Two new VMware Security certifications - VCTA and VCP

VMware now offer 2 certifications covering the security features and functions of NSX-T Data Center, Workspace ONE and Carbon Black Cloud:

VMware Certified Technical Associate - Security 2020 (VCTA-Security2020)

This was 1 of 3 new VCTAs launched in September, and will validate your understanding and the ability to provide entry level support of VMware's security solutions.

The certification has 1 hard/mandatory requirement of passing the Associate VMware Security exam, plus a number of recommended training courses to help you learn and prepare.

Learn more on this VCTA-Security 2020 page.

VMware Certified Professional - Security 2020 (VCP-Security 2020)

While we now have the VCTAs, most would consider VCP to remain the "starter" level certification - the new VCP-Security 2020 will validate your knowledge and the ability to administer the security features and functions of the above products.

The VCP has 2 hard/mandatory requirements - you must complete at least one authorised training course and pass the Professional VMware Security exam.

Learn more about the requirements on the VCP-Security 2020 page.

New Certifications - VMware Certified Technical Associate (VCTA)

UPDATE March 24th 2021: Post below modified to include the now-released VCTA for Digital Workspace.

VMware have just released a new "starter" certification level - the VMware Certified Technical Associate (VCTA).

The target audience for the VCTAs is those working in hands-on Day 2 Operations types of roles, these are definitely TECHNICAL certifications even though they sit at the level below VCP - VMware are expecting interest from career changers and those in entry-level technical roles.

As with all the higher-level certifications such as the VCP, there are VCTAs for multiple solution areas - the initial set of released certifications/exams cover:

• Data Center Virtualization (VCTA-DCV 2020)
• Network Virtualization (VCTA-NV 2020)
• Security (VCTA-SEC 2020)
• Digital Workspace (VCTA-DW 2021)

The VCTA line-up will be completed later for these solution areas:

• Cloud Management & Automation (CMA)
• Application Modernization (AM)

There is no link between the VCTAs and the higher-level certifications such as VCP - you don't have to complete a VCTA as a VCP pre-requisite or anything like that. There's also no comparison or connection between the VCTAs and the older VMware Certified Associate (VCA) certification.

Each VCTA has a single mandatory requirement - passing an exam. VMware Learning will also be releasing a "recommended" training course for each certification.

Learn more about each of the VCTAs and their exams and training by following the links above, and more generally about VCTA by reading this VMware Learning blog post.

VMware Connect Learning (previously VLZ) - now FREE for 12 months

There have been a couple of branding changes at VMware:

• VMware Education Services is now known as VMware Learning
• VMware Learning Zone is now known as VMware Connect Learning

VMware Connect Learning is a huge library of self-paced training and videos which you can use to learn about new technology, new products, new features, or specific use cases. It has Basic and Premium options which work as annual subscriptions - learn more about it here.

There was a promotion started earlier this year which gave a FREE Premium subscription for 6 months - the exciting news (and the reason for this post) is that the promotion has been extended to give a full 12 months access!

There's no reason to wait - the promotion is available til the end of October - head to the subscription page now and sign-up!

New VCP track - Modern Applications

VMware have added a new certification track - Modern Applications - a reflection of the strategy to help customers Build, Run, Manage, Connect, and Protect any app on any cloud.

The new VCP for Modern Applications is Spring Certified Professional - it remains to be seen if there will also be higher-level VCAP and VCDX options.

The VCPs for Digital Workspace and Desktop & Mobility have also been consolidated into a single Digital Workspace category on the Certification page - both individual certifications and exams remain, they've just been regrouped.

So there are now 5 categories with a VCP (or higher) level of certification:

• Data Center Virtualisation (vSphere)
• Network Virtualisation (NSX)
• Cloud Management & Automation (vRealize Automation)
• Digital Workspace (Workspace ONE / Horizon)
• Modern Applications (Spring)

In addition to the "headline" products for the certifications, every category also includes one or more specialist badges - don't forget to check those out too!

For the Modern Applications category, VMware Certified Master Specialist - Cloud Native 2020 tests Certified Kubernetes Administrators on deploying, securing, and operating a VMware-based applications cluster.

