Are you toying with the idea of doing an MCSE? It's very possible then that you'll fall into one of two camps: You're currently an IT professional and you'd like to consolidate your skill-set with an MCSE certification. In contrast this might be your initial foray into the IT environment, and you've found that there are many opportunities for people with the right qualifications.

As you find out about training providers, ensure that you stay away from those that compromise their offerings by not providing the latest level of Microsoft development. This is no use to the student because they'll have been studying an old version of MCSE which isn't in line with the current exam syllabus, so it will make it very difficult for them to pass. Don't use training companies who're just out to sell you anything. Advisors should be helping to verify that you are registering on the correct course. Don't allow yourself to be sold some generic product by some pushy sales person.

'Windows' NT Operating systems are now very few and far between, though quite a number of 'Windows' '2000' still remain. The most commonplace is server '2003', with server '08 still in it's early days. As this is the situation within the business environment, most of Microsoft's accreditations continue to be based around the 2003 Operating System. While the Microsoft MCSA & 'MCSE' accreditations have been available for a number of years now, (keeping up with 'Windows' Server through its progressions,) the 'MCSA' 2003 & MCSE 2003 are the mainstay of present day Microsoft Network accreditation. It should nevertheless be noted that upgrade training to server 2008 is coming, & sensible wherever feasible.

There is a tidal wave of change coming via technology as we approach the second decade of the 21st century - and it only gets more exciting every day. We're at the dawn of starting to understand what this change will mean to us. The way we interrelate with the rest of the world will be significantly affected by technology and the web.

And don't forget that on average, the income of a person in the IT market in the United Kingdom is much greater than in other market sectors, therefore you will most likely earn a lot more in the IT sector, than you could reasonably hope to achieve elsewhere. It would appear there's a lot more room for IT industry expansion in the United Kingdom. The sector is still growing enormously, and we don't have anywhere near enough qualified skilled IT professionals to fill current job vacancies, so it's not likely that it will even slow down for a good while yet.

If you forget everything else - then just remember this: You have to get round-the-clock 24x7 instructor and mentor support. You will have so many problems later if you don't follow this rule rigidly. some companies only provide email support (slow), and phone support is usually just a call-centre which will chat nicely with you for 5 minutes to ask what the issue is and then simply send an email to an instructor - who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, at a suitable time to them. This is all next to useless if you're lost and confused and have a one hour time-slot in which to study.

Keep looking and you'll come across professional training packages who offer direct-access online support 24x7 - no matter what time of day it is. Never settle for a lower level of service. 24x7 support is the only way to go for computer-based training. Maybe late-evening study is not your thing; but for the majority of us however, we're at work during the provided support period.

Be alert that all accreditations you're studying for will be recognised by employers and are up-to-date. 'In-house' exams and the certificates they come with are often meaningless. If your certification doesn't come from a conglomerate such as Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA or Adobe, then it's likely it will be commercially useless - as it'll be an unknown commodity.