Last week, MacTech released the news of a Microsoft Office accreditation currently in pilot for Apple techs with the following press release, announcing a half day course for the certification:
NEW ACCREDITATION FOR APPLE TECHS: “MICROSOFT OFFICE FOR MAC ACCREDITED SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL”
– Working together, MacTech and Microsoft are making available a new accreditation program for Apple consultants and techsFebruary 21, 2013 — Westlake Village, CA — Today MacTech, who publishes MacTech Magazine as well as produces live events, announced the event and city schedule to obtain Microsoft’s new “Microsoft Office for Mac Accredited Support Professional” accreditation.This pilot program is a half day long, and will take place the day prior to each MacTech BootCamp II in 2013. This new Microsoft accreditation program is training and evaluation focused on the issues every consultant and tech should know when advising on or supporting Microsoft Office for Mac, and Microsoft Office 365 suites, with a focus on Apple users. All registered attendees to MacTech’s 2013 BootCamps, are welcome to attend the course, and become accredited, at no charge. Space is limited. The pilot accreditation program will cover topics such as installation; Office Web Apps; best practices in configuration, preferences, settings and use; licensing options; cross platform features; sharing documents with SkyDrive, SharePoint, and more; troubleshooting and common questions; available support resources; and more. The accreditation is specifically designed for Apple consultants and techs supporting others using Microsoft Office for Mac, and Office 365 suites. At the end of the course, attendees will be evaluated on the content presented, and those who demonstrate sufficient knowledge will become a “Microsoft Office for Mac Accredited Support Professional.” Once obtained, attendees will receive an accreditation certificate from Microsoft, and be able to display the new accreditation graphic on their web sites and other promotional materials, as well as in their credentials.“Microsoft Office for Mac has always been at the heart of most professional Apple installations. With Office 365, Web Apps, an array of collaboration options, and more, consultants need to have the right knowledge to support their clients not only in making the best solution decisions, but also in helping them to understand the features available to them,” said Neil Ticktin, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher,MacTech Magazine and MacTech BootCamp Event Organizer. “We’ve been working with those in the community and with Microsoft for some time to create the right kind of accreditation that will help consultants and techs perform their duties, as well as help grow their support offerings and consulting business.” MacTech BootCamp II is the next incarnation of MacTech’s successful BootCamp events. The event benefits both return attendees as well as those that have never attended a MacTech BootCamp. Held around the country, MacTech BootCamp II is specifically designed for those that support small-to-medium sized business and small office/home office, organization support staff, and even consumer support. MacTech BootCamp II is a single-track, hotel based seminar that is specifically geared to serve the needs of consultants and techs wanting to serve their base better. Sessions include topics such as: Key Building Blocks for Today’s Apple Consultant; Mobility and Profiles; Local Storage, Network Storage, Backups; Network and Routing; Command Line; DNS; Deployment; Apple IDs; and more…There are seven MacTech BootCamps in 2013 in cities around the United States. The Microsoft accreditation course and evaluation is a half day program that takes place the day BEFORE each MacTech BootCamp II as follows:Seattle, WA : MacTech BootCamp II on Mar 6, 2013; Microsoft accreditation course on Mar 5
Dallas, TX : MacTech BootCamp II on Apr 17, 2013; Microsoft accreditation course on Apr 16Boston, MA : MacTech BootCamp II on May 15, 2013; Microsoft accreditation course on May 14Washington, DC : MacTech BootCamp II on Jun 26, 2013; Microsoft accreditation course on Jun 25Chicago, IL : MacTech BootCamp II on Jul 17, 2013; Microsoft accreditation course on Jul 16San Francisco, CA : MacTech BootCamp II on Aug 13, 2013; Microsoft accreditation course on Aug 12Atlanta, GA : MacTech BootCamp II on Sep 18, 2013; Microsoft accreditation course on Sep 17MacTech BootCamp is economically priced and includes lunch, sessions, and sponsor interaction. Each event has early bird registration pricing available in limited quantity, saving registered attendees up to $200 (Normal price: $499, Early Bird Price: $299). Take note of when the early bird period ends for each location.For more information about MacTech BootCamp, see http://www.mactech.com/bootcamp For more information about the accreditation, see http://www.mactech.com/bootcamp/microsoft-office- accreditation About MacTech MagazineEstablished in 1984, MacTech Magazine is the only monthly magazine focused on Apple at the technical level. Each month, MacTech and MacTech.com is read by 150,000 technical Macintosh users in over 175 countries, from network administrators to programmers, from solution providers to Enterprise, and in general anyone that’s interested in the Macintosh beyond the user level. If you’re interested in getting under the hood of your Mac, or if you want to know how to make things happen inside the box, you should be reading MacTech Magazine. Contact the magazine. Toll free: 877-MACTECH, International: 805-494-9797, custservice@mactech.com, http://www. mactech.com
I tried to scour the Microsoft domain for more information about this new certification but was unable to find any information about it on Mactopia, the Office:Mac twitter feed, etc. As the Office client is something I specifically hired someone to supplement our skills for last year, I see this is another notch in a good engineer’s belt. Clearly much of the Mac community is moving to a focus on the client, and many a large environment leverages Office as a key element of the client. So overall this sounds like a very nice step in continuing to further legitimize the Apple platform and the place that Office plays there! Having recently cert’d up with Office 365 I might even nerd out to this one as well!
