What Certifications Does Microsoft Plan to Withdraw in 2022 and Why?

The world is transforming rapidly, which is why various technologies and job roles associated with them change every year. To keep the certification programs relevant, the vendors continually review their qualification exams and certificates to be sure that they reflect the latest skills you should have. The same goes for Microsoft. The company keeps track of the changes and tries to improve its technologies by retiring those certification paths and tests that are no longer up to date. The goal of Microsoft is to empower you to be on the leading edge of tech and allow you to land in-demand positions. Therefore, this organization provides its certificates for critical job roles that help different companies with their digital transformation. Some of the certifications have already been retired, while others are only scheduled to be revoked. So let’s take a closer look at these changes.

Recently Retired Certifications and Exams

It is important to mention that once a certificate or test is retired, there will be no opportunity to take it. The path will no longer be available in the certification offerings or Microsoft Learn course. This means that you are no longer able to renew such a certificate. Those certifications that were obtained or renewed before the retirement date will remain on your transcript in the Active section until the expiration day. After that, it will be moved to the Certification History section of your transcript.

There are a lot of paths that have recently been retired, for example, Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals and Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 + Power Platform Solution Architect Expert. These certificates along with the MB-901 and MB-600 exams are no longer available to the interested candidates. Before that, there was also a whole set of certifications from the MCSA and MCSE tracks that were withdrawn. This is more than 15 certificates in total, each having from 1 to 3-4 qualification tests.

Certifications and Exams Scheduled to Retire

Originally, the set of the MCSA, MCSD, MCSE, and MTA certifications should be retired in 2020, but due to the well-known world changes at that time, their retirement was postponed. Now only MTA remains and its retirement date is scheduled for June 30, 2022. The rest of the paths are no longer active and are already closed for registration.

Also, it is important to mention that almost all of the training courses that were recommended for these paths are still available for taking. This means that you can still learn the skills you want to improve, but you may not earn a certificate that will validate them. As for the certification paths that are related to these courses, you need to explore the Microsoft website to find out the best option for you.

All in all, the last certification paths that are going to retire in the near future are the following:

• MTA: Database Fundamentals;
• MTA: Windows Operating System Fundamentals;
• MTA: Windows Server Administration Fundamentals;
• MTA: Introduction to Programming Using Java;
• MTA: Introduction to Programming Using Python;
• MTA: Security Fundamentals;
• MTA: Mobility and Device Fundamentals;
• MTA: Introduction to Programming Using HTML and CSS;
• MTA: Software Development Fundamentals;
• MTA: Introduction to Programming Using JavaScript;
• MTA: HTML5 Application Development Fundamentals;
• MTA: Networking Fundamentals.

To find out if there is any new exam or certificate scheduled for retirement, it is recommended that you visit the official website and subscribe to the Microsoft newsletter.
Replacement Options

Of course, Microsoft leaves you with great options, and some of the newly developed paths are similar to the ones that were withdrawn. Thus, the closest replacement for most of the certifications from the MCSA and MSCE tracks are Database Admin Assistant, Data Analyst Assistant, and Azure Admin Assistant.

All of the options from the Beginner level that are known as the Fundamentals certificates can give you the needed foundational-level knowledge that was offered in the MTA certifications. These are the perfect starting points for those who think about going for the associate-level paths in the future. All in all, there are 9 certificates that provide the potential candidates with solid basic knowledge, which are the following:

• Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Fundamentals;
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals;
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals;
• Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals;
• Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM);
• Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (ERP);
• Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals;
• Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals;
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals.

These paths are perfect for AI engineers, business owners, database administrators, business user, and administrators. To know more about each option, please visit the Microsoft website.
Most of the new Microsoft certifications are now only active for one year because many areas of the IT field are able to evolve and change within this short period of time. This means that you need to know when to be ready for the next version of the exam that you passed earlier and whether it is still relevant to today’s changes or not. Therefore, it is very important for you to know when it is time to recertify and update your skills.

Conclusion

Being an IT specialist can be tough for an individual. The IT industry demands to be always relevant to the current technologies and be able to deal with those that can occur from time to time and bring something new to the table. Thus, it can be stressful, and some of the professionals may not understand what to do in this situation. To avoid this, you need to follow the news that is officially given by the vendor. That is why Microsoft recommends that you explore its official blog and subscribe to its newsletter to get freshly new information immediately. You can also interact with the community on various platforms to discuss the possible or current changes or ask questions on the Microsoft website. If you are not sure when a certificate expires and how you can update it or hear about some changes but don’t see them on the vendor’s site, you can ask about it and get an official answer. As you can see, there are many options to know these details before taking any action.

• Category: Uncategorized