WTIA Achievement Award Finalist 2010 Azaleos has been selected as a finalist in the "Service Provider of the Year" category for the 15th Annual Washington Technology Industry Association's (WTIA) Industry Achievement Awards.
MCA and MCM: The Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) and Microsoft Certified Masters (MCM) programs are the top tier and second tier (respectively) training & certification programs available from Microsoft today for Microsoft Server engineers. Entrance into these programs has stringent prerequisites including a minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience on each product, ensuring that the individuals accepted already possess many of the unique skills necessary to be effective in such a position. Years of consulting experience on Exchange, SharePoint or Lync are required, in addition to passing a lab based entrance exam. Currently there are less than 100 MCA certified technicians (covering only Exchange, SQL and Windows Servers) and less than 500 MCM technicians in the world. Azaleos employs both an MCA and two MCM's today who oversee all designs and deployments to ensure the highest level of quality for our customers. MCTS and MCITP: The Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification and the more advanced Microsoft Certified IT Professional certification are both proven accreditations from Microsoft which establish a level of technical expertise on Windows, Exchange, SharePoint and Lync. Azaleos employs a number of MCTS and MCITPs and requires all new hires to either have an MCTS certification that specializes in messaging/UC or for the newly hired person to have achieved this certification within 3 months of their hire date. This requirement is for all Azaleos operations staff from our Jr. Level operations technicians to the Executive Director of Operations.
PMP (Project Management Professional) Certification: One of the most valued credentials in project management, the PMP credential assures employers that you are committed to project management. Earning and maintaining this credential demonstrates a solid foundation to experience in effectively managing projects. Our PMP certified team ensures that our employees perform their duties under general supervision and are responsible for all aspects of the project, can lead cross functional teams to deliver projects within the constraints of schedule and budget deadlines and demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to apply methodologies to a project and execute on meeting all deliverables. SAS70 Certification: A SAS 70 audit is a demonstration of both the legal and business commitment to superior levels of reliability, availability and security. This certification is widely recognized standard representing a service organization's completion of an in-depth audit of their control objectives and control activities which includes controls and safeguards over information technology and related processes. Microsoft Gold & Silver Certified Partner: Gold Certified Partners represent the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies, and have the closest working relationship with Microsoft. The criteria to qualify for Microsoft competencies requires partners to pass technical exams and business assessments, acquire certifications, provide multiple customer references per competency, and a Customer Satisfaction Index. Currently there are more than 400,000 Microsoft partners worldwide eligible to attain these Microsoft competencies. Of these, fewer than 7% have achieved one or more of the 29 available competencies. Azaleos holds a Gold level certification in both the Unified Communications (Exchange and Lync) and the Portals & Collaboration (SharePoint) competencies and a Silver level certification in the Mobility, ISV and Midmarket Solution Provider competencies. Microsoft Exchange TAP (Technical Adoption Program) partner: Azaleos is one of only 40 customers and partners that are allowed to review and test Exchange Solutions months before they are released.
