New certification for Microsoft 365 Exchange Support Engineers.

As part of Microsoft’s continued expansion of Microsoft 365 training and certification portfolio, we’re pleased to announce the new Microsoft 365 Certified: Exchange Online Support Engineer Specialty certification, which was launched in Apr as beta version.

Microsoft Exchange Support engineers are professionals who have the energy and expertise to resolve difficult technical issues. They also drive the resolution of highly complex support incidents related to solution-specific development and deployment. In addition to collaborating with other technical specialists on case reviews, troubleshooting, and effective customer interaction, support engineers also:

• Own, troubleshoot, and solve technical issues, using collaboration, best practices, and transparency within and across teams.
• Identify technical or strategic cases that require escalation.
• Create and maintain incident management requests for the product group or engineering group.
• Contribute to case deflection initiatives, automation, and other digital self-help assets to improve customer and engineer experience.

These professionals are critical for organizations, especially given their specialized tasks. And a significant role is that of support engineer for Microsoft Exchange Online. The new certification is key for professionals in this field.

Is the Microsoft 365 Certified: Exchange Online Support Engineer Specialty certification right for you?

You could be an excellent candidate for this certification if you have subject matter expertise in identifying, troubleshooting, and resolving issues with Microsoft Exchange Online and hybrid Exchange environments, along with related components, technologies, and services.

Professionals in this role work with customers and other stakeholders to understand the details of any issues. They also regularly interact with administrators and peers that work with related technologies.

Candidates for this certification should have experience with PowerShell and the Exchange PowerShell module. They need deep familiarity with deploying and managing Exchange Online environments.

Support engineers interested in earning this new certification need to pass Exam MS-220: Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online certification exam.

The MS-220 exam measures your ability to troubleshoot the following issues: mail flow; compliance and retention; mail client; Exchange Online configuration; and hybrid and migration.

Skills measured

Unlock support engineer opportunities

Earning the new Exchange Online support engineer credential can help you open career doors and take the next step in your career journey—whether it’s a spot on another team or a role in an upcoming project that interests you. This certification is of particular value to individuals who are looking to validate their advanced troubleshooting expertise—both internal and external—with Exchange Online.

Support engineers have very specialized fields of action. Therefore, Microsoft created a certification portfolio specifically for them so that they can prove their skills and experience in those specific areas. This new set of globally recognized, industry-endorsed Microsoft Certifications can help distinguish support engineers from their peers and can help cloud solution providers (CSPs) gain a competitive advantage. Valuable in any organization, professionals in this role are especially critical for CSPs and will continue to be in demand as the pace of digital transformation increases more and more in the coming years.

Exchange Online support engineers are especially effective for CSPs that are looking to stay competitive by building new capabilities with existing technology, that want to build or expand their support structure to meet ongoing customer support needs, and that need to develop current support engineers to expand their skill sets with advanced troubleshooting techniques. They might also want to expand their current team with Microsoft certified troubleshooting engineers to efficiently analyze and resolve customer technical issues. These professionals can provide customers with an advanced level of technical support for their Microsoft Exchange online environments.

If you’re a support engineer but your area of expertise isn’t troubleshooting Exchange Online, consider other options in the portfolio. We first released Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Support Engineer Specialty certification and the associated Exam MS-740: Troubleshooting Microsoft Teams and we recently announced a new certification, Azure Support Engineer for Connectivity Specialty, along with Exam AZ-720: Troubleshooting Microsoft Azure Connectivity, which was available as beta at the end of March 2022.

The Azure Support Engineer troubleshoot hybrid environments, including issues with Azure Virtual Machines, virtual networks, and connectivity between on-premises and Azure services. They use various tools and technologies to diagnose and identify root causes for multiple complex technical issues. That said, Microsoft has indicated plans to release other support engineer specialty credentials in the near future.

Are you ready to take your skills to the next level as an Exchange Online support engineer? Get ready for Exam MS-220 (beta) and earn your Microsoft 365 Certified: Exchange Online Support Engineer Specialty certification. Get what you need to gain a competitive edge by earning an industry-recognized advanced troubleshooting credential, and validate your skills—for your career, your team, and your organization.

Source: Microsoft Learn Blog