VMware Edu & Cert Community
lilesj
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Calling All VCP5-DCVs: Save Time and Money on Recertification

After introducing the Recertification Policy, many who hold VCP5-DCV certification asked about options for recertifying at your current level, specifically if you were not looking to expand to other solution tracks or advance to the VCAP level. We heard you and are pleased to announce a streamlined exam that offers a quicker route to recertification for current VCP5-DCV holders.

The exam is offered to current VCP5-DCVs who took the VCP510 exam and need to renew their VCP5-DCV credential prior to March 10, 2015. The exam will be available through November 30, 2014 and offers some key advantages:

  • Based only on new material between the vSphere 5.0/5.1 and vSphere 5.5 exams – you save hours of prep time
  • Available online – you can take it from any location
  • Far less expensive – you save money

If you hold a VCP5-DCV certification, this is the quickest route to recertification. This limited time opportunity – the exam will only be offered until November 30, 2014. 

Download the exam blueprint and learn more!

~~~ Follow me at www.twitter.com/JillLiles1
45 Replies
davros84
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

My VCP5-DCV experies in January 2016 (I took the 5.1 exam). Can I take this to get an extra 10 months before having to recertify again? I will take it this weekend if I can. Also if I fail, will my current VCP certificate still be valid?

Oh and on a side note the recertification is crazy. The windows period of 2 years is way to short! I could accept a 5 year window or maybe even a 3 year period, but a 2 year window is not in-line with the industry standard.

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Osm3um
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Jon,

Thank you for your post.  I will not rehash my opinions regarding this matter, but I would like to say that the delta exam option is a nice option that should be kept in place for the future.  The fact is I have already proven I can handle VMWare via the original exams (VCP 4 and 5) and the delta just affirms I have not slacked off.  As for not being proctored, I doubt someone could have looked up the answers during the exam anyway.

If I, or my business, had to pay for a VMWare update class (not cheap) in order to qualify to upgrade my VCP, it almost certainly would not have occurred (not to mention it would have been very boring).

Bob

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perugipj
Contributor
Contributor

Jon,

I have a family member who is an AAPC Certified Professional Coder.

This credential (like VMware certification) is expensive to achieve and respected in it's industry, however, there is no need to re-certify every two years to remain current.  Instead "continuing education credits" are required within a two year period and often cost nothing or little money and can be done online as well.

Perhaps this is a better model instead of burdening hard working folks who already have to deal with a rapidly changing IT landscape to begin with (like myself, I am sure my cohort also spend vast amounts of time working with non-VMware technologies - SAN, O/Ses, networks, etc.)

--Paul

HywelB
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I happen to agree, I only found out about this yesterday and took the exam with no study and failed. Now i can't take again due to the 7day cooling off period. :smileyconfused:

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proden20
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Jon.  Do you understand that much of your fanbase came into existence out of rebellion to companies that VMWare tries harder and harder to emulate?

Either VMWare's certification / education revenue is dropping or the education division is compensating for losses elsewhere.  Either way, other vendors are easily encroaching on VMWare's place in the datacenter, and often winning easily.

VMWare should ship products people want and can use, or call it quits.  Taking things out on the people who studied their rear-ends off to give VMWare their name just isn't going to work out.  We can go take the competitors exams, and probably have a better chance at employment 5 years down the road...

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ponsaelius
Contributor
Contributor

Well yes and no about industry standards.

There are some '2 year' certs. My Netapp NCDA 7-Mode was one of them. However as Netapp move to Cluster Data Ontap they emailed me to say my cert was now good forever since that product was now legacy and they are moving to a new OS.

I have some legacy MCPs which are 10 years old and they just flag up as 'legacy' I dont have to re-certify I know Windows Server 2000 for example. Microsoft dont expect re-certification to prove it.

VMWARE is different. Version 6 is the current product yet you have to re-certify to retain version 5 knowledge. Version 5 is not going to change. It is a legacy product. So I get the rational about keeping up to date but to argue it's an industry standard is not correct. Some parts of the industry would like there to be a certification merry-go-round to keep people paying cash for irrelevant exams to prove they can use a legacy product and some dont.

I am in two minds about this. I did a Hyper-V cert last year and I am inclined just to go down that route. I dont specifically need a VCP and I am questioning the motivations of VMWARE just picking a date and having added complexity. It seems the increasing number of certs is devaluing them. In order to keep up you need to be in perpetual rotation. I suspect that some people will now be inclined to go the flash card route and learn typical questions and ultimately the VMWARE cert will be seen just as a treadmill. Already colleagues at my workplace are suspicious of people with a list of certifications thinking people have just used exam pass guides, crammed with sample tests or spend more time on exams that being IT Pros. As this persists and professionals with 'learned' certs fall short in implementation due to not actually doing the activities the cert claims they have done this will devalue the process.

I am not going to whinge. I just think VMWARE have headed off down a route which will, over time, annoy people who have worked hard to learn and actually practice IT over the perpetual student cramming to get the next cert in order to add some money to hourly rate.