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Microsoft is retiring SharePoint MCSD developer exams

36 Comments

In an announcement posted by Microsoft Learning on February 16th 2016, Microsoft announced that both MCSD exams (70-488 Developing SharePoint Server 2013 Core Solutions and exam 70-489: Developing SharePoint Server 2013 Advanced Solutions) will retire on September 30th 2016!

SharePoint MCSD retired

Furthermore, what is more interesting is that exam 70-517: Recertification for MCSD: SharePoint Applications is also being retired on the same date. This announcement is very interesting for two reasons:

  • The MCSD: SharePoint Certifications came almost a year after the MCSE: SharePoint Certifications, but are retired a lot before. To give you an idea… The SharePoint 2010 IT Pro Certifications are only being retired on July 31st 2016!
  • There is no news on SharePoint 2016 certifications yet.
  • By retiring both the two exams AND the re-certification exams, most developers will lose their MCSD: SharePoint certification pretty soon, since to keep it you must re-certify every two years.

However, the MCSD SharePoint is not the only certification that will die. The following MCSD Certification will also be retired on September 30:

  • MCSD: Windows Store Apps Using HTML5 (481, 482, 490)
  • MCSD: Windows Store Apps Using C# (484, 485, 491)

Furthermore, the re-certification exam for MCSD: Application Lifecycle Management is also retiring, meaning developers cannot renew their MCSD.

What does “retired” mean?

Here is what “retired” means directly from Microsoft Learning:

Keep in mind that even if an exam that is part of a certification you earned is retired, your certification is still valid. When an exam you passed is retired, the exam record remains on your transcript. If you’re working toward a certification that includes one of the exams listed for retirement, please be sure to take the exam prior to the retirement date. Allow time for a retake if necessary.

So, if you’re currently working on your MCSD SharePoint Certification, make sure you finish all your SharePoint exams as soon as possible to get it on your transcript!

Future of SharePoint MCSD?

There are lots of theories that can be made about why Microsoft is canceling the SharePoint MCSD. Maybe the numbers weren’t what they expected, or maybe the recertification technique didn’t work. The SharePoint 2013 MCSE doesn’t even need to pass an exam to re-certificate, only need to listen to MVA.

Maybe Microsoft is replacing the SharePoint MCSD certification with an Office 365 MCSD certification in order to be cloud-first? Why do you think Microsoft is killing the SharePoint MCSD Certification so early? Let me know in the comments!

 

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Leave a comment and don’t forget to like the Absolute SharePoint Blog Page   on Facebook and to follow me on Twitter here  for the latest news and technical articles on SharePoint.  I am also a Pluralsight author, and you can view all the courses I created on my author page.

 

You can view the original Announcement here: Exam Retirement Update: What’s retiring in September 2016?

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36 Comments

  • February 17, 2016 at 8:23 am

    I think that Microsoft plan to unify developer certification for Office 365 and SharePoint on premise. As you wrote it’s important to them to push developer to the cloud. As you check Office 365 store there’s no too many apps…

    Reply
  • February 17, 2016 at 8:58 am

    I cant see the below SharePoint certifications in retired-certification-exams page. Is that updated wrongly ?

    488: Developing SharePoint Server 2013 Core Solutions

    489: Developing SharePoint Server 2013 Advanced Solutions

    Reply
    • February 17, 2016 at 2:44 pm

      They are mistakenly under the Visual Studio and .net exmas!

      Reply
  • February 18, 2016 at 2:34 am

    Hey…. I remember I see 70-488 and 70-489 in MS exam “to be retired” yesterday. Now I go back and couldn’t find them anymore. Is Microsoft withdraw the decision?

    Reply
  • February 18, 2016 at 4:39 am
    Amit

    Is suggested to still prepare for this 70-488 exam ?

    Reply
    • February 18, 2016 at 6:18 am

      If you can take it within the next 6 months, why not 🙂

      Reply
      • February 18, 2016 at 11:28 am
        Chris

        Why would we rush to get a certification that won’t exist in six months? I’ll be honest, for those of us working towards that certification, this is kind of a kick in the pants. I hope a replacement cert is going to be announced soon.

      • February 18, 2016 at 7:56 pm

        The certification will still appear on transcript.. just “not active” or retired.

        It is a kick in the pants..

  • February 18, 2016 at 5:56 am

    oh, it is because I am reading another language page (en-gb) (https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/learning/retired-certification-exams.aspx). I hate how Microsoft do their documentation.

