Microsoft Changing “Windows 10/11” Certification Track (Again!) What you need to know.

Anthony Sequeira is an ITPro Edutainer

Yes – another quarter – another Microsoft certification change. This one should excite most students, as it simplifies the acquisition of yet another key certification. Read on to learn more about what has changed and how it impacts you if you’re seeking a certification to validate your skills at effectively administrating Windows desktops.

The change is in the name(s)

Microsoft announced in Jan/Feb of 2023 that the previous certification of Microsoft 365 Certified: Modern Desktop Administrator Associate will change to the new name:

Microsoft 365 Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate.

This change will take place in May 2023 when the new exam becomes available (out of Beta).

Speaking of the exam – this is where students might rejoice. You see, with the old certification, you needed to pass TWO exams. With this new certification, there is only a single exam required.

This new exam is called: Exam MD-102: Endpoint Administrator

Notice that this exam effectively replaces the TWO previous exams that were required for the “old” cert: Exam MD-100 – Windows Client and Exam MD-101 – Managing Modern Desktops.

Plan ahead

As always, students need to keep an eye on retirement dates and plan accordingly. Clearly, students that have already passed one of the two expiring exams will probably charge ahead and take the second required exam before its expiration. Students just starting their journey will most likely start tracking toward the new single-exam certification.

What’s in the exam

Let’s wrap this blog post up with an overview of what is in this NEW exam for the NEW cert:

• Deploy Windows client (25–30 percent)
• Manage identity and compliance (15–20 percent)
• Manage, maintain, and protect devices (40–45 percent)
• Manage applications (10–15 percent)

Notice, no real big surprises here, and when you drill down into the details of each area, you will not be surprised to find plenty of new cloud-based tools waiting to assist you in your planning, deployment, maintenance, and retirement of Windows endpoints.

No matter where you are in your career journey, here at ITPro from ACI Learning, we’re proud to join and support you, every step of the way.