Microsoft starts charging for its beta exam program
It's always great when something is free, but there is the danger that it becomes undervalued. That's precisely what seems to have happened with Microsoft's beta exam program, so the company has decided to start charging candidates to sit exams.
This is not so much about using the exams as a way of filling Microsoft's coffers, but more about trying to ensure that people who want to take the exams are able to. The Windows-maker says that there have been many instances of no-shows, and this is depriving others of a seat.
Microsoft says that there are always high levels of interest in the exams, but this does not translate into sufficient people turning up on the day. The company says that people failing to take part in exams they've signed up for often means that betas have to be extended, and it takes longer to gather data.
The solution is to charge people.
In a post on the Born To Learn blog, Microsoft's Liberty Munson explains:
Starting with our next beta, Exam 537: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack, we are introducing a model where the beta codes will be an 80% discount off the exam price rather than a 100% discount. If you take the beta exam, the 25% that you paid when registering for the beta exam will be applied to the next exam that you take within one year. It doesn’t matter if you pass or fail the beta exam. If you show up as you said you would for the beta exam, you will receive that 25% discount on a future exam—effectively making the beta free (plus a bonus!) by discounting your next exam. Simply put:
Get 80% off the 537 beta exam. If you take the beta exam, VUE will automatically apply a 25% discount to your next MCP exam registration.
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