Microsoft has announced a new certification framework that targets specific job roles and aims to be more closely aligned to IT professionals’ career development.

This new generation of qualifications will have two levels of identification: the credential area and certification area:

The credentials:
• Technology credentials allow candidates to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the particular technologies they work with

• Professional credentials demonstrate a proven product depth and breadth to distinguish your personal skill set and experience. There will be two credentials available: Microsoft Certified IT Professional and Microsoft Certified Professional Developer

• The Microsoft Certified Architect credential identifies top IT architecture experts with a minimum of 10 years’ experience. This demonstrates a proven ability to deliver IT business solutions.

The certification area will identify the area of expertise the professional has achieved such as a database administrator or web developer.

Ram Dhaliwal, Microsoft manager for training and certification, said that the new system was in response to feedback from Microsoft training partners and customers and aimed to make the certifications easier to understand for hiring managers.

"We announced earlier this year that Microsoft certifications would shift in emphasis away from the purely technical towards testing for real-life expertise," Dhaliwell said. "The new certification framework builds on this work to deliver businesses with qualifications that truly demonstrate the capabilities of the IT professional."

The first certifications under the new framework will be for the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 technologies.

Microsoft said that existing certifications would not be affected by the changes but will fit into the restructured framework.