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steveplz
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Asteriskgate coverup and the VCP-NV - When is a VCP not a VCP?

Inviting all comments from the floor and especially VMware decision makers that can make or change dumb policy.

Take away the asterisk overnight and unannounced just as it appeared, delete all the posts and we'll forget it happened and move on.

Q. When is a VCP-NV not a VCP-NV?

Anyone else been caught in the situation of getting a VCP-NV after being granted an exemption to the usual training course requirement only to find that VMware has quietly added an * to the Path 2 option which declares you're VCP-NV is not as good as the correct VCP-NV. Please explain I hear you ask? They both have a V and a CP-NV so if it quacks like a duck?

Well apparently there's two versions of the VCP-NV although you'll be hard pressed to distinguish between them on the surface.

Path 2: If you have any valid VCP certification.*

*VCP-NV is not eligible as a prerequisite for any additional VCP or VCAP certifications unless the VMware course requirement had been successfully completed.

To set the stage I can confirm that this * and footnote were not there in the past. Exactly when it appeared I'm not certain but according to the available evidence and eye/web witness reports the mysterious asterisk appeared unannounced somewhere between November 10th 2014 and January 30th 2015. No one can explain it's appearance and authorities are tight lipped and defensive when confronted with the facts. Concerned victims continue the search for the truth which according to legend is out there but not even the mighty Google can unearth it's mysterious origins.

See the two blog posts by Christopher Kusek -

I have been chatting with Christopher Kusek and he originally had the following post on his blog –

http://www.pkguild.com/2014/11/the-vcp-nv-is-your-ticket-to-escaping-the-vcp-class-requirement-for-v...

The VCP—NV is your ticket to escaping the VCP

“Class requirement” for VCP—DCV!

He confirmed my suspicions that this wasn’t previously the case

“Yes you’re completely spot on. This is a completely new policy. I know this because I had several of my network engineers while I was in Afghanistan go through get their VCP-NV and THEN go get their VCP-DCV. (Which was why I had published that in the first place)

Your pointing this out is enough for me to put out a blog post on this which is ridiculous. ”

Subsequently he updated his blog.

Christopher Kusek, Technology Evangelist » VMware feels the ‘pinch’ an...

"VMware feels the ‘pinch’ and “invalidates” the

VCP—NV as a ‘‘valid VCP Certification”

My challenge to VMware -

You introduced re-certification policies.

Got to admit I don't like it but I've been doing it for 15 years with Cisco so it's not a big shock to the system. Only problem is having certs from different vendors will one day see me not having time to do my job as I'll be too busy doing re-certs. I'm sure it's a capital B for bummer to many existing VMware certification holders but times change and if you don't bend in the wind you break. Cisco, in my opinion, devalued my CCIE certification when it cut the 2 day lab I passed down to 1 day. So sad, too bad. Life goes on.

You still require 1st time VCP candidates to sit a formal training course

OK, the re-cert policy is inline with biggest vendors in the industry including Cisco and Microsoft. But why stop the changes there? Isn't now a good time to align completely with the industry at large and cancel the compulsory training course policy that no one else expects. We want to certify on your products and sell and support them bringing you more revenue. Please explain the downside to me because I'm just not getting it and certainly not lovin it!

I'm big enough to admit when you're wrong so why can't you?

Go on change... I dare ya!

7 Replies
scott28tt
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

My personal thoughts:

Allowing CCNA (and above) holders to gain their VCP-NV without them taking a class was a short term promotion - giving those with networking skills the opportunity to show everyone that they know NSX, and bringing a number of VCP-NVs into the partner domain and job market. It was a different type of promotion than offering a cash discount on the fees for a class or for the exam, but it was a promotion nonetheless.

I don't think it was ever the intention (or "policy") that it would be used as a low-cost way of gaining other VMware certifications, just the VCP-NV. Those that have taken advantage of the promotion have benefitted financially compared to those who took an NSX class in order to achieve their VCP-NV.

A loophole was created, unintentionally, and now it's been clarified - hence the appearance of the * you refer to. I think this came about from a discussion on this very forum that I was involved with. A guy asked about using VCP-NV (gained via the CCNA route) to gain other certifications, I asked about it internally (I don't work in the Education or Certification teams, for reference), clarification was given and the * was born.

I don't think this was ever intended to be a "policy" to allow CCNA holders an option for gaining all certifications, just the VCP-NV. But people have interpreted it that way, the website was confusing, and now it's been updated giving clarity on the situation.

I'm not getting into a debate about what might be right or wrong, just sharing my perspective on this topic.


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Although I am a VMware employee I contribute to VMware Communities voluntarily (ie. not in any official capacity)
VMware Training & Certification blog
StevePantol
Contributor
Contributor

I note the asterisk is missing this morning.

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steveplz
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi Steve,

Good name by the way.


Apparently there is no * and there never was an *..........

Back away, don't make contact or poke the bear. I'm in my happy place 🙂

Evidently it was an attack of mass hallucination probably induced by some of those weird graphical optical illusions flashing subliminally at around 100Hz or more.

For the record I'm done with this and just overjoyed that it was all just an unfortunate misunderstanding and we can go back to drinking and loving the VMware coolade!

I'm going to mark this discussion/question as assumed answered. Happy certing people and if you want to talk to me about anything without annoying the good people of this forum please feel free to tweet me - @steveplz or email me stephen.polzin@gmail.com.

I hope it's not against Community rules to give out my contact?


Best regards,

Steve.

scott28tt
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

I see the page has been updated - the Cisco > VCP-NV path has been extended til the end of January 2016.

I also see there has been some chatter on Twitter about this, and a rather long comment on a blog post on the WAHL Network. As a contributor to this and other discussions here on this topic, I've not offered any "weak excuses" - I've pointed out some facts and given my personal opinion/perspective - nothing more.


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Although I am a VMware employee I contribute to VMware Communities voluntarily (ie. not in any official capacity)
VMware Training & Certification blog
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scott28tt
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

The Certification team decided to make it consistent across all VCP certifications that once you have a VCP you will not need to complete a course to move to another Solution Track. This means that people who earn VCP-NV through a Cisco certification will not need to take a course.


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Although I am a VMware employee I contribute to VMware Communities voluntarily (ie. not in any official capacity)
VMware Training & Certification blog
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JDLangdon
Expert
Expert

So what you're basically saying is that as long as I certify as CCNA first  I can then certify as VCP-NV, VCP-DCV and so on and so forth without taking ANY VMware classes?  Time to dust off the old $49.95 CCNA Exam Cram.

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JoshuaAndrewsVM

Yes

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