Microsoft Australia Partner Training and Accreditation Resources

Staying current and up-to-date with the latest Microsoft products and technologies, and being able to demonstrate your company's expertise to customers through technical accreditations held by members of your team, is critical for your partner business.

Microsoft offers a variety of training resources for technical professionals, and Microsoft Partner Network members have access to additional training opportunities as a benefit of program membership. Individuals who want to showcase their excellence can pass exams and earn certifications, and some exams and certifications may apply to a partner organisation earning a Microsoft Competency.

Find and take the training you need

Whether you need an introduction to or an in-depth look at a product or technology, and whether your preferred method of learning is through in-person or virtual live courses, self-paced courses like MOOCs (massive open online courses), on-demand courses and videos, technical books/eBooks, or a mix of these, we have something for you. In addition to our popular technical content and training sites like Channel 9, Microsoft Virtual Academy (tip: see their free eBooks page), and free Microsoft Azure online training, MPN members have access to Partner University and to learning paths. Learning paths are curated lists of on-demand training courses and materials, aligned by product, role, and competency.

For Australia partners, we publish the Australian Partner Hot Sheet on this blog, this is a comprehensive schedule of in-person and virtual courses and calls. You can also find all in person training on the Microsoft Events Page by doing a filter on Australia.

New Learning Portal

During Inspire, we launched the new Learning Portal, an easy-to-use access point for more than 200 curated learning paths that feature the best courses, in multiple modalities, from across Microsoft’s various training sites. The site allows you and your team to find these curated trainings by solution area, competency, product or role.

The Content Catalogues are aligned to Microsoft’s four priority solution areas by practices, workloads and role. They can be accessed from the Solution page on Learning portal and can be accessed directly through the following URLs:

• Modern/Digital Workplace
• Intelligent Business Applications
• Data Strategy & Analytics
• Infrastructure & Modern Apps

Achieve certifications that demonstrate your knowledge and expertise

Microsoft has many cloud-focused certification paths, and the Microsoft Learning website has been revamped to better help you identify the right certification and prepare for and pass certification exams. When you pass a certification exam, you become a member of the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) community, and have access to benefits provided through the Microsoft Certification Program and the MCP member site. Achieving certain certifications or passing select exams provides you with a digital badge - web-enabled representations of your Microsoft certification that can be embedded in an email or shared on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

There are three certification levels:

• MTA – Microsoft Technology Associate (The fundamentals of IT)
• Microsoft Technology Associate is a certification intended for aspiring technologists, and people seeking knowledge of fundamental technology concepts. MTA certification addresses a wide spectrum of fundamental technical concepts, assesses and validates your core technical knowledge, and enhances your technical credibility.
• MCSA – Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (Core Skills for IT professionals and developers)
• Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate is intended for people who seek entry-level jobs in an information technology environment. MCSA is a prerequisite for more advanced Microsoft certifications.
• MCSE – Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (The globally recognised standard for IT Professionals)
• Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert is a certification intended for IT professionals seeking to demonstrate their ability to build innovative solutions across multiple technologies, both on-premises and in the cloud.

On the Microsoft Learning website, you can get an overview of the certification categories and levels, and find information about the requirements for each certification and the associated exam prep resources.

You may want to find your nearest Microsoft Learning Partner to take classroom and virtual training led by Microsoft Learning Partners. On the Born to Learn site, check out the Certification Study Groups. For self-paced study, consider the Microsoft Official Courses On-Demand, follow the partner learning paths for MPN competency or by role (tip: try a search by exam number), and consider purchasing Microsoft Press books. Or become part of the Australian Next Up exam camp program, which we run every quarter, this is a mixture of self-paced study and community support.

You will need to register to take a Microsoft Certification exam, and you may be eligible to take an online proctored (OP) exam. There are special offers from Microsoft Learning available, like Exam Replay and Exam Replay with Practice Test.

Certification exams are technical requirements for some Microsoft competencies. Associating to your company's MPN membership and entering your MCP ID there will help fulfill those technical requirements for competency attainment.