Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate
Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (also abbreviated to MCSA ) is the name of various Microsoft certifications that differ in their subject area. The certificate is the successor to the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator , which in turn was also abbreviated as MCSA .
The MCSA certification should be discontinued by Microsoft on June 30, 2020, due to the corona pandemic , the termination will be postponed to January 31, 2021.
Differences and similarities to the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator
Similarities:
- Both MCSA were able to continue with further examinations for the Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert certificate (MCSE). In the meantime, there is no longer a direct route for the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator .
Differences:
- The old MCSA offered an elective test, the new one is only compulsory.
- With the exception of one elective exam, the old MCSA did not offer any specialty to obtain the MCSA title. Only after the MCSA certificate could a subject ( MCSA 2003 Messaging or MCSA 2003 Security ) be attained with an additional examination . With the new MCSA, on the other hand, you decide on a subject from the start.
- This means that there is no common basis for the individual examination with the new MCSA certificate, while with the old MCSA certificate, with the exception of the elective examination, three firmly prescribed examinations had to be passed.
- Which in turn means that the subject area specified in the new MCSA is decisive for the further possibilities of an MCSE certificate. A MCSA: Windows Server 2012 certified person cannot obtain the MCSE: Data Management and Analytics certificate, or would have to take all the necessary exams for the MCSA: SQL Server 2012/2014 certificate.
Specializations and training paths
The certification cannot be achieved directly, but consists of 2 to 3 individual exams, depending on the subject. If all individual tests are passed successfully, you will automatically receive the corresponding certification
| title | Required exams | Training opportunities |
|---|---|---|
| MCSA: Windows Server 2012 | Exam 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 Exam 70-411: Administering Windows Server 2012 |
MCSA: Windows Server 2016 (upgrade with Exam 70-743) MCSE: Core Infrastructure |
| MCSA: Windows Server 2016 | Exam 70-740: Installation, Storage, and Compute with Windows Server 2016 Exam 70-741: Networking with Windows Server 2016 |
MCSE: Core Infrastructure MCSE: Productivity |
| MCSA: SQL Server 2012/2014 | Exam 70-461: Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014 Exam 70-462: Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014 Databases |
MCSE: Data Management and Analytics |
| MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration | Exam 70-764: Administering a SQL Database Infrastructure Exam 70-765: Provisioning SQL Databases |
MCSE: Data Management and Analytics |
| MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development | Exam 70-761: Querying Data with Transact-SQL Exam 70-762: Developing SQL Databases |
MCSE: Data Management and Analytics |
| MCSA: SQL 2016 BI Development | Exam 70-767: Implementing a SQL Data Warehouse Exam 70-768: Developing SQL Data Models |
MCSE: Data Management and Analytics |
| MCSA: BI reporting | Exam 70-778: Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Microsoft Power BI Exam 70-779: Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Microsoft Excel |
MCSE: Data Management and Analytics |
| MCSA: Universal Windows Platform | Exam 70-483: Programming in C # Exam 70-357: Developing Mobile Apps |
MCSD: App Builder |
| MCSA: Web Applications | Exam 70-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 or Exam 70-483: Programming in C # Exam 70-486: Developing ASP.NET MVC Web Applications |
MCSD: App Builder |
The following certifications can no longer be taken:
- MCSA: Windows 7
- MCSA: Windows 8
- MCSA: Windows 10
- MCSA: Windows Server 2008
- MCSA: Cloud Platform
- MCSA: Linux on Azure
- MCSA: Office 365
- MCSA: Microsoft Dynamics 365
- MCSA: machine learning
- MCSA: Data Engineering with Azure
Examination acceptance
The exams for the Microsoft Certifications can be taken at any Pearson VUE test center.