Have Microsoft Certifications and Looking for MCT Training? The Professional Opportunity Is Now Much Bigger.
Your Microsoft certifications can establish valuable technical knowledge and expertise.
But knowing Microsoft technology and developing other people are different professional capabilities.
If your goal is to teach, facilitate, coach, present, enable customers, support implementations, or transfer technical expertise, professional instructor development can extend the value of what you already know.
You Already Have the Expertise. Now Build the Capability to Transfer It.
What Comes After Technical Expertise?
Professional instructor capability strengthens your ability to make technical knowledge valuable to other people.
- Explain complex technology clearly
- Engage professional learners
- Demonstrate real-world application
- Facilitate technical discussion
- Ask better questions
- Coach through difficult concepts
- Provide meaningful feedback
- Adapt across audiences and environments
- Transfer expertise into capability
Your certification demonstrates expertise. Your instructor capability determines how effectively you can transfer it.
If MCT Is Your Objective, Microsoft Controls the MCT Path.
Microsoft determines the current requirements for the Microsoft Certified Trainer program.
Microsoft controls MCT eligibility, enrollment, participation requirements, renewal requirements, policies, and other conditions associated with the Microsoft Certified Trainer program.
Professionals specifically pursuing MCT should verify Microsoft's current requirements directly with Microsoft rather than relying on historical MCT qualification information.
FDTEC Certified Instructor™ does not replace Microsoft's MCT requirements, and FDTEC does not determine who currently qualifies for MCT.
But the professional development question is bigger than whether a particular Microsoft certification currently meets a vendor-program requirement.
The larger question is:
What can you do with the expertise your Microsoft certifications helped you build?
Microsoft Certification Can Establish Expertise. Professional Instructor Development Multiplies What You Can Do With It.
Technical certification and professional instructor capability solve different problems. Together, they can create something more valuable.
FDTEC Has Been Developing the People Behind Technology Learning Since 1999.
Our understanding of professional instructor capability was built through more than 25 years of working with technology professionals.
We Understand the Difference Between Knowing the Technology and Teaching the Technology.
FDTEC was the longest-serving provider of MCT instructional-skills development before Microsoft moved that function in-house.
For more than two decades, FDTEC worked with professionals who already possessed Microsoft technical expertise and wanted to develop the capability to teach and transfer that expertise effectively.
That experience reinforced a distinction that remains just as important today:
Technical expertise and professional instructor capability are not the same thing.
A certification can demonstrate what you know. Professional instructor development strengthens your ability to communicate, facilitate, coach, question, engage, adapt, solve problems, and transfer that knowledge to others.
Brand recognition is one thing. Twenty-five-plus years of professional instructor-development experience is another.
Cross-Platform by Design Is Built on Cross-Ecosystem Experience.
Microsoft expertise can be a powerful foundation. But modern technology professionals increasingly operate across interconnected platforms, technologies, teams, clients, and business environments.
Microsoft
A longstanding foundation in Microsoft technical instructor development and the MCT community.
CompTIA
Experience supporting professional development across the broader IT certification ecosystem.
Linux / LPI
Experience across Linux, open technology, and professional technical learning.
Splunk
Experience within specialized enterprise technology learning and professional development.
NIST Training Provider Experience
FDTEC's cross-ecosystem foundation also includes experience connected to NIST training and professional capability development.
Technical Knowledge Becomes More Valuable When You Can Make It Usable by Other People.
Know the Technology
Technical certifications and real-world experience establish the subject-matter foundation.
Develop the People
Professional instructor capability strengthens communication, facilitation, presentation, coaching, questioning, feedback, and learner engagement.
Transfer the Capability
Effective knowledge transfer helps another person move from exposure to understanding, application, and independent performance.
The Next Evolution of Professional Instructor Development™
Professional instructor development should no longer be limited by a single technology platform, vendor program, job title, or instructional environment.
The workplace is increasingly cross-functional. Technology is increasingly interconnected. Professional instructors need capability that can move across both.
Cross-Platform Isn't Just About Technology Platforms. It Is About Professional Portability.
Your expertise may begin with Microsoft. Your career and professional impact do not have to end there.
The ability to communicate, facilitate, coach, present, question, adapt, solve problems, and transfer knowledge can remain valuable as technologies, employers, clients, roles, and industries change.
Technical Training
Develop professionals working across changing technologies and technical environments.
Customer Education
Help customers understand, adopt, and apply products, services, and solutions.
Consulting
Translate specialist expertise into clearer client understanding and capability.
Implementation
Transfer critical knowledge during deployment, integration, modernization, and change.
Corporate Learning
Move knowledge across teams, functions, departments, and organizational initiatives.
Professional Services
Strengthen communication between specialists, customers, teams, and stakeholders.
Workforce Development
Develop professionals for changing technologies, roles, and work environments.
Technical Leadership
Coach teams, facilitate decisions, and multiply expertise across the organization.
Bring the expertise you already have. Build the professional instructor capability you can take anywhere.
Now Build the Capability to Transfer It.
FDTEC recognizes that serious professional expertise can be demonstrated through both credentials and real-world professional experience.