    Reply
    • February 18, 2016 at 6:18 am

      That is kinda funny! Different between en-us and en-gb.

      Reply
  • February 19, 2016 at 2:31 am

    Could you advise which certificates we should go after? SP2016 it not release yet and the 2 O365 exam seems not for developers.

    Reply
    • February 20, 2016 at 7:02 am

      I have an update from MS>. check out my blog monday!

      Reply
  • February 20, 2016 at 6:47 am
    Salman

    Sir,
    I have undertaken training in MCSD SharePoint Applications and I am planning to write the certification exam.
    What is your opinion should I take the certification or not.
    Please do reply,its really shocking.I am totally confused.

    Reply
    • February 20, 2016 at 7:01 am

      Hey, How far are you in your cert? I do have a official update on what’s happening I will blog it Monday!

      Reply
  • March 1, 2016 at 12:23 pm
    Idryl

    Microsoft has changed the exams scheduled to retire.

    The exams of MCSD Sharepoint Applications won’t be retired. Please, update this post. People are very confused about that subject.

    You can check it in the following link:

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/learning/retired-certification-exams.aspx

    Reply
  • March 2, 2016 at 2:55 am
    Idryl

    I could see MCSD Sharepoint Applications (2013) was going to be retired. Microsoft has changed its opinion about that point.

    Reply
  • April 7, 2016 at 4:56 pm
    darxandra

    I think that when they changed the model so that recertification with re-examination required every two years caused many developers to rethink the certifications. I am MCPD on SharePoint 2010 and will not be upgrading because of the new model. I don’t mind re-certifying for new versions but don’t want to have to re-certify every two years with an exam. I think the model PMI has for PMP is much better which I am also. For PMI you just required to complete a certain number of professional development hours within the subject area every three years.

    Reply
  • April 28, 2016 at 2:24 pm
    Larry

    I am not finding 70-488 listed by microsoft as a retired exam (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/retired-certification-exams.aspx). They are still selling the exam (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-70-488.aspx). Additionally, this exam is one of the listed Office 365 workload exams for partner qualifications.

    Are you sure they are not just removing this particular exam from the MCSD track vs. retiring the exam itself? The fomer seems to be the case here.

    Reply
    • May 1, 2016 at 8:51 pm

      Hey Larry,

      Look under Visual Studio and .Net, it’s there :).

      Reply
  • May 30, 2016 at 5:07 pm
    Mark

    It now says : Retiring on March 31, 2017

    Reply
  • September 1, 2016 at 5:43 am
    Ali

    Are there any certifications that combine SharePoint with InfoPath forms ?

    Reply
  • October 11, 2016 at 3:04 pm
    William

    FYI :

    Retiring on March 31, 2017
    70-383: Recertification for MCSE: SharePoint
    70-384: Recertification for MCSE: Communication
    70-385: Recertification for MCSE: Messaging
    70-517: Recertification for MCSD: SharePoint Applications

    Retiring on March 31, 2017
    70-354: Universal Windows Platform – App Architecture and UX/UI
    70-355: Universal Windows Platform – App Data, Services, and Coding Patterns
    70-490: Recertification for MCSD: Windows Store Apps Using HTML5
    70-491: Recertification for MCSD: Windows Store Apps Using C#
    70-494: Recertification for MCSD: Web Applications
    70-499: Recertification for MCSD: Application Lifecycle Management

    Retiring on July 31, 2017
    70-488: Developing SharePoint Server 2013 Core Solutions
    70-489: Developing SharePoint Server 2013 Advanced Solutions

    Reply
  • January 24, 2017 at 7:43 am
    Alanda

    No it says July 31, 2018. So Microsoft has extended to one more year.

    Retiring on July 31, 2018
    70-488: Developing SharePoint Server 2013 Core Solutions
    70-489: Developing SharePoint Server 2013 Advanced Solutions

    Reply
  • March 22, 2017 at 1:13 pm
    RAMYARANJAN

    Can I take 70-488 exam with out any other Microsoft exam?

    Reply
  • November 16, 2017 at 8:34 pm
    Rob Allright

    https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6337090327513485312/

    I’ve added a list of pluralsight and other 70-488 resources. I’m taking this exam at the end of 2017, mainly to show I have both dev and admin knowledge and therefore to get both MCSD and MCSE exams on my transcript at the same time. I’ve only just started taking exams (excluding 2 SP 2007 exams taken many years ago).

    I wonder if they will extend the deadline again?

    Reply

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