Microsoft Aspiring Software Architect Program
While we have the Microsoft Certified Architect program for certifying the experienced and senior Architects,
Microsoft has also come up with a program for all junior architects or aspiring architects called ASAP(Aspiring Software Architect Program). Ya but though this was meant for aspiring architects i did find many experienced also attending it.
Few days back i got certified in this :)
The ASAP program focusses on providing the key architecture skills and information that enables to create the right soultions for clients business problems. It also helps to drive technical leadership and guidance to the developer team.
It was a good experience for me , especially the case study portion.
It was a 10 days training spread across 5-6 months. Vivek Bhatnagar, Microsoft Architect Evangelist was my trainer.
The training was a mix of classroom and webcasts. There were lots of open discussions during the trainings.
- Broadly the following topics were covered
- Architecture Types and role of architects
- Understanding Requirements and constraints
- Analysing the viability
- Patterns and Frameworks
- Functional & Operational Aspects
- Non-Functionals like Security, Availability,Performance
- Documentation Styles and methodologies
Each of the topics had an associated case study to solve in teams
But at the end of the training there was one big case study to be solved by each individual.
Every individual have to complete and submit this case study to be get certified.
Microsoft has also released a series of ASAP webcasts that can be viewed by anyone.
Interested people can check some of them here
But as far the training and certification, i believe right now it's available only for partners and ISVs.