The Exam 70-554 or the “UPGRADE: MCSD Microsoft .NET Skills to MCPD Enterprise Application Developer by Using the Microsoft .NET Framework: Part 2” is one of the two upgrade exams for the professional developers. In addition, this exam is only for those who have obtained the certification on MCSD with the Microsoft .NET.

For you to be considered an examiner, you should have been trained in a team of a development environment that is medium to large in size. The team must employ the Visual Studio version 2005, as well as the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET version 2003 Enterprise Developer. As for the candidate’s experience, it has to be at least two years in developing applications using the Microsoft .NET Framework. You should also have an applicable knowledge on the Visual Studio version 2005. In addition, having three to five years of experience in enterprise application creation applied on a particular job or function is a must in this exam.

There are also online resources that are extremely useful in gaining more knowledge and techniques in order to pass this exam. Aside from a number of classroom training workshops, there are also useful e-learning modules from Microsoft. In addition, several books from the Microsoft press are available for review. There are also practice exams on the measureup.com and the selftestsoftware.com. Although these training and review tools do not really ensure your passing on the exam, they can certainly help you when you use them effectively.

Credit Toward Certification

You will earn credits for two different types of certifications when you pass this exam. One of the certification is the Microsoft Certified Professional Developer for the Enterprise Applications Developer. Obtaining this certification means that you possess essential skills in building n-tier solutions targeting both client user, as well as the Web experiences. To earn this, you need to complete three MCTS credentials within the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. The other is the certification for MCTS on .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications.

Skills Measured

For you to pass this test, you need to possess a number of skills that are developed through your experience in this field. One important skill is your ability to customize and configure a web service application. You also need to have the capability in developing and deploying remoting applications, in implementing enhancements for the web services, in developing a serviced component through message queuing, in designing an application and a component, and in testing an application.