Microsoft Professional Program Is Ending

Late last Friday night, Microsoft announced that it was retiring the Microsoft Professional Program. The reaction from many was a general “WTH is that anyway?” Frequent readers of this blog will recognize the program where I earned certifications in Data Science, Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence. I was also just shy of certifications in Cybersecurity as well as Data Analysis. So, you might say I was a fan of the program, and I am sorry to see it disappear.

This is not the first time that Microsoft has canceled a certification program late on a Friday night. I don’t know why Microsoft chooses to communicate in such a poor manner, as if they are trying to hide something. Perhaps they want to avoid having a discussion. It would have been nice to have a call with current MVPs to inform us beforehand. At least we could have provided some general feedback on the program.

Since I didn’t get a chance to provide feedback, that’s what I am going to do here, on the off-chance that someone at Microsoft may be reading.

First, the MPP had a nice model, leveraging content with edX.org. The quality of the content was often top-notch. But every now and then you would get a course that was, well, of lesser quality. And I noticed some of the later courses had more of the lesser quality content than earlier courses. Still, it was a great option for self-paced learning.

Second, I *loved* how I was able to audit the course for free. If I passed, I would pay the $100 for the verified and keep working towards the course certificate (often 10 classes in total). About a year ago they changed this model. You could no longer take assessments or exams without paying your $100 up front. This was frustrating, because some courses were of such poor quality the assessments didn’t seem to work. The support forums contain many threads regarding labs not working. Being told to pay for something that might not work is not a good model, IMO. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t tried finishing that course, because I keep seeing issues with grading.

Lastly, I’ve no idea what happens to my certifications now. I read I should print them out, but what purpose does that serve? Oh well, having been down this road before with the MCM I know that the knowledge is still with me, even if the certification is lost over time.

So, here they are, for all time, in one place, in case I need to print them for some reason.