One of the main reasons for this high turnover is the increasing demand for Microsoft certified professionals worldwide. An international survey shows that the US alone requires over 6,47,000 certified professionals. Nearly 80,000 such professionals are required in India.

Though the demand graph for these professionals is moving northwards, Microsoft Corporation is sure that it will not be looking at increasing the number of certified professionals at the expense of quality. In an interview with The Financial Express, Greg Goff, MCP programme manager, certification and skills assessment, Microsoft Corporation, the US, said that Microsoft is planningto make the validation process tougher so that ``only people who can do the job get the certification''.

``The certification is not meant to be just a ticket to a new job, but a validation of the competencies that are required in companies that deploy and use Microsoft technologies,'' he said.

Goff said that the requirements of organisations vary with each region and these have been incorporated in the Microsoft certification processes.

In places where the number of applicants for jobs are huge, ``the certification may help the employers differentiate between the candidates'', he said. Though there is no clear knowledge about how much of these skills are actually used by the employers, Goff hopes that ``it is very high''.

During the next 12 months, Microsoft will be ``focussing on Windows 2000''. ``That would mean, retraining and re-certifying the skill-sets that have trained on Windows NT.''

``And, to ensure the quality of the examination process, we have developed rigorous simulated tests,specially designed examinations, etc. The examinations are tough and not meant for some hairdresser. It is a real test of competency,'' he said.

Goff added that Microsoft is ``planning to crack down on those sites that promise to help people clear our certification examinations. Those Websites are of no help.'' India is one of the highest provider of solution developers. Given the high number of certified professionals in the country, it may be assumed that the pass percentage in the country too is quite high. But Goff does not reveal the actual percentage of people who get the certification. ``We do not reveal the data on this,'' he said.

Since, this is a non-profit venture, Microsoft is not keen on making a business out of certification. ``We are just creating the base for organisations to deploy and use Microsoft tools,'' he said. An immediate concern for the global major is control of piracy. ``We are tackling this problem,'' he said.

Microsoft's certification programme is indeed one of theindustry's most comprehensive programmes for assessing and maintaining software related skills. The Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) credential is for IT professionals who want to demonstrate expertise with a particular Microsoft product. ``Technical managers worldwide recognise the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) designation as a mark of quality, thereby turning the certifications into a benchmark for hiring people with the best technical skills on MS products,'' says a company release.

To ensure that the procedure for testing is objective and impartial, Microsoft has a partnership with Sylvan Prometric for validation of the certifications. Sylvan is an international testing body with over 125 testing sites in India and also runs GMAT, TOEFL exams.

Today, Microsoft has 42 education partners in India, which have around 130 CTECs between them offering a variety of Microsoft certification courses. The centres provide training that is based on a curriculum devised, produced and supplied byMicrosoft, which meets stringent requirements of quality and international standardisation.

For Internet professionals, Microsoft offers MCP certification with specialisation in Internet technologies, and qualifies professionals to plan security, install and configure server products, manage server resources and troubleshoot problems. For Website developers, Microsoft offers the MCP + Site builder credential, helping them to plan, build, maintain and manage Web sites using Microsoft technologies and products. The credential is useful for people who manage sophisticated, interactive Web sites that include database connectivity, multimedia and searchable content.

Microsoft offers the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) credential. MCSEs are qualified to effectively plan, implement, maintain, and support information systems in a wide range of computing environments using the Microsoft Windows NT Server and the Microsoft BackOffice integrated family of server products.