vSphere VCP Certification Paths
I’ve been trying to find out a bit more information on what is going to happen to the VCP qualification now that vSphere has been launched. Way back in January this year I blogged about the impending changes to the VCP exam and since then there have been a number of posts speculating as to what will be involved in retaining or obtaining vSphere VCP status.
The best post by far, which I admit I only stumbled upon today, is by a gentleman by the name of Arnim van lieshout . This was originally published back at the beginning of March and refers to vSphere as NGen4 (Next Generation 4). Now, it’s very detailed and official looking, I’m not sure he did this himself and I have actually seen a few blog posts suggesting that this material is covered by the VMware NDA. However the cat is out of the bag so I’m going to share it with you anyway, luckily I’m not covered by any NDA agreement because I’m not a VMware beta tester (though I would like to be one).
What Arnim’s diagram tells us is that there will be a new vSphere Install, Configure and manage course exactly like there was for VI3. There will also be a what’s new course, this designed for existing VCP’s who want to upgrade to the new vSphere VCP. It would also appear that VMWare is keen to maintain the quality of their certification and will continue enforcing the courses as part of the certification path. This is something I am happy to see as it protects my own personal investment in gaining VCP status and makes it mean something.
What’s most interesting is that Arnim’s then describe’s the differences between the coloured lines in the diagram. Orange lines relate to shortcuts available in the first 9 months from the general release of vSphere and the black lines relate to the mandatory path you must take after 9 months when the shortcuts have been removed. Seeing as it’s been a long day I’ve included out takes from Arnim’s blog post which describe it better than I do.
The options (black arrows):
Everybody new to VMware MUST attend the NGen4 ICM training
Everybody who attended the VI3 training (I&C or DSA only), but didn’t passed the exam MUST attend the NGen4 ICM training again
If you are a VCP on ESX 2.x you MUST attend the NGen4 training
If you are a VCP on VI3 you MUST attend the NGen4 What’s New training
The shortcut options (orange arrows):
From the date of general release VMware will offer the shortcut paths for 9 months
If you are VCP on VI3 than you are allowed to take the new NGen4 exam WITHOUT attending the NGen4 “What’s New” training
If you are VCP on ESX 2.x you are still allowed to take the VI3 exam in order to become VCP on VI3 and then take the NGen4 exam
If you attended the VI3 training (I&C or DSA only) but didn’t passed the VI3 exam, you are offered 2 options:
Take the VI3 exam, and become VCP on VI3 and then take the NGen4 exam
Attend the NGen4 “What’s New” training and take the NGen4 exam
I wonder how much of this will materialise into hard fact, we obviously await the official VMware announcements regarding certification.
Another post that I found quite interesting and one that is quite recent was from VMware certified instructor Scott Vessey. He kindly informs us that once the vSphere launch is done VMware will start beta testing the exam in preperation for wider distribution. He estimates that Pearson Vue will be offering the exam within 6-8 weeks of the product release. Personally I will be trying to sit the upgrade exam without the course as my work won’t pay for it this year and I can’t afford it myself. Better get studying hadn’t I !!!!
