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MCA Review Board Process

Updated: February 20, 2008
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The Review Board is the final step toward the Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) Messaging and Database certifications. It is an interview session designed to measure the following candidate qualifications.

•Technical excellence
•Consulting excellence
•Ability to demonstrate technical and consulting excellence in a real world scenario

After successfully passing the Review Board, the candidate earns the Microsoft Certified Architect certification in their discipline.

Structure

The Review Board consists of four members and one facilitator. The Review Board is a scheduled session that takes place in a conference room with a large table, a projection screen, and a whiteboard.

The agenda for each session is structured as follows:

LengthTopicDescription

30 minutes

Candidate and Review Board introduction
Case study presentation

The goal of this session is to evaluate the candidate's recent experience in leading a complex project and to demonstrate whether the candidate has enough experience in leading customers to a satisfactory solution.

The candidate is expected to use the following list as a guide to help them present to the Review Board the pertinent topics from a real customer engagement.

•Overview
•Project goals and success criteria
•Details of initial state
•Example of a complex technical challenge
•Example of a political or conflict situation
•Details of end state

40 minutes

Q&A

The questions and answers (Q&A) discussion will be conducted in the form of an interview starting with the candidate's presentation and resumé. Throughout, the board will assess the candidate's strength across each core competency of the MCA certification.

5 minutes

Break

Candidate leaves the room during the break.

30 minutes

Role play

During the role play, the Review Board members will simulate customer situations where the advice of the consultant is necessary.

To simulate a real life engagement, the problem is not exposed in a clear and precise manner. The acting customer will not know exactly what solution they want and the consultant is responsible for providing guidance.

The Review Board members will each play a different role. Each role will represent a unique stakeholder audience (such as business person, technical person, or project manager).

The goal of the role play is to test the candidate's ability to perform the following:

•Ask the right questions in order to understand the overall problem.
•Define the problem and determine the best way to approach and solve it.
•Demonstrate confidence in leading the customer to a solution for the problem. Immediately build trust and show self confidence.
•Demonstrate experience in anticipating risks, based on the exposed problems.
•Demonstrate a project oriented mindset when explaining how to progress from the initial state to the envisioned end state. Effectively communicate major milestones and contingencies during this process.

Successful candidates are experienced Senior Consultants and Architects who have served as lead architects and understand how to transform a problem into a solution that satisfies the customer.

Communication skills (including listening and questioning) and self-confidence (not overconfidence) are essential to the candidate's success in this section of the process.

10 minutes

Q&A

Final questions and answers session

30 minutes

Board calibration and conclusion

The candidate leaves while the Review Board members perform the score and calibration process.

Review Board members

The Review Board is composed of four members, representing the following stakeholders:

•Two certified technical Architects who represent the community of certified architects
•One Microsoft product group representative
•The MCA program manager

The Review Board members are selected according to their seniority, knowledge, performance, and their level of contribution to the community, customers, and the product group.

The names of Review Board members are not disclosed to candidates before the session.

The Review Board members are not allowed to answer to individual inquiries from candidates after their session.

Seven competencies evaluated in the Review Board session:


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Leadership. Candidates demonstrate their expertise in developing partnerships with all project stakeholders; they develop and lead strong teams and they achieve successful results. Additionally, they must demonstrate their ability to perform the following:

•Ask thought-provoking questions that translate into actionable technological patterns and solutions.
•Actively mentor other technology enthusiasts.
•Generate creative thinking that enables others to see a different and better perspective.
•Influence decision makers.
•Champion structure, process, best practices, and standards.
•Promote the acquisition and reuse of intellectual capital.
•Effectively build mutual partnerships and networks with organizations or other groups.

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Technology depth. Candidates demonstrate that they have an excellent understanding (400 level or higher) of the concepts and application of at least one core Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft SQL technology. They also demonstrate the ability to quickly assimilate and develop a deep understanding of new technologies

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Technology breadth. Candidates understand architectural best practices and can apply them across a breadth of messaging or database technologies to orchestrate a solution. They also have a vision of the future development of a technology and how it might influence current solutions. Additionally, they must be able to:

•Wisely use architectural best practices.
•Demonstrate a conceptual knowledge of multiple messaging or database technologies and components.
•Know what is coming in technology and how it might be managed.

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Strategy. Candidates demonstrate the understanding of project and operational frameworks and can use these frameworks in their projects. They also understand project management principals and how architects interact with project managers and business and IT stakeholders to deliver successful projects. In addition, they understand the economic dimension of projects and how costs influence the available choices for technology. They must also demonstrate their ability to perform the following:

•Synthesize industry-specific trends with regard to IT.
•Provide operational excellence and operational frameworks (such as MOF and ITIL).
•Demonstrate IT project portfolio management (ensure that the project fits the business), while balancing tactical requirements against strategic needs.
•Balance the needs of the users, management, operations, support, and finance to successfully address the strategic needs of the business.
•Apply and integrate the value of project management frameworks and best practices (such as MSF and PMBOK).

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Organization dynamics. Candidates show that they can recognize and work with key stakeholders to drive a project to a successful conclusion. They demonstrate the ability to negotiate and compromise, recognize the political landscape that influences a project throughout an organization, and then influence organizational politics for the success of their projects. They must also demonstrate their ability to perform the following:

•Adeptly maneuver through politically charged organizational situations.
•Effectively build mutual partnerships and networks with organizations or other groups.
•Maintain relationships with architects and project stakeholders.
•Understand the internal legal organization and ensure that legal guidelines are met.
•Manage compromise and conflict with composure.

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Tactical and process. Candidates demonstrate that they can gather and refine project requirements from both a technical and business perspective. They understand how to effectively prototype and test a solution and also showcase their talent to create effective project artifacts. They exhibit the ability to refine project goals and to identify and manage the tactics that are necessary to achieve those goals as the project develops. They must also demonstrate their ability to perform the following:

•Gather and analyze requirements (technical and business).
•Envision and create an infrastructure that can be implemented and scaled, and that meets customer and legal requirements.
•Model the project infrastructure and manage relationships and communications between project personnel.
•Prototype and prove the feasibility of the design.
•Create the design artifacts that are required to deliver and to maintain the infrastructure.
•See an infrastructure through until it is completed.
•Audit compliance with the letter and intent of the architecture.
•Monitor the ongoing implementation to identify opportunities for improvement.
•Refine the model as requirements change and as otherwise needed.
•Contribute to technical project management.

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Communication. Candidates demonstrate that they maintain well-written and accurate project documentation, that they can present information about a technical subject in a concise and measured manner, and that they can influence others. They effectively manage conflicts and customize their communication to the needs of the target audience. They must also demonstrate their ability to perform the following:

•Effectively listen and astutely observe.
•Communicate effectively and persuasively at the audience level (such as executive or technical).
•Effectively mediate and manage conflict.
•Document designs and specifications (following company practices).
•Communicate infrastructure constraints to solutions architects.
•Effectively facilitate meetings.

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