Preparation Guide for Exam 70-281
Planning, Deploying, and Managing an Enterprise Project Management Solution
On This Page
 | Exam News |
| Audience Profile |
| Credit Toward Certification |
| Preparation Tools and Resources |
| Skills Being Measured |
Exam News
Exam 70-281 became available March 2, 2004.
Audience Profile
The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 credential is designed for IT professionals who work in the typically complex computing environment of medium to large companies.
Candidates for this exam operate in medium to very large computing environments that use the Windows 2003 Server operating system. They are familiar with basic project management concepts and the Microsoft Enterprise Implementation Framework. They have a minimum of three year's experience in IT. Typical environments in which they work have the following characteristics:
| • | Supported users range from 250-5,000+ |
| • | Multiple physical locations |
| • | Single distributed Project Server production environment |
| • | Typical products and technologies include Windows Server 2003, Internet Information Services 6.0 (IIS), Windows SharePoint Services technology, SQL Server 2000, Project Server 2003, Project Professional 2003, OLAP data services, Office web components, messaging and collaboration platforms, and network security products and technologies. |
Credit Toward Certification
When you pass the Planning, Deploying, and Managing an Enterprise Project Management Solution exam, you achieve Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) status. You also earn credit toward the following certifications:
| • | Elective credit toward Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 certification |
Preparation Tools and Resources
We make a wealth of preparation tools and resources available to you, including courses, books, practice tests, and Microsoft Web sites. When you are ready to prepare for this exam, here's where you should start.
Instructor-led Course for This Exam
| • | Course 2732: Planning, Deploying, and Managing an Enterprise Project Management Solution |
Microsoft Press Self-Paced Training
| • | Currently, a corresponding Microsoft Press title is not available. |
Microsoft Certified Practice Tests
| • | MeasureUp: Visit the MeasureUp Web site to take a practice test. |
| • | Self Test Software: Visit the Self Test Software Web site to take a practice test. |
Microsoft Online Resources
| • | TechNet: Designed for IT professionals, this site includes How-tos, best practices, downloads, technical chats, and much more. |
| • | MSDN: The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) is a reference for developers, featuring code samples, technical articles, newsgroups, chats, and more. |
| • | Training & Certification Newsgroups: A newsgroup exists for every Microsoft certification. By participating in the ongoing dialogue, you take advantage of a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with and ask questions of others, including more than 750 Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) worldwide. |
Skills Being Measured
This certification exam measures your ability to plan, deploy, and manage Project Server in an enterprise project management solution. Before taking the exam, you should be proficient in the job skills listed in the following matrix. The matrix shows which Microsoft Official Curriculum courses may help you reach competency in the skills being tested in the exam.
| KEY: |  = The course provides a general introductory overview of this task. You will need to supplement the course with additional work.  = The course includes some material to prepare you for this task. You will need to supplement the course with additional work.  = The course includes material to prepare you for this task. |
| Skills measured by exam 70-281 | Course 2732 |
| Planning an Enterprise Project Management Solution Deployment | |
Plan to secure the Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solution. Considerations include Project Server and client to server authentication methods, domain trust settings, virtual private network (VPN) settings, and extranet security. |  |
Plan the capacity for the EPM server infrastructure. Considerations include defining hardware, network capacity, and high availability specifications. | |
Plan the distribution of servers. Servers include Project Server, SQL Server, Windows SharePoint Services servers, application servers and OLAP servers. | |
Plan the client deployment. Considerations include the components necessary to support Project Professional, Outlook, and Project Web Access. | |
Plan the integration of the EPM solution with the existing environment. Considerations include Active Directory, Outlook, other directory services, and Windows SharePoint Services. | |
Create a migration or upgrade plan. | |
| Implementing an EPM Solution | |
Define the preferred order of installation for the EPM solution deployment. | |
Implement the Project Server supporting components, including SQL, OLAP data services, Windows SharePoint Services, SMTP server, and Internet Information Server (IIS). | |
Configure the distributed Project Server environments. | |
Install Project Server, including both pre-installation and post-installation tasks. | |
Implement customization components of the EPM solution. Considerations include integration with the existing environment including Project Data Service, Project Guide, Object Link Provider, and OLAP. |  |
Configure the client computers for connection to Project Server. | |
| Configuring an EPM Solution | |
Configure the Enterprise Global Template. | |
Create the Enterprise Resource Pool. Considerations are: importing data from other sources, including previous versions of Microsoft Project. | |
Configure Project Server security. | |
Configure Administrative Options for OLAP and Windows SharePoint Services. | |
Configure Administrative Settings and Views for Project Server. | |
Modify organization-specific options. Considerations include: Configure additional administrative options. Administrative options include non-working time, project versions, custom menus, enterprise features, Project Web Access customization, and licenses. | |
Migrate project data. Considerations include previous versions of Project and SharePoint Team Services. | |
| Creating a Management and Operations Plan for the EPM Solution | |
Create policies for account and resource management. | |
Create the data management plan for the EPM solution. | |
Create a Project Server monitoring and maintenance plan. | |
Create a disaster recovery plan. | |
| Troubleshooting Project Server | |
Diagnose and resolve issues regarding connectivity and authentication from client computers to Project Server. | |
Diagnose and resolve issues regarding connectivity and authentication with Windows SharePoint Services logon. | |
Diagnose and resolve installation issues. | |
Note: This preparation guide is subject to change at any time without prior notice and at Microsoft's sole discretion. Microsoft exams might include adaptive testing technology and simulation items. Microsoft does not identify the format in which exams are presented. Please use the exam objectives listed in this preparation guide to prepare for the exam, regardless of its format. Learn more, and download samples, on the Testing Innovations page.