One area often overlooked by those thinking about a course is the concept of 'training segmentation'. This is essentially the method used to break up the program to be delivered to you, which completely controls the point you end up at. You may think that it makes sense (when study may take one to three years to achieve full certification,) for a training company to release a single section at a time, as you pass each element. But: What could you expect if you didn't actually complete every module at the speed they required? Sometimes their preference of study order doesn't work as well as another different route may.

In an ideal situation, you want ALL the study materials up-front - so you'll have them all to come back to at any time in the future - as and when you want. You can also vary the order in which you attack each section as and when something more intuitive seems right for you.

Ask any proficient consultant and we'd be amazed if they couldn't provide you with many awful tales of students who've been conned by dodgy salespeople. Stick to a professional advisor who asks some in-depth questions to uncover the best thing for you - not for their wallet! You need to find a starting-point that will suit you. If you have a strong background, or sometimes a little real-world experience (possibly even some previous certification?) then obviously the point from which you begin your studies will be different from someone who is just starting out. If you're a student starting IT studies and exams as a new venture, you might like to avoid jumping in at the deep-end, starting with some basic PC skills training first. This can easily be incorporated into most training packages.

Commercially accredited qualifications are now, very visibly, already replacing the older academic routes into the industry - why then is this the case? With 3 and 4 year academic degree costs climbing ever higher, together with the industry's recognition that key company training often has more relevance in the commercial field, we have seen a dramatic increase in Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA accredited training programmes that provide key skills to an employee for considerably less. They do this by focusing on the skill-sets required (together with an appropriate level of background knowledge,) as opposed to trawling through all the background 'extras' that academic courses often do - to fill a three or four year course.

What if you were an employer - and your company needed a person with some very particular skills. What's the simplest way to find the right person: Go through loads of academic qualifications from several applicants, asking for course details and which vocational skills they've acquired, or pick out specific commercial accreditations that exactly fulfil your criteria, and then choose your interviewees based around that. You'll then be able to concentrate on getting a feel for the person at interview - rather than on the depth of their technical knowledge.

Corporate communications around the globe are dominated by Microsoft Networking & Server Operating Systems. It is now estimated that a minimum of 80-90 percent of all office networking systems use 'Windows Server' as the operating platform. It started off as NT Server but has been enhanced over the years to Server 2000, Server 2003 & most recently Server 2008. In business, 'Server 2003' remains the more established, & it is likely that a great many businesses using this platform won't upgrade to 'Server 2008'. There are still corporations with 'NT' or 2000 platforms, and they are the organisations that have the most requirement to upgrade to '2008'. You'll find further information on 'Microsoft' Network and Server Operating-Systems in the 'MCSE'/'MCSA' pages, including info about the Server 2003 vs 'Server 2008' question.

'Microsoft' means the operating system 'Windows' to most people who use PC's. The word Office could equally come to mind as a lot of men and women associate the applications system with the organisation itself. The most common program is most likely 'Word', which is an application for word processing. When it comes to spreadsheets we use Excel, and when we need database software we've got 'Access'. For presentations, 'Office' has the software application PowerPoint, which completes the chief packages within the suite. In reality Microsoft have taken their 'Office' portfolio a lot further - for instance with 'Outlook' for messaging, diary formatting and e-mailing.

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