12. Selling in an Entrepreneurial Context
13. Beyond Start-up: Developing and Sustaining the Growing Organization
14. Franchising
15. Social Entrepreneurship

While there is value in each chapter, it is the sixth that I thought excelled and justified the cost of the book alone. After running through a few worksheet examples, the focus turned to the big three:  income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. If these forms are foreign to you, you'll want to keep this book as close to your desk as an aged dog.