Just recently, one of our colleagues in Datacraft Asia, Dino Flores, became the first Microsoft Certified Masters (MCM) in Singapore for Office Communications Server (OCS). He went through a three-week rigorous training in Redmond, USA (Microsoft Headquarters) and is now one of just nine people in Asia with this prestigious certification. Of course, I would not let the opportunity pass to interview the Master himself and get some inside scoop of his whole experience.
Below is an excerpt of my interview with Dino:
Kath: “Was there any screening process that you had to undergo for this?”
Dino: “Yes, I had to go through a strict selection process where I had to pass several preliminary Microsoft Certified Professional exams. After which, I had to submit my credentials to Microsoft as well as a sample design document and a portfolio of previous projects that I did which are related to Office Communication Server. It took them approximately 2 weeks to notify me via email that I’ve been selected.”
Kath: “How did you prepare for this MCM training? What was your recipe for success?”
Dino: “I started doing my homework from the day I was offered this training program – I checked the requirements from the Microsoft website and also the required reading materials. From there, I read all the materials twice or probably even thrice up till the day of training itself. In fact, I was still revising on the plane to the US. Fortunately for me, I was working on a 60,000 seat OCS project for a Japanese company then, so I was able to apply all the theoretical knowledge into practical use. That experience helped me a lot in reviewing for my certification. In addition, user issues that we encountered allowed me to learn more while understanding the product better.”
Kath: “I see. Were you the one who chose OCS as your technology of expertise? Did you really like it from the start?”
Dino: “My initial preference was Exchange but my boss introduced this technology to me. Eventually, I made a choice to pursue it as I saw great potential in this product since I use it every day for work. It is present in our Office Communicator for instant messaging, voice and video call, as well as integrated to our Cisco telephony devices. Also, I realized that it would be good for Datacraft to have an expert for this technology to enable us to provide better solutions to our clients.”
Kath: “I’m curious, were daily lectures very stressful?”
Dino: “Yes, it was very hard! It’s like learning a foreign language because it’s new to most of us, especially the deep dive part into OCS protocols. It’s different from the information that you can get from the Microsoft resources available online. Unlike most e-books that focus only on the architecture, the training provided a deeper understanding on how OCS works.”
Kath: “It’s really intense then. Do you still have time to catch some sleep?”
Dino: “Hmm a bit. Haha. After attending 8-10 hours of lecture each day, I’d still review training materials when I’m back at the apartment. In fact, I won’t sleep until I’m done. The training was too intense for some, so they left without completing the training.”
Kath: “Do you think the training was all worth the time, effort, and sleepless nights?”
Dino: “Definitely! Compared to other trainings that only require attendance to be certified, this was totally different because you’re not guaranteed a pass even if you’re diligent with plenty of experience.”
Kath: “What are the most important things that you’ve learnt from this experience?”
Dino: “Reading the book will not empower you with product knowledge. You need to try, deploy and feel it with utmost curiosity and a spirit of learning. Also, you’d need to continuously challenge yourself and not slip into complacency. I’ve learnt to explore new frontiers and not be afraid of failure too.
Kath: “Any advice for those who also want to take this certification?”
Dino: “For one, it’s definitely a good experience but it’s different from other certifications so there are three important things that you’d need – Experience, Diligence and Luck.
You’d need to get your hands dirty with the product, that’s where experience comes in handy. The training requires a lot of hard work, given the great amount of information that will be downloaded to you over the three weeks. As mentioned, nobody is guaranteed a pass despite the amount of experience and hard work so luck will definitely come in handy. How do you get lucky? I don’t know, but I’m guessing that being at the right place at the right time should help.
Kath: “What are the things that you are doing right now for Datacraft as an MCM? Has this certification helped you in your work?”
Dino: “There’s a Unified Communications experts community formed by Dimension Data and Datacraft, which I’m currently very active in. It’s similar to a forum, where there are ongoing discussions on the latest products and ways to add more business value to fully utilize products.
It’s definitely very useful! Now, I can answer common OCS queries confidently, be it product, design or deployment. I can also support clients better in addressing their pain points when it comes to unified communications.”
Kath: “Do you have any scoop or information on the upcoming OCS 2010? What should we look forward to in this new product?”
Dino: “It would certainly be better than OCS 2007 but I can’t share what I know at this moment due to confidentiality reasons. But, it was designed for better resilience and users can expect a better experience.”
Kath: “We will definitely look forward to that! Thanks a lot Dino for sharing your experience and we’re absolutely anticipating more great things from you in the future.”
Kathrina is part of Datacraft Asia’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) team, which is responsible for the enrichment and development of Microsoft practice across the region. She was an alumnus of the Datacraft Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in the Philippines and since then, has been delivering Microsoft solutions for leading companies in the IT industry.
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