MCSD:ALM – WTF?

Despite it can sound like a really complex acronym this is the new certification launched today at the ALM Summit, purposely baked for Application Lifecycle Management.

It’s made up of three exams: the 70-496 (Administering Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012) is the first one you should approach, because it’s the most generic one on Team Foundation Server and it covers all the basis for an efficient administration of the platform.

The second one is the 70-497 (Software Testing with Visual Studio 2012), and it’s focused on the testing capabilities of the platform. So it is going to cover Test Manager, planning of test cases and correct management of them, analysis of results, etc.

The last one is the – guess what? – 70-498 (Delivering Continuous Value with Visual Studio 2012 Application Lifecycle Management), covering an effective definition of a end to end SDLC, and then expanding it to the whole ALM – for instance. Then Quality, and Operations.

As for all the new certifications, a recertification must be taken after two years from the completion.