Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 (70-331) Core Solutions Certification

What You’ll Learn:

By the end of this course, learners will gain a solid understanding of SharePoint 2013's core capabilities and administrative features. Key topics include:

• Installing and configuring SharePoint Server 2013 from a bare-metal setup
  
  

• Understanding server roles, site collections, and application architecture
  
  

• Managing web applications and site collections
  
  

• Configuring service applications such as Managed Metadata, Search, and User Profile Service
  
  

• Implementing business continuity strategies including backup, restore, and high availability
  
  

• Administering SharePoint using PowerShell
  
  

• Managing permissions, authentication, and identity infrastructure
  
  

• Planning for security and compliance within a SharePoint deployment
  
  

• Configuring and managing enterprise content management features
  
  

• Monitoring and optimizing SharePoint performance
  
  

• Preparing thoroughly for the 70-331 Microsoft certification exam

This course is designed with a hands-on, scenario-based approach to help learners grasp not just what to do, but why they are doing it. By the end, you will have walked through building and managing a SharePoint Server 2013 solution suitable for enterprise use.

Course Overview:

This comprehensive course has been carefully developed for IT professionals, administrators, and learners who are preparing for the Microsoft 70-331 exam—one of the two key exams required to earn the Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE): SharePoint certification. The content is structured to offer an in-depth, hands-on, and accessible learning experience, focusing on the core concepts and practical skills needed to configure and manage Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 environments. Whether you’re an experienced administrator looking to validate your expertise or a motivated learner aiming to advance your career, this course provides the guidance, structure, and depth needed to prepare effectively for the exam and beyond.

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 is a powerful enterprise platform designed for collaboration, content management, and the integration of web-based business applications. It serves as a central hub for organizations to manage documents, automate business processes, enhance communication, and deliver secure, scalable information-sharing solutions. With its rich set of features—ranging from enterprise search and workflows to social computing and business intelligence—SharePoint plays a crucial role in the digital transformation of organizations. As such, professionals skilled in deploying and maintaining SharePoint environments are in high demand across various industries.

The Microsoft 70-331 exam specifically targets the skills and knowledge required to configure and manage a SharePoint Server 2013 infrastructure. This includes tasks such as planning and configuring site collections and portals, managing search services, implementing user profiles and business connectivity services, and ensuring the security and reliability of the SharePoint environment. Successfully passing the 70-331 exam demonstrates that a candidate is capable of designing and operating SharePoint environments that support business collaboration and data management needs.

This course goes well beyond theory by incorporating practical, real-world scenarios and implementation strategies. From the beginning, learners are introduced to the architecture of SharePoint 2013, gaining insight into its core components, service applications, and deployment topologies. You’ll learn how to plan, install, and configure a SharePoint farm, manage databases, and integrate with Active Directory for user authentication. Through step-by-step demonstrations, the course equips you with the skills to set up and manage essential SharePoint services, including Enterprise Search, Business Connectivity Services (BCS), User Profile Services, and Managed Metadata.

One of the distinguishing features of this course is its emphasis on day-to-day administrative tasks that SharePoint administrators routinely perform in real enterprise settings. You’ll gain hands-on experience in configuring permissions and access control, setting up and managing site collections, handling backups and restorations, monitoring system performance, and applying patches and updates. By mastering these tasks, you’ll be better prepared not only for the exam but also for the practical challenges of managing SharePoint in a production environment.

In addition, the course offers targeted guidance on exam preparation strategies, helping learners focus on the most important topics, understand the exam objectives, and build confidence through practice and repetition. Each module is aligned with the skills measured in the 70-331 exam, ensuring a focused and efficient study path.

Ultimately, this course provides a solid foundation in SharePoint Server 2013 administration and a clear path to certification. Whether you’re working toward becoming an MCSE or looking to sharpen your SharePoint expertise to support your organization, this course equips you with both the theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience necessary to succeed in your professional journey.

Course Content Overview:

This course provides an in-depth and comprehensive learning journey into the administration and management of SharePoint Server 2013, designed for IT professionals, system administrators, and aspiring SharePoint specialists. It comprises 16 carefully structured sections and over 100 individual lectures, delivering more than 9 hours of high-quality, hands-on training content.

The curriculum is strategically organized to guide learners step-by-step, beginning with the foundational aspects of SharePoint and gradually advancing toward complex configuration, customization, and optimization topics. Whether you're a beginner just starting with SharePoint or a seasoned IT professional looking to deepen your expertise, the course has been designed to accommodate varying levels of experience and learning goals.

At the outset, the course introduces learners to the core architecture of SharePoint Server 2013, including its role within enterprise infrastructure and collaboration environments. Early sections cover essential topics such as installation planning, hardware and software prerequisites, and deployment methods, laying a solid groundwork for understanding how SharePoint integrates with broader IT systems.

