Hello Looks like we will all be busy in the UK then! [:D] Microsoft Business Solutions has developed a new certification scheme to enable partners in the United Kingdom and Ireland to become Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partners. The certification scheme will be activated on the 25th April 2003 and will be aligned with the global Microsoft certified partner programme in January 2004. The upper-tier Microsoft Gold Certified Business Solutions Partner programme will not be introduced in Europe during 2003. After the 30th November 2003, partners will have to be a Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner in order to continue selling the Microsoft Business Solutions edition/s for which they are authorised. In accordance with the Navision 3.60 Product Release document (September 2002), The Navision Certified Representative (NCR) qualification will be treated as the equivalent of the new Financial Management certification for a period of one year from the start date of this certification programme. NCR-qualified consultants will therefore have to pass the Financial Management exam by the 25th April 2004.
Yes - and I think we all welcome it - but it depends how it is actually enforced. Similar rules have been around since year dot but its amazing how these rules can be bent when an unqualified NSC waves a 100k order under their noses. From the quick read I had, it looks like the number of qualified people required has actually reduced compared to current ‘requirements’.
Hi Adam Also the people you meet on courses like manufacturing who have no idea about manufacturing or are not NCR qualified - great fun [:D] I am unsure on the requirements but I know there was talk of an alignment across the requirements board for Great Plains, Navision and Axapta - but yes essentiually it has gone down from 5 to 3 qualified people looking at it.
How does this influence rights to a full development license? At the moment the NCR is required to receive a dev license, even though it barely touches the development areas. I understand the need to prove that you are competent with financial management to work with Navision, but what will the requirement be to prove you are a competent developer? Maybe I’m being put off by the name of the qualification, ‘Certified Representative’ suggests a good knowledge of both the product and the industry it caters for. ‘Financial Management’ just sounds like a basic accountancy thing…
Hi Kristian There seems to be no mention of the full development license. But to become an NSC certified to “sell” the product one person has to pass the “programming” exam, and if you read the blurb this is equivalent to the base design course and the advanced design course. So that should be easy to pass then [:D] My guess would be that the UK falls in line with the rest of the world and sits the development exam. 2004 perhaps?
I hope so - as far as I remember, your interaction with even basic C/AL code in the Base/Advanced Dev courses was of the ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ kind. Is the current exam easy to pass? - I found some parts of the NCR exam tricky simply because the phrasing of the questions was so obscure at times. Sometimes I wonder if my passing was more due to a ‘high level of luck’ than the ‘high level of competence’ that my certificate claims…
I think we will have to ask whether our friends across the pond, or anyone else in the world who has sat the developer exam and how they rate it. Is there anyone in the world who has sat the course in the UK AND sat the developer exam abroad!
Hi Steven, The developer exam is good as covers all design/development aspects but surprisingly doesn’t have any questions from: 1. Developer’s Toolkit 2. C/ODBC 3. C/FRONT and 4. Upgrading Issues There are few surprising questions like “What’s the distance between 2 buttons on a Form?”. Can anybody know/remember/answer that? But thats the way it works. Its pretty old-fashioned & needs lot of improvement. Reg. the point that the No. of certified resources has been reduced from 5 to 3, I think its for the “Standard” version of the S/w? Does UK requirements for certification vary from other parts of the World. Are you appearing for exams through www.vue.com or still on the old methods?
Hi Mohammad I am not sure on the rest of the world as a whole, but until the last announcement “all” you had to do to become a Navision Certified representative in the UK, was pass the NCR exam (easier said than done - especially if you knew the software [:D]). From a developer perspective you had to sit the developer course, and by attending it you got the developer license. I sat the manufacturing course and exam - it was one of the few exam based courses in the UK - and I am unsure if I now have to sit one again. Yes we are doing it through www.vue.com
Yes, but I remember that even three years ago the Navision UK course guide refered to the ‘iminent’ developer exam that was planned… never heard any more about it…
Hi Kristian Next year - probably - honestly? [:D]
I’m not holding my breath [;)] I’d like to think that microsoft would want to ensure that people had competent development skills if they were working on their systems. Talking about microsoft, don’t they regulate how quickly you can retake a failed exam? The attitude to the NCR always seems to have been ‘keep going until you pass’…
As far as I am aware I can book the 12.00 exam in case I fail the 11.00 exam - now there is an idea [:D]
Hi Kristian The course guidelines and some sample questions are now up on the partner source web site. The preparation guidelines will interest you [:D]
quote:
Preparation Guidelines: Recommended Courses Introduction to Navision World Navision Essentials Navision Base Design Navision Advanced Design Practical Knowledge Minimum 2 years experience in programming business applications is recommended. Either completion of Financial Management course (certification not necessary), or 2 months hands on experience with the financial management application area is recommended.
Hi Mohammad The Exam outline covers areas you felt the exam did not cover previously - so it looks like a new exam:
quote:
Integration to Outside Applications C/ODBC - the C/ODBC driver - reading and writing Navision Attain information from an outside application using C/ODBC - considerations you must take into account in order to write safely into Navision Attain from an outside application C/FRONT - situations where you would use C/FRONT C/OCX - the usage of OCX controls within Navision Attain - the limitations that C/SIDE imposes on the use of OCX controls - Automation Servers - the usage of Automation Servers within Navision Attain Adding on-line help to Navision Attain
The exams are not so difficut I must say. Manufacturing was the heaviest one (… the costing part …). Development and Prog Soll is not so difficult. But for all exams you have to spend some personal free time reading the manual, that’s for sure.
I have taken exams in UK and US. NCR exam in UK is very much different from developer(or any other) exam in US.
Hi Sat S I think us in the UK were always aware of the differences - we are now aligning - and the NCR exam no longer exists, so we now have new exams we all have to sit.
I hope they will make “the phrasing of the questions” better. Good luck to you guys in UK.