PL-100 Power Platform App Maker is retiring

Microsoft will be retiring the PL-100 certification and course in June 2024.

You will be able to renew the certification before the end of June, and the exam and certification will remain valid for a further year beyond the date you took or renewed the certification.

The App Maker exam has always been a little bit of a strange exam as it overlapped some of the other Power Platform exams and was aimed more at the business maker rather than the IT professional maker.

Microsoft have created Applied Skills credentials that focus on actually real-world skills. There are three applied skills that map onto the tasks covered by PL-100 that you could attempt instead.

• Create and manage canvas apps with Power Apps
• Create and manage automated processes by using Power Automate
• Create and manage model-driven apps with Power Apps and Dataverse

If you still want to gain a Power Platform certification, then look at either PL-200 or PL-500.

Vlad has made a video that gives more information.

MCT Lounge

This post is for Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) only.

There are a lot of changes coming to the MCT Program in the next few year. Many of these are to solve long term issues and to update out of date information.

Microsoft will no longer send emails with changes to MCTs as they have historically been issues with people opting out of emails to the address they use for MCT.

So you will need to regularly check the new MCT Lounge for changes that will affect you delivering training courses.

If you do not access to the MCT Lounge, here are the steps to get access How to request access to MCT Lounge

European MCT Summit 2024

The European MCT summit is being held the the Netherlands from January 14th to 17th. All MCTs can register and learn from other MCTs on creating and delivering training.

I am speaking on the first day on Beyond MOC: the future of ILT

 

and on the last day on New Microsoft Certified Trainer: What do I do now?

Register at https://www.mctsummit.nl

25% off my PL-200 exam prep book

Use code 25POWERDEAL at Amazom.com to get 25% off my exam prep book for the PL-200 Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant certification exam.

Click 25POWERDEAL

Code valid until December 15th 2023.

Enrique Lima award 2023

Last week I was awarded the Enrique Lima award. Enrique was an MCT who was passionate about the MCT program and a great mentor and advocate for MCTs who sadly passed away. The award was created by Microsoft Learning in his memory to recognize other MCTs who have made significant contributions to the MCT community.

I was surprised to even be nominated and in awe of previous awardees.

Being an MCT is harder than ever with many challenges facing instructors and I hope I can continue assisting MCTs in their journey to being better trainers.

More details in the MCT Lounge https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/mct-program-announcements/announcing-the-2023-enrique-lima-award-winner-and-finalists/ba-p/3978785 (MCTs only)

Where have my certifications gone?

Looking at Microsoft Learn recently, I noticed a few changes which seems to have confused a lot of people.

First, Certifications appeared to be missing from my profile https://learn.microsoft.com/users/me. In fact, certifications have been replaced with Credentials which you can find at https://learn.microsoft.com/users/me/credentials?tab=credentials-tab in the Certifications tab.

The change is to allow for  a new credential, Applied Skills, which I will write more about in a later post.

The second change is on the main Training page on Learn https://learn.microsoft.com/training. Courses have disappeared from the menu and can now be found under Training –> Browse all training.

Here are now listed Learning Paths, Modules, and Courses. There is a filter in the bottom left of the screen to just list courses.

Similarly, exams are now under Credentials –> Browse credentials.

I hope this helps.

Microsoft Ignite

Ignite starts on Wednesday for those attending virtually. Sign up at https://ignite.microsoft.com

AI will be the focus this year. I’m not attending in person this year but will be moderating two sessions:

• BRK402LL – Learn Live: Generate images with Azure OpenAI Service https://aka.ms/learnlive-at-ignite-23-Ep2

• BRK404LL – Learn Live: Build an AI-enabled chat w/ Azure OpenAI & Azure Cosmos DB  https://aka.ms/learnlive-at-ignite-23-Ep4

Dynamics 365 exam changes

Some changes to exams have been announced. Here is a summary

• MB-820: Business Central Developer. This exam has been eagerly awaited and will be released in January 2024.
• MB-300: Core Finance and Operations. The exam is being retired and its content will be included in the other MB-3×0 exams.
• MB-220: Marketing Functional Consultant. This is being renamed to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (Journeys) Functional Consultant in line with the product name change.
• MB-260: Customer Data Platform Specialist. This is being renamed to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (Data) Specialist in line with the product name change.

For the full details go to https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-learn-blog/microsoft-learn-updates-to-our-business-applications-training/ba-p/3768924

Microsoft Learn AI Skills Challenge

Learn and develop essential AI skills with the Microsoft Learn AI Skills Challenge by completing unique Microsoft Learn collections! Join my learning community and learn together.

There are 4 challenges you can choose from:

• Cognitive Services Challenge
• AI Builder Challenge
• Machine Learning Challenge
• Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) Challenge

The challenge begins on July 17th!

If you are interested in taking part you need to:

1. Sign up for the Microsoft Build Cloud Skills Challenge on Microsoft Learn.
2. Sign up for my Learning Room
3. Attend my session on in the AI Skills Challenge channel on July 20th.

#LearnMicrosoftAI #MVPBuzz

Careers in Dynamics 365

I will be presenting at the Microsoft Dynamics 365 career and training webinars.

• What is Microsoft Dynamics 365 and what does it help organizations do?
• What kinds of careers are there in the Dynamics 365 space?
• What do job prospects and growth look like for a career in Dynamics 365?
• What kinds of skills do I need to go into Dynamics 365, how do I prepare for a career in Dynamics 365, and what are hiring managers looking for?

For more details see https://itmever.cloudreadyskills.com/landing/dynamicswebinars