VCP

[lchuakc]

VCP

[Osm3um]

Nice....Even their official study bundle through Measureup is only good for the 510 exam.  VMware Certified Professional DV Exam Voucher and Official Practice Test Bundle

Bob

[perugipj]

I've tested on many occasions and never thought I'd done badly.  But these tests are the worst of all:  nothing more than reading comprehension exams, as opposed to hands on, proof that a candidate knows their stuff, as other vendors in the industry provide.  I'm done buying in to this "certification" hamster wheel.  Sorry, VMware, I'm done.

[proden20]

Jumping on this bandwagon.  I've been a VCP since 2008 and have designed/deployed large VMWare stacks to several significant public and private organizations. Hundreds of training hours, thousands upon thousands of dollars, and countless days defending the brand.  A recertification for 5.5?  5.5 is what 5.0 should have been, but instead of shipping a stable product at the 5.0 release you asked us to read implementation guides for broken components, forced a horizon date on 4.x VCP's, had us push out 5.1, and now you've got something you like so we should prove ourselves to you again.  You have cool new features?  Great!  We'll be happy to read the release notes and suggest them should a customer need them.  I don't know about other folks but I'm not deploying a major build everytime VMWare says "jump." Now we should recertify everytime you drop in unmatured features, just to test again when you deliver better versions of the same feature?  A paper cert is a paper cert whether they passed their test yesterday or two years ago, the industry will filter them out.  Real pros have better things to do than take exams on the version they've been running for 3 years, they have shops to run.  How about getting us the version we've been waiting for instead of taking your shortcomings out on the people that sell your brand?

This is a slap in the face.  Another point for Hyper-V and KVM.

[lchuakc]

The certification will expire in another 45 days. anyone considering recertifying? $120 bucks for online exam to extend for another 2 years?

[proden20]

Not a chance.  All the big shops I know are going OpenStack on KVM...

[ande0255]

Yup, after how VMware threw me under the bus as a business partner, I will not only never give them another dime of my money, but I will sway every candidate I can away from their certifications and every customer I can away from their products.

Don't waste your money getting into VMwares certification cycle, can't even hold the validity length to the industry standard 3 year cycle while requiring the most expensive training outside of a CCIE, what a load of horse sh#t.

[lchuakc]

does hyper v offers any certification?

[lchuakc]

2 years is indeed too short for renewal. Maybe I just just list VCP 510 (expired) on my resume. I am doing end-user environment so certification is not a big deal in such environment.

[lchuakc]

So u are not considering doing the renewal? Just another 40 days before expiry.

[ponsaelius]

I suppose another way of looking at it is another way for VMWARE to get money for the same qualification time and time again. Re-Certification is the gift that keeps giving for technology firms.

Steve

[lchuakc]

i do not have any issues re-certifying now but i do not want to be in a hamster wheel. 2 years is way too short.

[scott28tt]

Life before recertification:

Gain the latest VCP by either passing the exam within months of its release, or take a 2-day class (if not longer) and pass the exam.

LIfe after recertification:

Gain the latest VCP by passing an exam every 2 years.

Has it really become more expensive to stay current?

You could of course choose not to stay current - my MCSE for NT4 doesn't count for much these days...

[lchuakc]

Guys,

I just did the re-certification. I am looking around for a new job so I guess the cert do help out abit. I may or may not renew my next certification. Depending on whether does my company willing to sponsor me for the examinations.

[Truthsayer]

Interesting analogy.  The thing is when NT4 was worth something we didn't have to take the same exams all over again just to stay as NT4.  I gained the qualification and kept it. VCP 5 - £2000+ course fee's, an employer willing to let me off work for a week, a day off work to sit the exam plus the fee itself.  24 months later - need to pass the SAME exam again for the SAME qualification.  Don't think so - other products out there.  It's well known Vmware hemorrhage staff - watch VCP's jump ship now.

[phonic]

The MCSE analogy is flawed for many reasons:

1) Your MCSE NT4 certification may not be very useful or sought-after anymore, but it is still 100% valid. You studied, trained, took an exam and earned a certification with a lifetime benefit. While the value of that benefit will certainly go down over time, you got what you were promised. And you are still an MCSE, albeit for an outdated version.

2) The MCSE is version dependent, as is VMware. You didn't get an "MCSE", you got an "MCSE NT4" or "MCSE 2008", etc. Just like you don't earn a VCP, you technically earn a VCP5-DCV or similar. The old versioning system made a lot of sense and it was one of the things I liked from VMware. And with that, there was no need to renew the same cert as you could upgrade your skills/etc. to the latest version every few years. It would be one thing if VMware did away with the versioning and you earned a straight certification, such as a VCP, etc. But you decided to keep the old system and tack on the requirements of a non-versioned certification path. Basically, the worst of both worlds. When I got my CCNA, I got a CCNA. I didn't get a CCNA 12.x. The 3-year renewal keeps it up to date on the latest version.

3) The whole transition was deceptive at best. When Comptia changed their certification system, they grandfathered in existing holders. VMware made the change and retroactively changed the certifications people had already paid for and earned based on certain criteria. Now I'm sure VMware Legal made sure they could do this without repercussions, but it still isn't right.

4) Almost every other expiring cert in the industry is based on a 3-year timeframe. To move the entire system to a 2-year one is overly aggressive and very, very disappointing. Maybe if a new major revision is slated to come out every 2 years that would sort of make sense. But you don't, so it doesn't. There was no need to go to 2-years. So regardless of the BS benefits people from VMware keep spouting, it appears like nothing other than a callous money grab.

If I was in charge of certifications and was being directed to move to an expiring system, I would have grandfathered all the prior versioned certifications in and created a NEW line of non-versioned certs that expired every three years. If you would have done this, which I think is more than fair for all parties, you wouldn't have pissed off the entire VMware community and still achieved your goals.

[scott28tt]

You make it sound like it's my certification program - it isn't. While I might work for VMware, I'm not at all involved with the Certification team or program - I spend most of my time on this forum trying to help people who are part of VMware's certification programs, and offering my personal opinion.

[porantes]

I personally will no longer follow vmware training and let me cert expire. Paid for the course and I paid for the certification test knowing that I will be VCP certified permanently, even the instructor in the course I took mentioned this as being a reason the cert was highly desirable.. So now after I have already dished out my time and money VMware changes policy and I no longer have a valid VCP cert. Thanks Vmware, since you changed policy after I paid how about reimbursement for everyone you duped?

[Michael_Rudloff]

I think the main problem with the re-certification policy was that it happened mid-product cycle.

If they would have said "with version 6.x - exams will expire every two years" - I think it would have been more logical. If you work in a VMware heavy environment and / or you are VCP like myself (since 3.x) - you end up renewing anyway, simply because "upgrades" never required a course for a certain grace period so the motivation was always to me to get a new cert before I have to take the "What's New" course.

But if you are VCP 5 (based on 510) and you end up with a cert expiring without a new major version being released and you have to sit the same .. well almost .. exam again, then I get the frustration.

Again, personally I don't care as I always get all sorts of exams during the course of two years (cloud for example, which renews, VCIX / VCAP etc.) - but yea - I think it could have been handled differently ..