Hooray, today I learned that I passed the Microsoft Certified Professional exam 71-282 Designing, Deploying and Managing a Network Solution for a Small- and Medium-Sized Business. The exam was a beta-test version so it’s not in general circulation yet, but it will eventually replace 70-282. I actually sat the exam back on 28th February but because this is a beta exam, the results have only just become available – normally you would get the results immediately at the end of the exam.
For the record, I scored 876 (passing score 700) in 71-282 and 906 in 70-282.
This is an important exam because it is the bar to entry into Microsoft’s Small Business Specialist programme. IT Pros considering this exam might want to take 70-282 before it is replaced as it is easier and shorter. 70-282 had 55 questions compared to 88 for 71-282. The subjects tested in 71-282 are also a little broader (I can’t go into detail as that would be unfair and is forbidden by the exam NDA). I also encountered a new type of question in 71-282 which is presented graphically and requires the correct responses to be dragged and dropped into the answer box in the correct sequence.