A few notes about the new VCAP4 certifications

Here's a colleciton of lots of things I've learned about the new VMware Certified Advanced Professional certifications for vSphere 4:

• The DataCenter Administration exam will be 100% live labs
• Your score for the DataCenter Administration exam will not be given immediately on completion of the exam, just like the Enterprise Administration exam for VI3 today
• The DataCenter Administration exam will cost $400, the price for the DataCenter Design exam has not yet been set
• The DataCenter Design exam will be a mixture of multiple-choice questions, and a design exercise, as it is today for VI3
• The testing centres for the DataCenter Administration exam will be expanded to a significantly larger pool than it is today
• The new exams will be scheduled directly with Pearson Vue, only the VCDX design defence will need arranging directly with VMware
• The blueprint documents for the new exams are still in development and will be released soon
• The new exams will not have compulsory training course requirements
• The advanced-level Performance, Troubleshooting, and Security courses are recommended as preparation for the DataCenter Administration exam, the exam content is centred around those 3 key areas
• The vSphere: Design Workshop will be excellent preparation for the DataCenter Design exam, the workshop content covers all of the objectives in the exam
• The beta periods for both exams will begin shortly, and will be invitation-only
• VMware partner requirements will not include VCAP4 certifications at this time