SQL Server Certification - 2005 or 2008?

Question

I'm interested in getting certified for SQL Server. Since you can either be certified for SQL Server 2005 or 2008, I'm not sure which one to pursue. It seems that there are more training materials for SQL Server 2005 certification and more companies use it. However, getting certified for SQL Server 2008 would mean that I'd be current on the latest version and wouldn't have to worry about upgrading for a while. Does anyone have any recommendations for which one to choose?

Answer 1

Definitely 2008. If you are asking this from the career point of view, hiring people who care about certs tend to think (for a good reason) that certs are "backwards compatible". Having 2008 certification makes you 2005 expert in their eyes automatically.

Answer 2

Personally, I'd go for the 2005 one. At the end of the day the upgrade exam from 2005 to 2008 is only one more exam, and you'll have twice the ammount of certifications at the end of the process.

Good luck in whichever you choose.

Answer 3

It actually depends. If it's an either or and you are confidant with the current study materials, I would go with 2008. It also depends on how far you want to go and what's your concentration (DBA, Dev, or BI). In the 2005 tests, you needed 3 tests to get an MCITP, but in 2008 it's only 2. Also, the base exam is differant. For 2005, the base MCTS was Implementation and Maintenance for all MCITP paths, where as in 2008 there is a more specialized base MCTS exam.

That's a long ways of saying, it depends, but if you were only going to take one test, go for 2008.

Answer 4

5 years ago I passed Exam 70-431: TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Implementation and Maintenance

Now, upgrade path from it to MCITP: Database Administrator 2008 requires taking 3 additional exams:

• 70-443,
• 70-444,
• 70-453

while accepting my certification as a waste and starting fresh requires only 2 exams:

• Exam 70-450: PRO: Designing, Optimizing and Maintaining a Database Server Infrastructure using Microsoft SQL Server 2008
• Exam 70-432: TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Installation and Maintenance

Count yourself!
Having a certification in "MCTS: SQL Server 2005" gives you the benefit of upgrading it with 3 additional exams (with total of 4 exams) or starting anew to pass just 2 exams to get the same MCITP: Database Administrator 2008!

I am thinking now - might be I should wait for certification in MS SQL Server 2012 which would have only 1 exam to obtain MCITP: Database Administrator?