Are you a Microsoft 365 / Microsoft Teams Developer who wants to get certified? Microsoft just released a brand new credential for Teams Developers, and it’s the Build collaborative apps for Microsoft Teams Applied Skill! Learn everything you need to know about it in this video!
Video Summary
Here are the key points from the video:
- Microsoft has introduced a new credential called “Build Collaborative Apps for Microsoft Teams,” replacing the retired MS-600 certification.
- Unlike traditional certifications, this new credential is an applied skill, focusing on specific tasks like developing custom apps for Teams, and it’s free to take.
- Candidates need experience with Microsoft Graph API, Microsoft Identity Platform, and tools like the Microsoft Teams Toolkit. The assessment includes tasks like building bots and integrating Microsoft Graph.
- The applied skill assessment is lab-based, unproctored, and can be taken anytime, anywhere. It involves practical tasks and provides immediate results.
- Various training options are available, including free content on Microsoft Learn, premium online training, and instructor-led courses. The speaker emphasizes the importance of these resources for both new and experienced developers.
For more information, read the transcript blog below, or watch the video above!
Video Transcript
Hello everyone. Today we are talking about Microsoft 365 credentials, and I’m so excited to finally have some good news for Microsoft 365 certification seekers. I feel like we haven’t had those in a while now, so I’m super happy. We have a brand new Microsoft credential for Microsoft 365, and it’s called the Build Collaborative Apps for Microsoft Teams. Now, why is this important? This is super important because in March 2023, almost a year ago, Microsoft officially retired the MS-600 Teams Application Developer certification. While partners could still take it until December 2023, it’s currently not available anymore for anyone. This is why having a credential for Microsoft 365 developers is even bigger news.
Now, you notice that I’m using the word “credential” here, and this is because this new credential is not a certification like the MS-600 exam was. Instead, it’s one of the new applied skills by Microsoft. In this video, we will cover the basics of what you need to know for the new Build Collaborative Apps for Microsoft Teams applied skill. We will do an introduction to the applied skill, cover the difference between applied skills and certifications, and also cover the learning materials you need to pass this new applied skill.
So, let’s get started. Let’s start by talking about the Build Collaborative Apps for Microsoft Teams applied skill. This applied skill is the first applied skill for modern workplace professionals. Its goal is to validate your ability to develop custom apps for Microsoft Teams. I also have some good news for you: the cost is 100% free, which is a welcome change from the $150 it used to cost for a certification.
For the target audience, as a candidate for this credential, you should have experience developing applications for Microsoft Teams that use the Microsoft Graph API and the Microsoft Identity Platform. You should be familiar with tools for developing apps for Microsoft Teams, such as the Microsoft Teams Toolkit. For the skills measured, Microsoft doesn’t share as much information as they do for certifications, but we do know that you need to know how to build a bot, create a messaging extension, build webhooks, create a Teams tab, integrate Microsoft Graph into a Teams app, and distribute a Teams app. This page also mentions the products that you need to know, which are, of course, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Graph, Microsoft Identity, and Microsoft Copilot. This last one I wasn’t necessarily expecting, and it really shows how up-to-date you need to be with Copilot before taking this applied skill. With Copilot still being fairly new, and organizations just starting to look at developing their own plugins and extensions for it, I was not necessarily expecting it to be in the applied skill. However, if you haven’t learned how to create custom solutions for Copilot, this is your opportunity to do so.
Remember when I mentioned that there’s not a lot of information about the applied skill on the page? However, I dug a bit deeper and found more information on a training partner site about what is covered during the exam, which is really more written in the old skills measured of the certification. I will not read them all one by one, but this gives you a very good idea of what you need to know before you attempt to pass this applied skill. By looking at it, most of it seems to be in line with what a Teams developer needs to know. The only thing again that I didn’t really expect is to have Copilot in a Microsoft credential so soon.
