New VCPs for VMware vSphere Foundation and VMware Cloud Foundation

Following the simplification of product offerings and SKUs, VMware have now launched 2 new VMware Certified Professional certifications for VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)

VMware vSphere Foundation - Administrator

Let's start first with VVF, here's what VMware say about the target profile for this certification:

Learn more about this VCP on the VCP-VVF Administrator page and on this blog article.

VMware Cloud Foundation - Administrator

Moving to VCF, the target profile is the same but for someone working with the full VCF stack:

As above, there is a dedicated VCP-VCF Administrator page and blog article where you can get full details.

A couple of questions came to my mind:

Do these new certifications spell the end of the DataCenter Virtualization (DCV) certifications? Well, not yet, but I expect so come the start of 2025.

Will there be upgrade paths for those with existing VCPs? That concept doesn't really apply any more since there is only an exam requirement for a VCP now, no hard training requirements - to get these new VCPs you pass the exams for them.

VMware Certifications by Broadcom - All Change!

Unless you've been living under a rock or on the moon for the last year or two, you'll be aware that VMware is now part of Broadcom.

There have been a LOT of organisational changes since the close of the acquisition, a LOT of change in terms of product offerings and licensing, and now it's time for a LOT of changes to the VMware training and certification programs!

Here's a high-level summary:

Digital Learning

• Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD) is the new home for all digital learning
• Free Digital Learning Entitlement for all Strategic customers. VCF customers, partners, and employees
• Content includes courses on VCF, vSphere, NSX, Aria, HCX, SRM, Advanced Load Balancer, SD-WAN, Telco, Cloud Director, and Tanzu solutions
• Previous digital learning subscribers (eg. Success 360 and Premium Learning Subscription) are upgraded in CSOD to the Digital Learning Entitlement until their contract expires, the upgrade adds lecture content from On Demand courses
• Enterprise Learning Subscription (ELS) will continue to be available to purchase, this is the highest-level tier and also includes access to live labs from On Demand courses and VCP vouchers

Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT)

• Strategic customers, VCF customers, and Pinnacle Partners will be entitled to free VILT through CSOD (subject to availability and resources)
• Paid-for Instructor-Led private training will be available for Strategic customers and VCF customers, all other customers will be served by VMware Authorised Learning Partners

Certifications

• No mandatory course prerequisites for any VCP or VCAP within the VCF division product set - vSphere, vSAN, NSX, Aria, and VCF
• All VCTA, VCP, and VCAP exams will have a flat fee of $250 (or local currency price)

I also know that training, exam, and certification history for all has been migrated to Broadcom systems as part of the retirement of myLearn.

Wow! That's a lot to get our heads around...

As someone who first became a VCP in 2006 (!!) the removal of the authorised training requirement is a VERY big deal.

VMware has previously stuck solid to this requirement, the only previous concession being for the NSX-based VCP allowing a bypass for those with Cisco certifications.

Here's a couple of how to documents related to the above changes:

• Accessing VMware VCF Digital Content
• How To Access Broadcom Support

Here's the VMware Learning blog post about some of the changes above.