Microsoft here in the gulf came up with a program to improve awareness of and readiness for the deployment of E12 in the Region, it is the first program of its type to run here, therefore in Pilot phase and not part of MOC and therefore not associated with any certifications at this time.

So whats the point you may ask? Well the benefits are two fold:

1. Knowledge, Awareness & Readiness: Where most of the systems engineers out there are learning about E12 from trial & error, reading blogs, technical docs and all that we get the opportunity to have the inner workings explained to us by one of the Microsoft Messaging Rangers here in the gulf- thereby giving the delegates an edge on inside info.

2. MVP status: Since the requirements of the program are: successful completion & passing each workshop assessment, redelivery of each workshop to an audience of the MS Subsidiary's choice and Completion on at least one full sales cycle (pre-sales, RFQ, design, implementation and finally sign off) Microsoft have decided that those who are able to complete and pass all modules of the program and the post requisites with MVP status.

Now the catch is that the program was only opened to a select few of Microsoft Gulf's Partners and each Partner was only permitted to have 2 delegates attend. I fortunately was selected to be one of the delegates representing Seven Seas.

The way they have worked the program is that it is split into 4 workshops which are graded according to the karate belts as follows:

White Belt: Full Technical Overview of E12
Green Belt: Migration, Coexistance & Routing
Brown Belt: Unified Messaging
Black Belt: High Availability & Design

Each delegate is graded by the instructor according to the following criteria and only those individuals who exceed the minimal expectations of the trainer get to progress onto the next level:

1. Pre-Test, a written pre-test is taken by all delegates before the commencement of the workshop to assess knowledge level (weighted 40% of final score)
2. Lab and workshop attendance assessment, this is an assessment of random labs during the course of the workshop, interaction with other delegates and in the workshop and teamwork displayed (weighted 20% of final score)
3. Post-Test / Interview, time permitting delegates are required to complete either a post test or interview with a Microsoft Ranger or both and are scored accordingly (weighted 40% of final score)

The over all pass mark to advance to the next level of the program is set at between 70 and 80% with the selection of attendees for the next level being decided upon by the average score of all delegates. So although you may be invited back to attend the next workshop, you will only be able to advance in the belts if you scored above the required pass mark. Seems fair enough right?

Well I managed to, by the skin of my teeth, score above the required pass mark and am eligible to move onto the next level - I am exceedingly please about this since out of a total of 30 attending professionals, I am one of only 4 who managed to meet the requirements.

I personally think that is a pretty good achievement, at least good enough to share with everyone out there!