Charles Pluta – IT Service Integration

So the week has flown by since I knew I needed to blog for Project 52, since that has officially restarted. But this week has been just crazy.
Too many things going on at work.. Too many concerts to go to here in Augusta, plus me time? Right. Lets try to actually keep a schedule this coming week.

So while I wanted to still post a new blog every week during 2010, I think I have missed a week. I however am not the only one, plus, the official Project 52 year will be starting soon anyway.

Project 52 announced that the blog posts will be from March 17, 2010 – March 17, 2011. This gives me some time to think about how to dedicate a little more time to writing a new blog post each week.

I still plan on having a mixture of personal and how-to tech type posts. Hopefully the increased ESX posting will help some people. There should be more to come, as I was notified this week that we are planning to virtualize 90% of our datacenter environment. This should provide me with plenty of help and how to info that I can write on.

Until then

Week 7 – Project 52

The projects I mentioned in the last post are actually work related. My personal projects are something I’m starting on this spring. In the summer, my electric bill gets close to $400, which is partly because the air conditioner runs almost non-stop trying to keep it frosty. But also because my insulation is absolutely horrible in the attic.

This house is only about 12 years old, but they used blow-in insulation, and it looks likes its started to sink a little and degrade. Not great. So I’ve purchased 30 rolls of some R-30 to be delivered (today actually) so that hopefully the cooling will be more efficient. I’m also going to go around with clear caulking and reseal all the windows and door frames. Hopefully this will help. Maybe I should also not try to keep the A/C on 70..

The other project is a little ironic. Seeing how we just got about 3-4 inches of snow, I am having delivered soil and things to start laying out for a garden. I’m going to do a raised vegetable garden. Raising it up with landscaping timbers, and then putting down the biodegradable weed barrier paper, and filling it with soil, moss and manure to hopefully grow some tomatoes, celery, brussels sprouts, and other yummy things. So this is what I’ll be starting on the weekends. Maybe I’ll even include pictures.

Week 6 – Project 52

So my plan to start a week early on Project 52 worked out, because now I already missed a weekend in posting, but didn’t miss the week! The plan was to schedule a post to appear every Saturday, but that hasn’t worked too well.. So in the middle of the week works too, I suppose.

Sadly I can’t share both of the projects I’m leading right now due to NDAs. Hah. As i thought I’d be able to talk about most things on here.. The things I want to share I can’t. For now at least. Lets just say it includes VMware and Windows 7. Yay Two of the best technologies, and I get to work with both in my projects.

Week 5 – Project 52

An open letter to Microsoft Learning.

It is to my knowledge that when Microsoft partnered with Sylvan/Prometric testing centers in June, 2007 that it was a 3 year contract. That would mean by simple math that the contract is set to expire in the coming months. For all practical reasons, I would see Microsoft renewing this partnership, as together I believe they delivered almost 2 million exams over the course of 2009 alone. However, one can hope that they will put this to an end, and switch to Pearson Vue testing.

There are probably numerous reasons that Microsoft Learning chose Prometric centers to begin with in 2007. Whatever the reasons, at the time I was actually fine with this decision. I have a local Prometric center and I was just starting out getting my certifications, so I was not aware of the vast differences between the two testing centers.

But now as an experienced test taker, (I believe I have taken at least 15 different Microsoft, CompTIA and Cisco exams), I have had the pleasure of dealing with the Pearson Vue testing centers. In my experiences as a candidate for these exams, Pearson Vue’s excels in any category when compared to Prometric’s testing centers.

Allow me to give an example of my local Prometric center compared to the Pearson Vue center. At Prometric, All of the computers that the exam is presented on are very outdated. The monitors are old CRT that can hurt your eyes after reading them for so long for the older scenario based exams. The chairs provided are simple fold-out chairs that are completely uncomfortable after sitting for more than 10 minutes. There is no table/desk area to rest the keyboards, and the mouse is on a small corner of the desk. So if you need to type anything for the exam, you have to balance the keyboard in your lap to be able to use it. There have been plenty of times the proctor has left the exam area and there was no supervision isnide the testing area. One could say that it is just my local center and others are much nicer, however I have tried 3 Prometric centers, and in my experience all of them have had the same standards.

Now, for the Vue testing center. When I walked in for my first experience here, it was for my CCNA. Being a much harder exam than some Microsoft exams, I was a little more nervous taking this one than I had been for other exams. I arrived about 30 minutes early for my scheduled exam, and the testing center offered complimentary soft drinks and candy bars. Plus, since I was early they offered an area I could do some last minute studying before going in to sit the exam. Once inside of the testing area, there was an entire desk with flat panel monitor for easy viewing, a good surface area that the keyboard and mouse was on the table instead of in my lap, and extra space for use of the whiteboard if needed. The chair was a comfortable, rolling desk chair.

All of these small details matter to candidates who are taking an exam. If I have to sit a longer exam for up to 4 hours, why would I want to pay $125+ to sit in an environment that isn’t comfortable. I believe there are several reasons why MSL should not renew the contract with Prometric and switch to the obvious superior testing delivery service, Pearson Vue. So to Ken Rosen and whoever has the ability to make this happen, I implore you to make the change. Your candidates and your exams will be better off.