From there, learners progress into more technical aspects, including the initial farm setup and configuration, Central Administration interface, and the use of Windows PowerShell for automation and scripting. A detailed walkthrough is provided for configuring service applications, including Search, User Profile, Managed Metadata, and Business Connectivity Services. The course explains how these services work together to power the collaborative capabilities that make SharePoint a powerful platform.

An important highlight of the course is the emphasis on PowerShell for SharePoint. Students will learn how to perform a wide variety of administrative tasks using scripts, from provisioning new web applications to managing databases and automating repetitive tasks. Real-world use cases are provided to demonstrate how PowerShell enhances efficiency and reduces administrative overhead in enterprise environments.

The course also explores SharePoint Designer, a powerful tool for customizing SharePoint sites without writing extensive code. Learners will discover how to use Designer to create workflows, edit master pages, and design data views that extend the default functionality of SharePoint portals.

Advanced modules address critical topics such as health monitoring, troubleshooting, performance tuning, and high availability planning. These sections help students understand how to maintain a stable and responsive SharePoint environment and prepare them for challenges commonly faced in real-world implementations.

Throughout the course, there is a continuous focus on Microsoft best practices, providing guidance based on official recommendations and real-world scenarios. This ensures that students not only learn how to perform tasks, but also understand why certain approaches are more effective and secure in professional environments.

Additionally, learners are given insights into common SharePoint scenarios encountered in corporate settings, such as managing permissions across teams and departments, maintaining compliance with organizational policies, and configuring environments for internal and external collaboration.

Each section concludes with a summary or mini-assessment to reinforce key takeaways, allowing learners to test their understanding before moving on. The course is designed for progressive learning, but students can also choose to jump directly to specific topics that align with their professional needs or interests, such as configuring search services or managing workflows.

By the end of the course, learners will have acquired a solid understanding of SharePoint Server 2013’s capabilities and will be well-equipped to implement, manage, and troubleshoot SharePoint in a business environment. This course not only supports technical development but also prepares learners for related Microsoft certification exams, making it a valuable resource for both career development and on-the-job success.

Why Take This Course?

The Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert: SharePoint certification is highly respected in the IT industry. It demonstrates advanced skills in SharePoint technologies and shows employers that you are capable of designing, deploying, and managing enterprise-level SharePoint environments.

The 70-331 exam specifically focuses on the core solutions component of SharePoint Server 2013. This includes configuring and managing web applications, service applications, site collections, authentication mechanisms, and more. Passing this exam proves that you have the core competencies required to support SharePoint in business environments, whether as an administrator, consultant, or IT project manager.

This course helps prepare you for this challenge by guiding you through real-world tasks, emphasizing configuration accuracy, scalability, and adherence to Microsoft guidelines. You’ll learn how to optimize a SharePoint deployment for both usability and performance while ensuring security and compliance requirements are met.

As SharePoint remains widely used in large organizations for document management, collaboration, intranet portals, and business process automation, the demand for skilled SharePoint administrators continues to be high. By preparing for and passing the 70-331 exam, you open doors to roles such as SharePoint Administrator, Systems Engineer, Solutions Architect, and IT Manager.

Even though SharePoint Server 2013 is no longer the latest version, many organizations continue to use it due to infrastructure investments and custom solution development. Therefore, mastering this version still offers strong professional value.

Prerequisites

To maximize the benefits of this SharePoint Server 2013 course, it is important that learners come prepared with some foundational knowledge and skills. While the course is designed to be accessible and starts from the basics, having prior exposure to related technologies and concepts will greatly enhance your learning experience and enable you to grasp advanced topics more quickly and effectively.

First and foremost, a basic understanding of Windows Server environments is highly recommended. SharePoint Server 2013 is built on the Windows Server platform, and many of its core functions rely on Windows Server features such as Active Directory integration, file systems, and security configurations. Familiarity with navigating Windows Server operating systems, understanding server roles, and managing server resources will provide a strong framework on which to build your SharePoint knowledge. If you have experience installing or managing Windows Server roles like IIS (Internet Information Services), DNS, or DHCP, this will be especially helpful as SharePoint relies on these components for web hosting and network communication.

In addition to Windows Server basics, learners should have some knowledge of Microsoft Active Directory. Active Directory is a critical service that SharePoint leverages to manage user authentication, permissions, and access control. Understanding how user accounts, groups, organizational units, and domain controllers function will give you insight into how SharePoint handles security and user management. Even if you haven’t administered Active Directory yourself, knowing its purpose and general structure will help you follow course topics related to user permissions and authentication methods.