Now, let’s talk about how applied skills work as well. Since this is the first applied skill for the modern workplace, a lot of you might still be very new to the concept. Microsoft applied skills are a new way to get a Microsoft credential that Microsoft released in 2023 for people to validate their skills. The huge difference between applied skills and certifications are the cost, the scope, and the way to do it. If we compare certifications and applied skills, first of all, the goal of certification is to validate broad technical capabilities, while for applied skills, they only validate a specific skill. In our example here, you’re not a Microsoft 365 developer, which might be a role; you are only a Teams developer. You validate the skill that you’re able to develop for Microsoft Teams. There is no mention of anything other than Teams in the products, and no SharePoint, for example. But if you look at the role of a Microsoft 365 developer, it’s rare that in an organization you have a Teams developer that doesn’t know or do anything with SharePoint because they are so tied together. Certifications are role-based, while applied skills are project-based. Again, for the scope, certifications will validate multiple skills. For example, for the M365 developer certification, you needed to know how to architect the solution, how to get business requirements, and how to even configure auditing for your solution. For the applied skill, you just need to validate that you know how to develop solutions for Microsoft Teams. Even the format is different, with certifications being mostly question-based and sometimes having some labs, but applied skills are a purely lab-based experience. For certifications, you needed to schedule the exam, and they are proctored, which means that you have somebody there watching you, making sure that you do not cheat. For applied skills, they are free to take anytime, anywhere. They are not proctored, so nobody’s watching you while you do them. You could do them from a coffee shop, from the airport, from the office—it’s up to you. The only thing you have to do is log in with your Microsoft account, accept the terms, and then click on start. Your applied skill assessment will start, and you will have two hours to complete it. You will then have a lab open directly in the browser, and you’ll have different goals or tasks assigned to you on what you need to do. For example, create a bot that does X, Y, and Z requirements. This is what it will look like to start. Of course, I can’t show you anything else because what happens in the assessment stays in the assessment, or at least that’s the theory. When you’re done, you will click on submit assessment, and it will take a few minutes to get graded. It might even take up to 10 minutes, and then you will know if you passed or not. If you didn’t pass, do not worry; you can retake the skill assessment 72 hours later at absolutely no extra cost to you.
Now that we covered how to take it and what you will be evaluated on, let’s start talking about learning materials. There are three main options for training for the applied skill: first of all, free on Microsoft Learn; then premium online training; and finally, instructor-led training. I will share links to all the resources mentioned in the description below. Let’s start with Microsoft Learn. Microsoft has been offering so much free content on Microsoft Learn in the past two years, and even most of the content for instructor-led courses is now on Microsoft Learn. The downside, however, is that you are just reading documentation, and you do not have a trainer to explain how to do certain things or answer any questions that you might have. Trainers also bring real-life experience to the table, whereas Microsoft Learn is simply a collection of documentation on how things should work. You’ll also notice the warnings that some of the content on Microsoft Learn was created with AI. Of course, AI is there to empower us; there’s nothing wrong with using AI in general. However, I feel that AI does not have that instructional design experience that trainers have and a way to explain things, especially for new people who want to discover how to learn a skill. So, it’s a really great resource—it’s free, and there’s no reason for you not to check it out. It’s out there for free. However, if you’re advanced, this is perfect. If you’re just starting out, it might not be enough for you. Microsoft Learn estimates that the content on there is about four hours total.
Now, let’s talk about premium online training. These are online, on-demand classes that will be taught by an expert and usually go through peer review before they are published. I will, of course, start with Pluralsight, where I publish my content. Okay, yes, I do have a Microsoft Graph t-shirt today. I am not a developer, and I don’t think I will ever create any content for this applied skill. However, I will make sure to add some resources in the description of the video. Our next resource is Voitanos by Microsoft MVP Andrew Connell, which is known to be one of the best resources for Microsoft 365 developers out there. I personally know that Andrew is one of the best trainers out there, and I will share a link in the description below to his resources. Finally, we have LinkedIn Learning, which is not known for the most in-depth technical courses, but they do have some Teams developer content as well.
Finally, we have instructor-led training, where we have course number MS-4001 called Build Collaborative Apps for Microsoft Teams. It’s a one-day course. This is still pretty new, and more and more training providers are starting to offer it. The benefit of getting in-person training, other than having a trainer live there for questions, is that these can only be delivered by Microsoft Certified Trainers, which should guarantee a good class experience.
Before we finish off this video, I wanted to share some of my thoughts about this applied skill. Let me start by saying that I’m so happy that we finally have a new credential for the modern workplace. Last year was all bad news, and we lost 50% of our certifications. We definitely needed a Microsoft Teams or a Microsoft 365 developer certification, as companies are all now working on integrating their custom apps with Teams, where people end up working. We want to bring everything inside Teams, and we need the developers. Having this new applied skill is an excellent way for qualified professionals to prove their expertise with Microsoft Teams. That’s the part that I love
