Why choose an Accentient course over Microsoft’s?

   Accentient was involved in the initial design of the MOC2631 course, and therefore we knew exactly what to improve upon. Microsoft structured their course in a complex manner: the 3 day workshop only yields about 1½ days of content, because they slow down the delivery process. This leaves the developers trained using MOC2631 with very little understanding of VSTS. Another shortcoming is that every student in the MOC2631 course works together on the same project so each student’s work depends on someone else having completed a previous task. In using this role-based, dependent-style of workshop, the entire class is slowed down by any one person failing to complete a lab. When using this type of model, only the very basic hands-on labs are being used. This ensures that the three day time constraint is met.

Using this teaching approach leaves out extremely important aspects of VSTS:
  • How to migrate from Visual SourceSafe
  • How to conduct a build
  • Automatic testing during builds
  • Building generic test loads
  • Customization/extensibility
  • Discussing the use of “best practices”
  • Using unit tests
At the end of the day, MOC2631 is a simple workshop. Not only does Accentient offers more than a dozen different comprehensive courses to choose from, but all of our instructors lead the class with their experience and wisdom. We are able to offer real-life proven solutions to the complex issues encountered while working on software development projects. Accentient’s courses are focused towards seasoned development teams. In our experience, we have found that the majority of individuals who want Team System are already veteran software developers, architects, testers, database professionals, and project managers. We choose to treat them as the professionals they are and not as beginners! Our courseware aggressively covers many content areas and we don’t shy away from controversial topics. We address and share best practices at all times. We not only spend time showing our students the "hows" but have the expertise to explain the “whys” involved. This is something that a hands-on only workshop will not address.