| Get to know some of our talented authors featured in our author spotlights. Here you can see interviews, detailed biographies, and book summaries of some of the best in the industry.
BERG: Back in high school I wanted to become an English teacher or a History teacher and I wanted to write novels. It took me so long to get a bachelors degree that spending 2-4 more years in school to get a teachers certificate seemed like an eternity and I realized that writing is a tough business and unless your name is Stephen King, you may not ever make enough money to support yourself, so I pursued other careers. 10 years later, what do I do for a living? I teach Microsoft and Cisco classes and write computer books.
Other than work, I have a wife, Rebecca and a son Lloyd. And a dog Shari. Sharis the perfect dog because she never barks, she sleeps 20 hours a day, and she's housetrained. I live in Portland, Oregon, am a huge sports fan, and love watching Oregon Duck football and Portland Trailblazer basketball.
BERG: When I was approached by ReviewNet to write an exam, the thing that really intrigued me was the approach that the exams are for real world applications, not a certification test. I had recently finished the All-In-One MCSE Windows Server 2003 book for Osborne Publishing, which is strictly a book to help people pass the exams and the opportunity to do something a little different was really appealing to me.
BERG: I'm a bit of a sadist, but I thought it was really fun to write some really hard test questions! :) I took the approach that if you were going to hire someone, their ability to answer some really tough questions would hopefully mean that they really knew their stuff.
BERG: I had some outstanding teachers in High school that taught me the art of writing. Ever since, I had always wanted to write books. I had actually tried several times to do technical writing, but hadn't ever gotten even a nibble. I didn't have the right resume or something. Then last year I received an email from someone who said they were looking for authors for a 2003 certification book and would I be interested. I said sure and sent off a writing sample. It was actually funny, because I didn't really have anything, not having ever written before. I found a 35 page booklet that I had written back in 1998 for a real estate firm and sent it off. The publishers really liked it and called me the next day to offer me a job. It was quite a step going from a 35 page booklet to 300 pages of a highly respected technical series.
BERG: There are two things that I have done professionally that I take a lot of pride in accomplishing. The first is I started my own company, www.2WeekMCSE.com, and teach Microsoft MCSE and Cisco CCNA classes. The second is co-authoring the All-In-One MCSE Windows Server 2003 book for Osborne publishing.
BERG: I completed the All-In-One MCSE Windows Server 2003 book last summer and it was published in December. I am very proud of it and think that it was well written and clear. I enjoyed putting some humor into the book and in using analogies, like I do in the classroom. I used Brad Pitt and Jenifer Aniston going to the Viper room as an analogy for permissions. You'll have to read the book to find out what that is all about!
BERG: I'm lucky in that my job keeps me up to date. I get a chance to teach people and work with people that are usually smarter than I am. They ask good questions and we get a chance often to explore other subjects. I also put in a lot of personal study time to make sure that I am up to date as much as I need to be. Despite being considered an expert by other people in the IT field, I don't feel like an expert. I feel like there is so much I don't know, so it's easy for me to stay motivated to learn.
BERG: I wrote the ReviewNet test for Server 2003. I tried to focus on things that a systems administrator should know to be able to implement and configure a 2003 Server. I put a couple of questions in there that have real world answers rather than a Microsoft answer. There are numerous things that Microsoft advocates in their material and then test on that really aren't a viable option in the real world. I tried to write the exam from this perspective, not as a Microsoft test.
BERG: The great thing about the IT field is that anyone can do it. If I can do it, then really anyone can. The trick is in studying. I have seen some people try to go into IT and don't put in the time or effort to really learn anything. Or they learn one thing and that become gospel and they don't try to learn anything else. I have actually had people tell me that I can't install a second domain controller into the domain. I look at them a little funny and tell them they need to do a little bit of testing on their own.
If I were to counsel someone who was trying to get into the IT field, I would tell them to splurge on their education. And not just formal education. I have probably purchased a 100 different books over the last 6-8 years and have read most of them. If I don't understand a concept, then I go buy a different book and read about it there as well. Also, I think the most important part is practicing. I went out and bought a computer that I could use to install server on and play with it. A lot of people will tell you that you need several computers. That gets prohibitive sometimes because we can't all afford to run right out and buy six machines just to practice. There are some excellent products that allow you to set up virtual machines on your computer, so you can run a server and then have a virtual Windows XP Professaional workstation running at the same time. You can use DHCP, Group Policy, domains, etc., and really test things out to see how they work in a real network environment. VMWARE I think is the best product, although Microsoft has introducted it's Virtual PC recently. I would really stress practicing in order to learn.
BERG: Microsoft has made some very interesting choices over the last couple of years, and although it is hard to guess where things will go, I am very eager to see where the direction Windows Servers goes in the next few years. For one, Microsoft has traditionally tried to put as many features as possible into their product, and sometimes they end up with a server that has lots of features, but doesn't do any one thing particularly well. There are a lot of companies out there that have made a nice living off of providing services that Microsoft includes in their base product. (Remote Access, Terminal Services, etc.) One thing I have noticed with the different server products now available, Microsoft is trying to focus their servers a little more and to do a few things better. For example, I am a huge fan of Microsoft's DNS implementation. I was recently reading an article that compared several DNS appliances, and the cost of each was upwards of $10,000! And some of the appliances wouldn't work with AD! Microsoft has introduced several new servers, specifically aimed at providing a single service, such as Web Servers, Enterprise Servers, etc., and I think we will see more of those types of servers. Is an Exchange type server far behind? I don't think so.
BERG: I became a computer instructor in 1998. I had always wanted to be a teacher and I had an opportunity to get into the training end. After teaching for a short time, I knew I wanted to go farther and began to look around for different opportunities. Microsoft and Cisco both really intrigued me and I began studying and preparing myself to enter that field.
BERG: I think ReviewNet exams help weed out IT professionals who simply have a lot of book knowledge from the ones who actually know ho to do stuff.
BERG: I tried to focus my exam questions on real world applications and how a real IT person would solve the problem, not necessarily how Microsoft would.
BERG: I love my job and teaching is definately how I would like to spend most of my career. Running a business is also very rewarding and it's nice because I can schedule time off occassionally to spend time with my family. But if I were to leave the IT field, I would want to buy a golf course and drive around in my little cart all day and tell people to hurry up! No slow play allowed! I love being outside, and being in IT, there are too many days spent inside an office building when you really would like to be outside.
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