VMware Certified Professional (VCP)

VMware Certified Professional (VCP) is widely-recognised as the “industry standard” virtualisation certification, it is typically held by individuals who have one of a wide variety of job roles: systems administrators, systems engineers, virtualisation consultants and architects. VMware partner organisations must have minimum numbers of VCPs working for them, and an ever-increasing number of end-user customers and independent contractors and consultants also hold the certification. VMware released the VCP on vSphere 5 certification exam in August 2011, and to date more than 80,000 VCP certifications have been awarded globally.

Since the launch of the VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) certifications in the second half of 2010, the VCP is now classed as a “foundation-level” technical certification, the level of difficulty in the exam is the same as it was before the release of the VCAPs, and the certification still holds the same recognition and importance within the virtualisation world. VCP certification is a pre-requisite for any individual wishing to follow the VCAP and VCDX certifications.

Paths to VCP4

Any individual who wishes to gain the VCP4 certification must attend at least one official VMware training course, such as those offered by Global Knowledge. Only certain vSphere 4 courses count as qualification for the VCP4 certification, and the course that an individual needs to attend depends on their history with official VMware training/certification:

Course Suitability for VCP4 exam

vSphere 4: Install Configure Manage is suitable for all individuals, and the content of this course is the closest match of any vSphere course to the topics covered in the exam - it should be noted that the exam still covers numerous topics that are not covered in this course.

vSphere 4: Troubleshooting also qualifies for the VCP4 certification, but bears little relation to the exam content. VMware accept this course as qualification for those that already have an enormous amount of experience with VI3 and vSphere 4 where the other courses above would not be suitable.

Course Suitability for VCP5 exam

vSphere 4 or 5: Install Configure Manage is suitable for all individuals, and the content of this course is the closest match of any vSphere course to the topics covered in the exam - it should be noted that the exam still covers numerous topics that are not covered in this course.

vSphere 5: What’s New is only suitable for those that have prior knowledge of VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3)/vSphere4 to VCP3 or 4 level. It offers a broad grounding in many of the new features of vSphere 5, and is geared towards updating an individual’s skills and knowledge rather than preparing them specifically for the VCP5 exam.

Exam Format and Booking

The VCP exam consists of 85 multiple-choice questions which must be completed in 90 minutes, some questions require multiple answers. The exam uses a scaled scoring system with scores in the range 100-500, the required passing score is 300, but due to the nature of the exam scoring this does not equate to a particular percentage.

VCP exams can be booked online at http://www.pearsonvue.com/vmware, and can be taken at any Pearson Vue testing centre (including all Global Knowledge training centres in the UK).

Exam Preparation

Once any necessary training course has been completed, it is generally best to take the VCP exam 2-4 weeks later, the exam will expect a deep and detailed understanding of the products and technologies in vSphere.

VMware publish the VCP exam blueprint and a mock exam on their website, it is highly recommended to review the blueprint to evaluate which areas need to be studied in preparation for the exam. The mock exam is designed to show the exam format, and helps an individual work on their exam-taking technique. It is also recommended to gain additional hands-on use of the vSphere software, to strengthen the knowledge gained on the training courses.

Global Knowledge UK developed and run their own unique 1-day vSphere: Exam Preparation Workshop, written by a “veteran” of certification exams who knows all of the tricks that VMware play when writing the exam questions. The workshop enhances exam-taking technique, focusing heavily on the exam blueprint, and includes over 120 practice questions that offer the perfect preparation for the VCP4 or 5 exam.