A fundamental grasp of networking concepts is also advantageous. SharePoint Server operates within a networked environment and interacts with clients, databases, and other servers over TCP/IP protocols. Familiarity with concepts such as IP addressing, DNS, firewalls, ports, and network protocols will assist you in troubleshooting connectivity issues and understanding how SharePoint fits into your organization’s broader IT infrastructure.

Since SharePoint Server is a complex and multifaceted product, there are a few technical areas where some prior exposure will be beneficial. For example, IIS management knowledge can be a real asset. IIS serves as the web server technology that hosts SharePoint sites, so understanding how IIS works, how to configure application pools, and how to manage websites is useful when learning about SharePoint’s web application architecture.

Similarly, familiarity with SQL Server configuration is important because SharePoint relies heavily on SQL Server for its content databases, configuration databases, and service application databases. Knowing how to install, configure, and maintain SQL Server instances, as well as basic skills like backup, restore, and performance monitoring, will deepen your understanding of SharePoint’s backend data management.

Lastly, an understanding of service accounts and permissions is crucial. SharePoint requires several dedicated service accounts with specific permissions to run its services securely and efficiently. Having experience or knowledge about how to create, manage, and assign rights to service accounts in Windows environments will help you follow along with security and configuration best practices taught in the course.

Who This Course Is For:

This course is ideal for:

• IT professionals seeking to pass the Microsoft 70-331 certification exam
  
  

• System administrators responsible for deploying and maintaining SharePoint environments
  
  

• Developers or consultants working with SharePoint-based solutions who want to deepen their understanding of server-side administration
  
  

• Students and aspiring IT professionals looking to gain real-world skills in enterprise collaboration platforms
  
  

• SharePoint power users aiming to transition into an administrative or technical role

Whether you are looking to validate your existing skills or start building expertise in enterprise content management systems, this course provides the knowledge and tools needed to take the next step.

Student Benefits

1. Strong Technical Skills
   Develop the core competencies needed to install, configure, and manage SharePoint Server 2013 like a pro.
   
   

2. Certification Preparation
   Comprehensive coverage of the 70-331 exam objectives helps you prepare effectively to earn the Microsoft MCSE certification.
   
   

3. Real-World Application
   Learn through hands-on labs and practical scenarios that mirror the challenges you will face in professional environments.
   
   

4. Business-Ready Solutions
   Gain skills in security, backup, high availability, and compliance to design SharePoint environments that meet enterprise needs.
   
   

5. PowerShell Mastery
   Learn to automate complex administrative tasks using PowerShell, saving time and reducing errors.
   
   

6. Career Advancement
   Sharpen your SharePoint expertise to open doors for roles like SharePoint Administrator, Systems Engineer, or IT Consultant.
   
   

7. Flexible Learning Path
   Whether you want to complete the entire curriculum or focus on specific topics, the course adapts to your professional goals.
   
   

8. Networking Opportunities
   Join a community of IT professionals and learners where you can share insights, ask questions, and expand your professional network.

Instructor Profile

Our instructor team is composed of seasoned IT professionals with extensive experience across diverse industries in designing, deploying, and managing Microsoft enterprise solutions. Collectively, our instructors bring decades of hands-on expertise in SharePoint Server 2013 and related Microsoft technologies, having worked with small businesses, large enterprises, and government organizations alike.

We are deeply committed to helping learners develop practical skills that are immediately applicable in real-world environments. Our primary goal is to ensure that you not only understand the theoretical concepts but also gain the confidence and competence to apply them effectively. Whether you are preparing for the Microsoft 70-331 certification exam or looking to enhance your professional skill set, our course is structured to provide comprehensive, targeted learning outcomes.

Every element of this course has been carefully crafted to mirror real-world scenarios and align precisely with Microsoft exam objectives, ensuring that learners gain relevant and applicable knowledge. We continuously update our course content to reflect the latest best practices, industry standards, and Microsoft recommendations. This dedication to quality means you can trust the training to be current and highly relevant.

We believe that effective learning should be both accessible and actionable. Our training approach balances clarity, depth, and hands-on practicality, empowering learners to master not only the theoretical foundations but also the real-world implementation of SharePoint Server 2013. Through detailed explanations, step-by-step demonstrations, and practical exercises, you will develop the skills needed to configure, manage, and troubleshoot complex SharePoint environments confidently.

Beyond technical instruction, our team also emphasizes the importance of professional growth, encouraging learners to develop problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and best practices that go beyond the exam and prepare them for long-term career success. We are passionate about fostering a supportive learning community where questions are welcomed, and collaboration is encouraged.

By choosing this course, you are learning from experts who understand both the technology and the challenges faced by SharePoint administrators in the field. We are here to guide you every step of the way, helping you achieve your certification goals and career aspirations with confidence.