Mapping Old Microsoft Exams to New Role-Based Certs

Over the past year and more, Microsoft's certification offerings have been undergoing sweeping and significant changes. The old, long familiar 70-XXX paradigm (where XXX is a three digit number) for exam IDs has given way to a new, less familiar scheme of MS-YYY (where YYY is also a three digit number) IDs.

At the same time, the exams have changed their fundamental architecture from fact- and experience-based multiple-choice questions (with occasional scenarios included) to a more interactive, hands-on role-based model. Instead, problems are posed in virtual runtime environments and exam candidates are asked to choose and apply appropriate responses, fixes, and troubleshooting techniques.

While the subject matter of the old versus new exams defines a connection between the old exam regime and its new replacement, on July 9, Liberty Munson at Microsoft Learning published a blog post that draw specific lines connecting old exam IDs to the corresponding newfangled certifications that have replaced them.

You can see the original at Mapping Microsoft 70-XXX Exams to New Role-Based Certifications, if you like. Here's the table she provides in that article, reproduced verbatim (links to the new replacement certs are also thoughtfully provided):

Exam # — Exam Name / New Certification (Required Exams)
70-331 — Core Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 / Teamwork Administrator (MS-300, MS-301)
70-332 — Advanced Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 / Teamwork Administrator (MS-300, MS-301)
70-341 — Core Solutions of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 / Messaging Administrator (MS-200, MS-201)
70-342 — Advanced Solutions of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 / Messaging Administrator (MS-200, MS-201)
70-346 — Managing Office 365 Identities and Requirements / Microsoft 365 Enterprise Administrator (MS-100, MS-101)
70-347 — Enabling Office 365 Services / Microsoft 365 Enterprise Administrator (MS-100, MS-101)
70-473 — Designing and Implementing Cloud Data Platform Solutions / Azure Data Engineer (DP-200, DP-201)
70-475 — Designing and Implementing Big Data Analytics Solutions / Azure Data Engineer (DP-200, DP-201)
70-532 — Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions / Azure Developer (AZ-203)
70-533 — Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions / Azure Administrator (AZ-103)
70-535 — Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions / Azure Solutions Architect (AZ-300, AZ-301)
70-695 — Deploying Windows Desktops and Enterprise Applications / Modern Desktop Administrator (MD-100, MD-101)
70-697 — Configuring Windows Devices / Modern Desktop Administrator (MD-100, MD-101)
70-698 — Installing and Configuring Windows 10 / Modern Desktop Administrator (MD-100, MD-101)
70-773 — Analyzing Big Data with Microsoft R / Azure Data Scientist (DP-100)
70-774 — Perform Cloud Data Science with Azure Machine Learning / Azure Data Scientist (DP-100)
70-775 — Perform Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure HDInsight / Azure Data Engineer (DP-200, DP-201)
70-776 — Engineering Data with Microsoft Cloud Services / Azure Data Engineer (DP-200, DP-201)
AZ-100 — Microsoft Azure Infrastructure and Deployment / Azure Administrator (AZ-103)
AZ-101 — Microsoft Azure Integration and Security / Azure Administrator (AZ-103)
AZ-102 — Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Transition Exam / Azure Administrator (AZ-103)
AZ-200 — Microsoft Azure Developer Core Solutions (beta) / Azure Developer (AZ-203)
AZ-201 — Microsoft Azure Developer Advanced Solutions (beta) / Azure Developer (AZ-203)
AZ-202 — Microsoft Azure Developer Certification Transition (beta) / Azure Developer (AZ-203)
AZ-302 — Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Certification Transition (beta) / Azure Solutions Architect (AZ-300, AZ-301)
MB2-715 — Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Online Deployment / Dynamics 365 Certification (MB-200, which is a prerequisite for several Dynamics 365 certifications)
MB2-717 — Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales / Dynamics 365 for Sales (MB-210)
MB2-718 — Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Service / Dynamics 365 for Customer Service (MB-230)
MB2-719 — Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing / Dynamics 365 for Marketing (MB-220)
MB2-877 — Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service / Dynamics 365 for Field Service (MB-240)
MB6-895 — Financial Management in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations / Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Financials (MB-310)
MB6-896 — Distribution and Trade in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations / Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Supply Chain Management (MB-330)
MS-202 — Microsoft 365 Messaging Administrator Certification Transition / Messaging Administrator (MS-200, MS-201)
MS-302 — Microsoft 365 Teamwork Administrator Certification Transition / Teamwork Administrator Certification (MS-300, MS-301)

An Excess of Exegesis? I Hope Not

OK, then. Let's look at what this table can tell us. It's not as clean a picture as Ms. Munson's blog post title suggests. What we see in this table's first column is a bunch of (AZ: Azure) and (MB: Microsoft Dynamics) certs as well as 70-XXX items.

Some of the former already belonged to the so-called role-based certifications (most notably, those Azure items that occur in the leftmost column). Thus, we're seeing a new second generation of role-based credentials emerge for the pace-setting, company-leading Azure platform at the same time as the mapping from the older-style certs and exams is made to newer role-based credentials. This, too, is interesting.

This table includes 34 entries; Azure appears in 16 of them (47 percent). Dynamics pops up in 7 (20.5 percent), and the rest include Teamwork Administrator (2), Messaging Administrator (2/4), Microsoft 365 Administrator (2), and Modern Desktop Administrator (2).

As I've said in other analyses of the current Microsoft certification program, it's clear which lines of business dominate the training and certification side of the company. I submit this simply reflects current Microsoft realities, as well as future priorities and resource allocations.

It also shows that while traditional IT administration roles (teamwork, messaging, Microsoft 365, and modern desktop) still have a place in the hierarchy of roles for which Microsoft provides training and certification, the balance has already shifted. The emphasis is now on cloud-based tools and technologies around Azure, as well as on big data/data analytics (which are also mostly cloud-based nowadays) under the Dynamics 365 umbrella.

All in all, it's very interesting. And it certainly shows how IT professionals interested in Microsoft certification can transition from the world as we once knew it, to the world as it is today. Enjoy!