Recommended Foundation — Relevant Technical, Industry, or Professional Certification
Your existing certification can provide the subject-matter foundation for professional instructor development.
Accepted Experience Pathway — 1+ Year of Relevant Professional Experience
Professional expertise is not demonstrated through certification alone. Relevant professional experience can also provide the foundation for FCI.
Credential → FCI OR Experience → FCI
15 Professional Instructor Competencies. One Cross-Platform Professional Capability.
FCI complements the technical expertise you already possess by developing the human capabilities required to teach, facilitate, coach, engage, and transfer that expertise effectively.
Communication & Presence
- Communication
- Active Listening
- Presentation
- Emotional Intelligence
- Executive Presence
Facilitation & Engagement
- Facilitation
- Questioning
- Classroom Management
- Conflict Resolution
- Adaptability
Development & Transfer
- Coaching
- Feedback
- Critical Thinking
- Problem Solving
- Knowledge Transfer
Training Is Not the Objective. Capability Is.
Professional instruction should accomplish more than delivering technical information.
The learner should understand the knowledge, retain what matters, apply it in context, and become increasingly capable of performing without depending on the instructor.
Turn Your Existing Expertise Into Professional Instructor Capability.
You invested in technical expertise. Now strengthen your ability to make that expertise valuable to other people.
FDTEC Certified Instructor™
Cross-platform professional instructor certification for professionals who want to strengthen their ability to develop other people.
- 15 professional instructor competencies
- Knowledge Transfer Effectiveness™
- Cross-platform professional capability
- Professional instructor certification
- FDTEC credential and verification
FCI Capstone Verified
Add applied performance validation for professionals who want additional evidence of their ability to apply professional instructor capability.
- Includes the FCI pathway
- Applied Capstone performance
- Professional instructor capability validation
- Knowledge-transfer application
- Enhanced evidence of applied capability
Organizations Need Technical Expertise That Can Move.
Organizations invest heavily in Microsoft-certified professionals, cloud specialists, technical consultants, implementation teams, professional services teams, and subject-matter experts.
But expertise concentrated in individuals does not automatically become organizational capability.
Professional instructor development helps organizations build people who can transfer critical knowledge across teams, customers, functions, implementations, and generations of talent.
From Technical Expertise to Organizational Capability
- Subject-matter expert development
- Technical instructor development
- Customer education
- Internal enablement
- Implementation knowledge transfer
- Professional services capability
- Cross-functional communication
- Technical leadership development
Microsoft Certifications, MCT Training and Professional Instructor Development
Do Microsoft certifications automatically qualify someone for MCT?
Microsoft controls the Microsoft Certified Trainer program and determines its current qualification requirements. Professionals pursuing MCT should verify current eligibility directly with Microsoft rather than relying on historical qualification lists.
Does FDTEC determine which Microsoft certifications qualify for MCT?
No. Microsoft determines MCT eligibility and program requirements. FDTEC does not determine whether a particular Microsoft certification currently qualifies a candidate for MCT.
Does FDTEC still provide its former Microsoft MCT instructional-skills course?
Microsoft moved that function in-house. FDTEC was the longest-serving provider of MCT instructional-skills development before Microsoft made that transition.
Why is Microsoft certification still relevant to professional instructor development?
Microsoft certification can establish valuable subject-matter expertise. Professional instructor development complements that expertise by strengthening the capability to communicate, facilitate, coach, present, engage, and transfer knowledge effectively.
Is FDTEC Certified Instructor™ the same as Microsoft Certified Trainer?
No. MCT is Microsoft's credential. FDTEC Certified Instructor™ is FDTEC's cross-platform professional instructor certification. FCI is designed to complement existing technical, industry, professional, or subject-matter expertise.
Can Microsoft certification provide the foundation for FCI?
Yes. Relevant Microsoft certification can provide a technical or professional foundation for FCI. FCI then focuses on developing professional instructor capability rather than replacing or recertifying that technical expertise.
Do I have to hold Microsoft certification to pursue FCI?
No. FCI is cross-platform. Relevant technical, industry, or professional certifications from multiple ecosystems can provide the recommended foundation. FDTEC also accepts an experience pathway based on at least one year of relevant professional experience.
Does FCI certify Microsoft technical expertise?
No. FCI does not replace or certify Microsoft technical expertise. It develops and credentials professional instructor capability.
What does Cross-Platform Professional Instructor Certification mean?
It means professional instructor capability is designed to complement expertise across technologies, industries, organizations, and professional environments rather than being restricted to one technology vendor.
What is Knowledge Transfer Effectiveness™?
Knowledge Transfer Effectiveness™ focuses professional instruction beyond information delivery toward learner understanding, retention, application, and capability.
What is FCI Capstone Verified?
FCI Capstone Verified adds applied performance validation for professionals who want additional evidence of their ability to apply professional instructor capability.
Your Microsoft Certifications Built Expertise. Now Build the Capability to Transfer It.
Your technical expertise has value. Professional instructor capability can help you make that expertise more useful to learners, customers, teams, clients, and organizations.
The Next Evolution of Professional Instructor Development™
Your expertise may begin with Microsoft. Your professional instructor capability should belong to you.