I looked at this page and it seems to cover what exams will count toward a MCSA

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us ... .aspx#tab2

And 70-680 is counted as "client operating systems" which you need only one of.

You say that having the Network+ and 70-680 will take you half way towards the MCSA. I don't think thats quite true. You may have ticked half of the requirement boxes, but as for the amount of work involved, I think you are way off half way.

Personally, I think that the MCSA and MCSE should be left alone in my opinion, and Server 2008 would be more beneficial, but as you said, you have put a lot of thought into it so if that's what you think would be better for you, then go for it.

Plus a note of caution...

It may be true that at the moment there are still quite a lot of jobs being advertised for people who hold the MCSA and MCSE certification, but bare in mind that most people who hold those certs have had them for quite a long time now. Trying to gain that certification now would not necessarily mean you could land a good job with it as there are many many people out there who posess it with a whole lot of experience to boot. Employers are far more likely to hire someone with the MCSA and 10+ years experience than someone who has only just been certified.

jimmy_b has brought up a good point. MCSA is considered an Advanced level Certification. And most people who have this cert are going to have 4 or more years of experience. And keeping in mine that the MCSA is a Server 2003 cert, and MCITP is for Sever 2008. Yes most businesses are still running 2003, and I would think they will be migrating to Server 2008 in the near future. I know that we have moved up to Server 2008 already.

This is a hard choice, but at the same time if your fairly new to IT. It maybe a better idea to get your MCITP first, then go back and take a Server 2003 exam. Rather then get your MCSA and trying to upgrade that later. There are going to be a ton of jobs in the near future that want a MCITP. It's newer and will be the norm like MCSA is now. IMHO