Hi SDDC and VCF admins,
In my previous blog posts, I recently shared my exam preparation path and exam experience for the VCF VCAP Storage certification. After obtaining the Storage certification, I want to start preparing for a new VCAP exam, which focuses on VCF Operations.
Like always when preparing for an exam, I consult the original VMware sources and refer to the exam study guide. This guide has a fixed structure and provides all the details about the exam, including the exam type and the Minimally Acceptable Candidate.
To start with, The VCAP exams haven’t been introduced for a while, and the following stands out for this specific exam from the VCF 9 series: This exam (3V0-22.25) also consists of 60 questions (the standard number of questions), but we can expect various types of questions, including multiple-choice, multiple-selection multiple-choice, build-list, matching, drag-and-drop, point-and-click, and hot-area.
For which candidate is this exam suitable? What to expect?
Based on the Minimally Acceptable Candidate (MQC) criteria, the Advanced VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 Operations certification is designed for a systems administrator, cloud operations engineer, or virtualization specialist. This candidate requires 6 to 12 months of practical experience managing VMware Cloud Foundation environments, with a focus on using VMware tools for:
- Monitoring and operational visibility.
- Optimization and capacity planning.
- Analyzing system health and managing infrastructure performance across compute, storage, and network resources in a VCF deployment.
Candidates are also expected to be familiar with VMware by Broadcom leading practices and capable of interpreting and acting on system recommendations with limited supervision.
This MQC definition is highly specific, and the required experience level varies across the certification series. For instance, the MQC for the VCF 9 VCAP Storage exam necessitates a longer experience range of 12 to 18 months of hands-on experience. Therefore, I expect that less hands-on experience is required to pass this exam.
Which knowledge and skills are covered during this exam?
Based on the MQC and the official exam sections, I’ve noted that the exam mainly focuses on the following critical operational domains:
- Day 2 Operations: A core area, emphasizing the necessary skills to manage and maintain your VCF environment post-deployment.
- Capacity Management and Cost Management: Focuses on the crucial tasks of ensuring predictable performance, reducing costs, and understanding the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in VCF Operations.
- Policy and Configuration Management: Includes skills for applying configuration changes and managing consistency using VCF Policy. This also covers monitoring for Security, Compliance, and Configuration to address configuration drift, a process significantly enhanced in VCF 9.
- Monitoring and Application Visibility: This is a logical requirement, focusing on how to Monitor Applications with VCF Operations. For candidates with 12+ months of experience, this area is certainly realistic to master.
- Advanced Monitoring Tools: The exam features a dedicated section on Creating Super Metrics in VCF Operations, which suggests a strong focus on this specific skill.
- Management Packs: A very specific section on Installing and creating Custom Management Packs in VCF Operations. I recognize this is specialized knowledge that not all candidates may possess.
- License Management: Covers how to Manage VCF licensing with VCF Operations, an increasingly relevant skill since VCF 9 introduced license management within VCF Operations.
Tip: I strongly recommend consulting the HOL (Hands-on Labs) for additional exercises to solidify your practical knowledge in these areas.
Recommanded training courses
We often observe that with the introduction of a new VCP or VCAP exam, corresponding training courses become available that are designed to seamlessly align with the related certification. According to the exam guide, the following three training courses are recommended for this VCAP VCF Operations exam:
- VMware Cloud Foundation Operations: Advanced Design
- VMware Cloud Foundation Operations: Advanced Configuration
- VMware Cloud Foundation Operations: Advanced Troubleshooting
This VCF VCAP exam also includes a Design, Configuration, and Troubleshooting course, which likely aligns perfectly with the Role-Based Framework.
Conclusion
Personally, I think it’s a great development to see a dedicated VCAP exam available that focuses mainly on VCF Operations. Based on the exam guide, I anticipate this exam will have a practical, operational approach and place less emphasis on design principles (unlike the VCAP Storage exam).
While the content of most exam sections appears straightforward, I also foresee certain challenges due to potential gaps in hands-on experience in some specialized areas.
I just quickly went through the content of the training and my initial impression is that they are perfectly suited for this exam, providing the necessary material for proper preparation.
It is important to note that all the information I share is based on publicly available documentation and my own assumptions. I plan to prepare for and take this exam on the short term and will share my exam experience with you afterward.
For those of you who are inspired to pursue this VCF 9 VCAP Operations badge, I wish you the best of luck with your preparation. Obtaining this certification brings you also one step closer to the next phase of the VCDX journey!
End of this post.
Disclaimer: Please note that the views expressed in this blog are solely my own and should be treated as personal opinions. This content does not hold any legal or authoritative standing.