2 MORE Microsoft Applied Skills Are Getting RETIRED

Video Summary

Here are the key points from the video:

• Microsoft is retiring two applied skills: “Build Collaborative Apps with Microsoft Teams” and “Develop Generative AI Solutions with Azure OpenAI Service.”
• The retirement of the Microsoft Teams skill is disappointing for modern workplace professionals, leaving the modern work portfolio with no applied skills.
• The Microsoft Teams skill was mostly offline due to security updates, leading to its retirement as Microsoft couldn’t bring it back online.
• The generative AI skill will be replaced by new courses focusing on Azure AI Studio, with a new applied skill assessment expected soon.
• I invite you to share their thoughts on the retirements and the relevance of modern workplace skills, encouraging engagement and discussion in the comments.

For more information, read the transcript blog below, or watch the video above!

Video Transcript

Hello everyone, today we have some news from the Microsoft credentials world, and unfortunately, it’s not the best news as two more applied skills bite the dust. This video is particularly painful if you’re a modern workplace professional. So, let’s cut to the chase. The following two applied skills are getting retired: the first one is the “Build Collaborative Apps with Microsoft Teams” skill, and the second one is “Develop Generative AI Solutions with the Azure OpenAI Service.” In this video, we’ll cover some of the details about both of them, why they are getting retired, and what replacements they have, if any.

Let’s start with the Microsoft Teams applied skill. The “Build Collaborative Apps for Microsoft Teams” applied skill was the first and only applied skill in the modern workplace category. This applied skill replaced the Microsoft certification exam MS-600. In the past, we had a full certification for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams developers, which then got retired, and the applied skill was introduced. However, this applied skill is also getting retired. What is particularly notable about this applied skill is that it was only announced about six months ago. I did a video on it, and lots of people talked to me about it. However, it has been in maintenance for almost all of its existence. It was maybe available for two or three weeks before it was put in maintenance to update the security of the lab in which the applied skill was done.

Microsoft gave a statement regarding the retirement, saying, “We want to offer the best instructor-led training experience for our learners and support our trainers to deliver high-quality courses. The applied skills assessment and labs for the MS-4001 have been offline with no current resolution. Therefore, this course and assessment will be retiring to pave the way for new applied skills assessments and courses to be added to the instructor-led training portfolio. The applied skill will be retired on September 2, 2024.” Microsoft recognized that almost ever since they released the applied skill, it has been offline, and there was no point in keeping it. From what I understand from this statement, they don’t have the ability to bring it back online. So, they’re not only retiring the applied skill but also the training for it.

This brings back a previous video I did two weeks ago about retirement with almost no notice at all. This time, Microsoft gave a week’s notice before the applied skill was retired. However, because the applied skill is offline between the retirement notice and the actual retirement date, nobody can take it. So again, it feels like this applied skill got retired with no notice at all, and very few people got the chance to even pass it. This is very disappointing. If we look at the Microsoft applied skills credentials post that Microsoft made, we can see that the modern work portfolio already had the least options available, and now it will have even less. Modern work will again be empty, the only portfolio with no applied skills. I don’t really understand why, especially because there’s so much demand for Microsoft 365 right now. There’s so much demand for Teams customization and for Copilot for Microsoft 365. I cannot believe we don’t have anything in that category. As a Microsoft 365 professional myself, it makes me sad, but I guess that’s just not the direction Microsoft wants to go in.

Let’s move on to the next applied skill getting retired: the “Develop Generative AI Solutions with Azure OpenAI Service” applied skill. To earn this Microsoft applied skill credential, learners demonstrated the ability to develop generative AI solutions with the Azure OpenAI Service. This skill will retire on October 31, 2024, so around two months from today. Microsoft also made a statement about this one: “In order to help our customers and partners stay at the forefront of the fast-moving AI technology space, we’re excited to announce that our skilling solutions for generative AI on Microsoft Azure will focus on using Azure AI Studio. Courses based on the Azure OpenAI Studio interface will be replaced with new courses that leverage the Azure AI Studio.” This retirement is due to a change in technology. Microsoft wants to push the Azure AI Studio, so they’re deprecating all their content for the Azure OpenAI Studio technology. The replacement will be the AI-316 course, “Develop Custom Copilots with Azure AI Studio,” and there will be an applied skills assessment for this course. While the course is already available, the applied skill is not yet released as of September 1, 2024, but it should be here in the next few weeks.

So, that’s it for this video. What’s your take on retirements, especially the modern workplace one? I might be the only one heartbroken about it. Do you think that modern work is still relevant and that Microsoft still needs to create content for the modern workplace, whether that’s instructor-led training, certifications, or applied skills? Are there any applied skills that you wish to see for Microsoft 365? Please let me know in the comments below. Thank you so much for watching this video. If you want to stay up to date with the latest Microsoft credential news, whether it’s new content, study guides, or retirements, make sure you like the video and subscribe to the channel. Thank you so much for watching.