IT Management: Microsoft Certifications You Need to Know

As the economy continues to (slowly) improve and businesses open their wallets for new hardware and software, the need has grown for IT pros who can manage the ins and outs of those businesses' increasingly heterogeneous environments. Instead of having to manage a handful of on-premises servers and a couple floors' worth of thin clients, your IT administrator today faces everything from executives wanting their mobile devices integrated into the company's IT infrastructure to new server technologies that seek to bridge the gap between on-premises and cloud. Many of those businesses are Microsoft shops, which makes certification in Microsoft technologies important for those IT pros who want to work at many companies. The following slideshow features the "rungs" in the ladder of Microsoft certification, starting with Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist and heading up all the way to Microsoft Certified Architect. Many of these position take years' worth of experience and work (not to mention cash), but for some IT pros, that sacrifice translates into more than enough technical know-how to do their jobs—and maybe prepare them for the next paradigm shift in tech.