Whirlpool

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for an instructor led MSCE course. I was considering doing it on my own but have found I don't have the self discipline to do so at a reasonable pace, fortunately though my employer can pay up to $5000 for training. Reading the threads here it seems DDLS is the most respected but the cost of the full course (approx $16000) is way beyond my allocated budget. Currently i'm leaning towards icom or britannia, are there any other providers I should consider? Any TAFE's offering MCSE?

Thanks for any help!

Why are you wanting to do the MCSE?
What do you want to achieve by getting certified?
What is your background and experience?
What is your budget?
What is your timeframe?

More information about what you want to get out of it will help.

Sorry about the delay but to answer your questions, basically i'm hoping to move into a network or systems admin/engineer type role and figure that an MCSE cert would give me a good foundation knowledge wise. I think it would also compliment my CCNA.

My background is IT related although I haven't had solid experience in any particular field, at least in a commercial sense. I've got a Computer Science degree (which is almost useless now given I graduated uni close to 7 years ago) and have worked odd short term IT roles (mainly web design). I'm currently working as a "computer operator" with a large organisation in a data centre, it's a job a trained monkey could do and mainly involves monitoring tape drives and mounting tapes for various client backups. Basically the role hasn't benefitted me in the slightest with regards to the fields i'm interested in working in.

My company is able to fund $5000 per year for a course or 50% of the total cost. Ideally I'd like to stay within $5000. Time wise i'd be looking at starting in the next 2 or 3 weeks and would like to finish the cert within 6 to 12 months.

I hope I haven't babbled on too much, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi there.

As you are based in Melbourne you can forget about ICOM. They have just pulled the plug on all their day courses - unless you are happy with night classes. Myself and 2 colleagues have just asked for a refund on full MCSE training as a result of this. I attended 1 course there, and to sum the experience up ... you get what you pay for! Very basic setup, no official MS Curriculum guides and a very unimpressive tutor. Better off buying the book they supply you with on day 1 and teaching yourself!

Haven't heard of Britannia, but I may check them out myself.

hi CostaMikka

I work for Excom Education and generally if you are looking at a $5k budget you're going to be hardpressed for any authorised training centre. Within your budget you might try the non authorised colleges but make sure you do your homework first as they aren't regulated as much as authorised. Things I would look out for are:

Ask to take a look at a copy of the courseware they use
Ask about trainer credentials
Ask about what numbers they need to run the course and course cancellations
I'd even ask to sit in on a course for an hour or two just to get an idea of what training there would be like.

feel free to send me a whim if you have any other questions

What's the best place to do an instructor-led MCSE course in Melbourne?

And what are the costs?

instructor led - dvd any good????

www.cbtnuggets.com - very good!!!

(check out their free videos - short runs for what you will get)

did mine at excom, they were pretty damn good tbh although they were around the same price as ddls.