As a follow-up to my posts SQL Server “Denali”: New Certifications and SQL Server 2012: New Certifications, there are now final details coming out about the SQL Server 2012 certifications.  The major news:

• UPDATE: Anyone can take the beta exams for free.  Just click here
• Two new Professional-level certifications will be introduced for SQL Server: the Data Platform certification and the Business Intelligence certification
• The database developer and database administrator certifications were merged into an overall Data Platform certification
• To achieve a Professional-level certification you must successfully pass five exams
• The beta versions of these exams are scheduled to release in late March 2012 (see Register for SQL Server 2012 Beta Exam).  Beta exams use the identifier 71-xxx instead of 70-xxx. NOTE: You can signup to take the beta exams now at Prometric.   If you pass a beta exam, the exam credit will be added to your transcript, and you will not need to take the exam in its released form
• The certifications will be available in June 2012
• To upgrade from a Professional-level SQL Server 2008 certification (MCITP) to a Professional-level SQL Server 2012 certification, you must successfully pass three exams, rather than five.  More information will be provided on upgrade paths in mid-April
• Each professional-level certification will require recertification every three years.  For more info, check out the frequently asked questions about recertification
• There is not a product version in the certification titles due to the recertification requirement
• The first exam for the new SQL Server 2012 Master-level certification is scheduled to be available in beta version in June.  More information will be available in mid-April
• There is a new book series called Exam Reference, which will map directly to the objectives on the exam. Some exams will have Training Kits and others will have Exam References

The seven exams for SQL Server 2012 are:

• Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-461) [BI and DP] (info) (course)
• Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases (70-462) [BI and DP] (info) (course)
• Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-463) [BI and DP] (info) (course)
• Developing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases (70-464) [DP] (info) (course)
• Designing Database Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-465) [DP] (info)
• Implementing Data Models and Reports with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-466) [BI] (info) (course)
• Designing Business Intelligence Solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (70-467) [BI] (info)

I have indicated which certification (“Business Intelligence” [BI] or “Data Platform” [DP]) each exam fits into).

So if you have the three MCITP certifications (Business Intelligence Developer, Database Administrator 2008, and Database Developer 2008) and want to get both the Business Intelligence certification and the Data Platform certification, you will need to take four upgrade exams.

More info:

Learning resources from Microsoft

Frequently Asked Questions