July 2020 Update

Here's my monthly update on the latest news with VMware training and certification!

vSphere 7 exam for VCP-DCV 2020

The Professional vSphere 7.x exam is now live and available for testing. This exam will be key for those taking the most common VMware certification - VCP-DCV.

A few things to note about how the release of this exam affects you if you're working towards your VCP-DCV 2020:

1. If you already hold VCP-DCV 2020 from completing the older vSphere training and exams this year, passing this new exam on vSphere 7 will NOT result in you being awarded any additional certification

2. If you pass this exam as part of working towards your VCP-DCV 2020, you WILL NOT also need to pass a vSphere Foundations exam

3. If you ignore this exam and are working towards your VCP-DCV 2020 with the Professional vSphere 6.7 exam, you WILL also need to pass the vSphere 6.7 Foundations exam

4. The vSphere 6.7 Foundations exam and Professional vSphere 6.7 exam will both be retired at some point, but don't worry yet as there is no date set for their retirement

Read the official news on the exam release.

VMWorld 2020

For the first time, VMWorld goes virtual - and you can attend most sessions for FREE! There are some sessions reserved for those who buy a Premium event pass, but a FREE General pass gives you access to most sessions.

As if that's not already enough of a reason to register, you will also get access to special sessions from the Education Services team AND exam voucher discounts too!

So you really have NOTHING TO LOSE by registering and attending...

More new exams and courses

The Advanced Deploy vSphere 6.7 exam is also now available - this is one of the advanced-level exams for the VCAP-DCV 2020, the older exam based on vSphere 6.5 retires on November 30th.

On demand courses are now available for vCloud Director and vSphere 6.7 > 7.0, plus some new courses for NSX-T and VMware Cloud Foundation - the July announcements page has more information and links.

Regular readers will already know about VMware Learning Zone and the special Premium subscription promotion currently running, new content is released all the time - here's the most notable content for July.

Local and remote testing - COVID-19

For the latest information on testing centre re-opening and remote exams, read this blog post.

June 2020 Update

Here's a summary of all the June 2020 news from VMware Education Services.

Exam Releases

New exams are available on NSX-T for the VCP-NV 2020 and VCAP-NV 2020, plus there's a new exam on vRealize Automation for the VCP-CMA 2020.

Check this blog post for links to the exam guides.

Course Releases

Lots of new courses are now released on products such as Tanzu, vSphere 7, NSX-T, VMware Cloud on AWS, Horizon, vSAN, and vRealize Lifecycle Manager.

This blog post has details and links of all new courses.

New content in VMware Learning Zone

I mentioned in a previous post about the promotion offering a free 6-month Premium subscription for VMware Learning Zone, this blog post highlights the latest content available.

Promotions

In addition to the VLZ offer, there are other promotions running within each of the geographical regions - free exam vouchers when you attend certain courses.

Check this blog post for full details.

Remember you can always check the latest promotions on this web page.

VCP/VCAP infographics, updates on courses and exams

Where are all the VCPs and VCAPs?

VMware have created 2020 infographics showing the spread of VCP and VCAP holders around the world.

Read this blog post to access the data.

New courses and exams in May 2020

VMware released 8 new courses and 1 new exam last month, check this blog post for details.

Latest VMware Learning Zone content

As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Premium subscription for VMware Learning Zone is now free for 6 months thanks to a special promition.

This blog post from VMware highlights the latest content in VLZ.

Spring 2020 Update

Wow, the world has changed a LOT over the last few months! I hope you're all keeping safe and well during these incredible times...

VMware have been excellent in their response - lots of additional support for employees, contributions to charities, and unlike some in the market we are still hiring!

While it may be harder in some ways to work when offices are closed, the Education Services team at VMware seem to be creating just as much training and exam content, and are being creative in delivery and accessibility - the posts below give more detail...

VMware Learning Zone - Premium Subscription now FREE for 6 months
The Premium Subscription is usually a paid-for service, and includes a LOT of additional content which is not available with the Basic Subscription (which already offers 1300+ videos for free)

Find out more about this offer here.

Remote Exam Testing
Proctored exams that you usually HAVE to take at a Pearson VUE testing centre, such as those required for VCP and VCAP certifications, can now be taken from home or another private location.

