Who's Who
If you are wondering just who all the companies and people who help with the MOUS certification are, here's a glossary to help you.
 | Microsoft Corporation make the Microsoft Office programs, and also own the MOUS program. However, they do not do any of the work - they leave that up to others. |
| Nivo International does Microsoft's dirty work. They create, manage and authorize testing centers, as well as send out certificates. Microsoft contracts them to do what they do. |
| Testing Centers, or ATC's as they are known to Nivo, are the go-betweens between the testing candidate (you) and Nivo. They deliver, administer and monitor the exams. |
| Administrators come in two flavours - Exam Administrators, who simply proctor MOUS exams, and ATC Administrators who manage the Exam Administrators. (Like a Supervisor or big brother.) |
| MOUS Exam Tips is a 3rd party Internet site, independent of Nivo and Microsoft, which gives information about the MOUS program to anyone who wants it. It is owned and managed by an ATC Administrator living in New Zealand. (See below.) |
| Officecert.com is a 3rd party, like MOUS Exam Tips, who gives information about the MOUS program on their web site. They are unrelated to Nivo and Microsoft. |
| Bill Gates just gets lots of money for having nothing to do with MOUS. |
| John Downs is an ATC Administrator in New Zealand (in the South Pacific!). He is also a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and is the owner/manager/webmaster of this site. His favourite Office feature is the ability to turn off the Office Assistant. |