Are people still getting Microsoft Certifications?

You bet. I didn't know we published these numbers but we do:

https://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/certified.mspx

SOme interesting points. More .NET developers certify on Web applications than on Windows Applications. There haven been more Visual Studio 6.0 MCSD's than there are Microsoft .NET MCSD's. But it's clear that the latter will catch up. Also I see a very low number of certifications on VSTS. Probably because the certifications are recent.

Not sure how the situation is around the globe but in Belgium, there's definately a shortage of .NET developers. So if you're a .NET developer with a certification, you're going to be in a great position to negotiate.

Update: Just got a message from Tom Mertens about a deal that's running until January 2008. Apparently if you take an exam in that timeframe and fail, you get a free retrial (second shot information). For me (and other lazy people :-)) this would mean I first try to pass the exam without studying and then curse and study like hell for the retrial.

 

Microsoft credential Certification Worldwide achievers

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)

.NET Framework 2.0: Distributed Applications

.NET Framework 2.0: Web Applications

.NET Framework 2.0: Windows Applications

SQL Server 2005: Business Intelligence Development

SQL Server 2005

BizTalk Server 2006: Custom Applications

Business Desktop Deployment Solution Accelerator 2.0

Business Desktop Deployment with the BDD

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007: Configuration

Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Application Development

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration

Microsoft Team Foundation Server: Configuration and Development

Windows Mobile 5.0: Application Development

Windows Mobile 5.0: Configuration

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Application Development

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration

Windows Vista: Configuration

3,030

8,392

5,075

227

18,537

1,253

1,931

963

990

590

370

1,696

195

98

117

316

1,040

4,316

Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD)

 

73,905

Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD)

Microsoft .NET

Visual Studio 6.0

30,975

46,157