Learn more here.

vSphere 7 Training
vSphere 7 was announced in early March, and made available for download a few weeks later - the full set of training courses was released at the same time as the software.

Read more here.

March and April Course Announcements
VMware released 16 new courses in March and another 8 in April!

March announcements

April announcements

Promotions and Special Offers
In addition to the VLZ Premium offer mentioned above, there are other global and region-specific promotions - discounts, free exam vouchers, and more...

All official promotions are kept together onto a dedicated page:

Bookmark this page.

Remote Exam Testing for Proctored Exams

VMware have announced that remote testing will be available for "proctored" exams such as the VCP exams from April 20th.

Proctored exams previously HAD to be physically taken at a PearsonVUE testing centre, but with many countries in some state of lockdown due to COVID-19 this change has been made such that you can now take your VCP exam from any location.

This uses the OnVUE functionality, and will be a permanent arrangement - a great benefit to those of you who have always had to travel to a testing centre.

Learn more about this new option here: https://blogs.vmware.com/education/2020/04/16/remote-exam-testing-is-here/

vSphere 7 Training

With the release of vSphere 7, VMware Education have already announced and the full set of official training for their flagship virtual infrastructure platform.

I remember the times when new courses would only be made available 6-8 weeks after the software was made available for download, this time around it looks like the training will release almost simultaneously!

Here's the full range of vSphere 7 courses:

• Install Configure Manage
• What's New (from 6.7)
• Optimize and Scale
• Troubleshooting
• Design
• Fast Track

Plus there's a new course on vSphere with Kubernetes - Deploy and Manage

To review the content and delivery options for all of the above, and to watch overview recordings, read this blog announcement.

I would expect to see VCP exams based on vSphere 7 soon, moving then up the certification stack to VCAP and eventually VCDX submissions and defences.

VCP-NV 2020 - vSphere Foundations or not?

As the VCP-NV requirements were updated for 2020, one thing I noticed was that they were slightly different between the NSX-V path and the NSX-T path - one of them requires a pass on the vSphere Foundations exam but the other does not.

NSX-V works with vSphere, therefore the VCP-NV 2020 that includes the NSX-V exam also requires that you pass the vSphere Foundations exam:

https://www.vmware.com/it/education-services/certification/vcp-nv.html 

As NSX-T does not require vSphere in order to be deployed, the VCP-NV 2020 that includes the NSX-T exam does NOT require that you pass the vSphere Foundations exam:

https://www.vmware.com/education-services/certification/vcp-nv-nsxt.html

Completing either set of requirements will give you the same certification.

This is regardless of whether you are Cisco certified or not - the only difference with being Cisco certified is whether you have to attend NSX training.

A useful thing to know...

Winter 2019/20 Update

Well it's been a while since I posted an article, there's a lot been going on in the world of VMware certification in that time!

Let's give you a brief overview of the main news:

2020 Certifications and Badges
As you know, VMware certifications are titled as per the calendar year in which you completed the requirements - so as we moved into 2020 the titles and requirements were refreshed.

Upgrade Paths
Clarification on the processes for upgrading VCPs to the latest version.

Exam Prep courses and DCV help in VMware Learning Zone (VLZ)
VLZ is a subscription-based video training library that gives official content on many VMware technologies, and now includes exam prep content for certain VCP, VCAP, and Specialist exams

Take a look at the VLZ Exam Prep.

There's also a dedicated community forum in VLZ for the VCP-DCV exams.

Benefits and Rewards
A reminder in this blog post of the rewards and benefits of gaining a VMware certification.

Workspace ONE Digital Badges
Three new digital badges were launched for Workspace ONE - here's the blog post with all the info and links.

And some administrative tips too:

How to Purchase Training and Exams
Guidance in this blog post on the various training options available, and how to register for an exam.

Certifications and Digital Badges
Learn about the difference between certifications and digital badges, and how they complement one another, in this blog post.

How to Claim and Display Digital Badges
A blog post on showing off any digital badges that you've earned.

Multiple myLearn Profiles
myLearn is the back-end system used by the VMware Certification team to track training and certification status - but they're associated with an email address. Learn here about how you can have multiple accounts merged.