Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Is it worth doing vSphere 4 certifications?

Now VMware have launched vSphere 5, one of the big decisions that people have to make is whether to continue with the vSphere 4 certifications or wait for the equivalent vSphere 5 certifications to be released. I think it's a very individual choice, it depends on a number of things:

- Have you already started preparing, and if so how close are you to being ready for the exam?
- Do you think it's worth you having the vSphere 4 as well as the vSphere 5 certification?
- Have you already attended one of the vSphere 4 qualifying courses for VCP4?

The VCP5 certification has already been announced, there's more about that on my blog post here. The final exam will be available after August 29th 2011, that's only 6 weeks from now...

If you've attended a vSphere 4 course and are debating whether or not to take the VCP4 exam I'd probably suggest that you should - I would! Why? Well, at the time of writing vSphere 4 is the only version you can download and deploy, it will take time for customers to choose to deploy vSphere 5 or upgrade to vSphere 5, and one other bonus of getting VCP4 is that until February 29th 2012 VCP4 holders can also gain VCP5 certification by passing the VCP5 exam with no mandatory training required. If you choose today not to gain VCP4 you will have to attend a vSphere 5 course in order to qualify for VCP5 either before or after that February date.

If you've yet to train on vSphere 4 then you have a tougher decision to make as your decision is probably not just about what version you want to get your VCP on but also what version are you going to deploy/manage/support. vSphere 5 courses will be available within the coming weeks, more about those on this blog post.
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14 comments:

  1. David Owen - @vMackem13 July 2011 at 10:33

    hey scott,
    just to clarify, even VCP3 holders (unlike VCP4) still have to do a manditory vSphere 5 course to qualify for the exam?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous13 July 2011 at 10:49

    @vMackem - Yes they do, the race is on for VCP3 holders! We are running a special promo at Global Knowledge: http://t.co/ZZyofuE Scott.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous13 July 2011 at 22:16

    Scott,
    I am currently a vcp 4 certified if I want to upgrade to vcp 5 is the exam an upgrade so just need to know new stuff all the whole lot same as studying for vcp5.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mickaël18 July 2011 at 22:31

    Hello,

    Sorry for my English because I'm French. I only wanted to know if the VCP 410 exam will be still available until the end of 2011 ?

    In fact, I've had "vSphere 4 : Install, Configure and Manage" training so I would like to pass VCP 410..

    Thank you,
    Mickaël.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous19 July 2011 at 11:31

    @Mickaël, VMware have not announced the end date for VCP exams yet, I think the exam will be available until at lease March 2012. Scott.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous20 July 2011 at 13:34

    @Anonymous (13 July 22:16): There has never been an "upgrade" exam for VCP, so the VCP5 exam you take will be the same as someone who is new to the VCP. If you look through the VCP5 exam blueprint you will find that most of the objectives are the same as for VCP4.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ed Wilts21 July 2011 at 17:07

    There's an interest side-effect of having taken the 4.x ICM course and not yet passing the VCP exam. If you do not take the exam, you will eventually have to the 5.x ICM course to get your VCP5 cert (or the troubleshooting course). That's over $3K. On the other hand, you can take the VCP410 exam 15-20 times @ $175 per try for the cost of the 5.x ICM.

    So if you've taken the 4.x ICM course, you really, really should pass the exam. You then have considerably more options at significantly less cost if you want to get the 5.x cert.

    ReplyDelete
  8. uzahchinedu30 July 2011 at 10:53

    Hi Scott,
    I just finished taking the ICM4.1 course yesterday and would like to take the VCP4 EXAM by end of august 2011. Are you saying that once I pass the VCP4 exam, I don’t need to attend any class again to take the VCP5 exam. Can I do a self study for the What’s new in vSphere 5 to take the exam without any authorized training. Please guide me on this. Thanks.
    Regards,
    Chinedu

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous17 August 2011 at 18:23

    uzahchinedu , you can.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous1 October 2011 at 09:32

    Is it worth starting a VCAP 4?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Riaz27 October 2011 at 13:44

    Hi Scott, Appreciate your effort in helping out others. I am really stuck now.I have passed VCP-410 and I am now looking to attend the course. But unfortunately I can only see vSphere 5 training being offered. Will it be possible to attend the vSphere 5 training and then use this as the requirement for VCP-410. Please advice. i am in trouble now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Scott Vessey31 October 2011 at 16:26

    @Riaz, I replied to the email you sent to me, but wanted to reply here for others to see. vSphere 5 courses only qualify you for VCP5, not VCP4. If you cannot attend a vSphere 4 course your only option will be to attend a vSphere 5 course and pass the VCP5 exam. Scott.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous18 November 2011 at 05:11

    I'm taking the vcp4 course and the instructor is saying the vcp4 exam will not be available after Feb 2012. I can not find any exam retirement info on vmware's website. Is this true? Or am I miss understanding.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Scott Vessey18 November 2011 at 12:40

    @Anonymous (18th November), no retirement date has been set or announced by VMware for the VCP4 exam. The significance of the end of Feb 2012 is for VCP4 holders to update to VCP5 without having to attend vSphere 5 training. As soon as I hear anything about the VCP4 exam retirement I will be sure to publish a post here on my blog.

    ReplyDelete

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