MCT Fees: Your P.O.V. -- Redmondmag.com

MCT Fees: Your P.O.V.

MCTs respond to program fee being imposed in October.

04/19/2001

In the news item posted on our site, "MCT 2002 No Longer Fee Free," we asked for your reaction to the $400 fee that will be imposed for recertification starting October 1, 2001. Here are some of your comments:

$400 just seems too steep even with the free manuals.
- Michael Bennett, MCT, MCSE

I don't know how you can say "The fee may not have much impact on freelance trainers." It will have a big impact on me! I am a freelance consultant and with mycurrent finances, I can't afford to pay $400 to retain my MCT status. Thankfully, I also hold a CTT (Certified Technical Trainer), so I'll still be able to "prove" my training expertise.
- Julie Kinnett, MCSE MCT CTT

I'm in Egypt and, for me, the $400 fee will be expensive. One U.S. dollar is about four Egyptian pounds, which means I'll pay annualy 1,600 Egyptian pounds, which I may not recover by working as a trainer.
- Hisham Mortada, MCSE, MCDBA, MCT

The MCT fee is long overdue. If we MCTs expect to get the benefits we want, we're going to have to give Microsoft an incentive to do so. Microsoft is in the business of providing excellent software to its customers as well as ways to derive extra benefit from using that software. That's where training and certification come in...Now that we have to pay to stay in, only serious trainers will remain and Microsoft may be able to offer more to us.
- Leslie Koorhan, MCSE, MCSD, MCDBA, MCT

I have long been opposed to the Microsoft making me pay a fee for the MCT. If they provide free TechNet, downloadable trainer kits and support, I'd be okay with the fee. If they don't, I'll let my MCT expire.
- Kurt Hudson, MSCE, MSCE+I, MCT, CTT, CCNA, A+, N+

The fee may be okay for freelancers or corporate america, but for those who teach in the academic arena, it's too high. Faculty at colleges that participate in the Microsoft AATP program don't make the money freelancers do.
- Mark Anderson

Microsoft should drop the MCT program; most training firms that conduct Microsoft training don't even require an MCT title. I've been an MCT for five years and do not see the benefit -- MCTs don't get MSDN, betas, Technet or other resources.
- Y. Lin, MCSE, MCT, CNA, CNE

While Microsoft is justified in adding a fee, they're obligated to justify the benefits. An amount of up to $50/year seems reasonable, but at $400/year, the only way I could see justification is if I received benefits such as a free Technet+ subscription. I'll pay the fee because I must, but in protest.
- Kevin Finkenbinder, MCSE, MCT, CTT

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