Virtual Musings

Earlier this week on January 30th, 2023 the first iteration of the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions speciality exam training material went live. This is following the release of the actual exam about two weeks prior, but I did not want to write about it until the training material was also live.

This exam was a unique experience for me. I didn’t take the exam, and this post is not about my experiences in taking it. Instead, I got the opportunity to actually write the exam and the course materials from the beginning, and wanted to spend a few minutes here telling you some pointers and tips about the exam itself.

1. This exam is not about VMware

While VMware is in the title of the exam, this is not an exam about VMware. Instead, it is about how you implement VMware solutions on IBM Cloud. That means in the course material and the exam IBM is not testing you on whether or not you know VMware. Instead, it is expected that you already have basic VMware skills, and are looking at architecting and deploying a VMware solution on IBM Cloud. So – if you do not know what ESXi is, or how to use NSX, this is not the exam for you!

Personally I would say that your VMware knowledge level should be at least to a VMware Certified Technical Associate – Data Center Virtualization level. You don’t need to be a admin with years of experience, but you at least need to know the basics. At least 6-12 months of working with VMware would be the bare minimum.

2. This exam is about IBM Cloud, and it is assumed you already know IBM Cloud

Just like if you do not know VMware you will struggle with the material and this exam, it’s also assumed that you are familiar and have experience with IBM Cloud prior to sitting for this exam. While there is not a formal IBM Cloud certification requirement experience with IBM Cloud is critical. The best training for what you will need to know for this exam would be the IBM Cloud Professional Architect certification located here. Knowledge about both Classic Infrastructure as well as Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) are required. However, since VMware in fundamentally about deploying and managing the infrastructure that runs your virtual machines don’t spend too much time on services such as databases, OpenShift, etc. as those are not the focus on the exam. This is all about how you deploy and manage VMware on IBM Cloud, which comes down to designing and implementing a successful infrastructure.

3. Don’t neglect third-party services and add-ons

VMware is an ecosystem. While we all think of VMware as really being about vSphere there is a wide variety of ecosystem partners supported on IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions. Veeam, Zerto, PrimaryIO, Juniper, etc. are all covered in the course material and you will be tested on how to architect and design a full solution including those components. The idea is that you are skilled in thinking about all aspects of the solution, not just the infrastructure. So backup, security, networking – they are all covered in the course material and you will be tested on them.

Information on the IBM Cloud for VMware V1 Specialty certification exam, including a link to register for the exam with Pearson VUE, can be found here, https://www.ibm.com/training/certification/S2112500. At the link to register there is also the ability to take a practice assessment for a nominal cost. I strongly recommend to everyone you take the assessment prior to sitting the exam. Assessment questions are written by the same individuals that wrote the exam, and while not exactly the same as what you will see on the exam the type and quantity of questions you will get is identical. So, if you can pass the assessment you should feel confident about passing the exam.

For those inside of IBM – you can access the curriculum on YourLearning at this link,  https://yourlearning.ibm.com/activity/PLAN-ADF1909CF98B.

For everyone else, you can access the curriculum on IBM Training at this link, https://www.ibm.com/training/path/ibmcloudvmwarespecialty. Like all IBM Cloud training, the learning materials are all free of charge.

Finally, we are in the process of developing IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions Specialty study guides, flash cards, and quiz questions that learners can use to prepare to take the certification exam. These study materials will be added to the app by mid-February. Here is a link to the app, https://ibm-cloud-prep.yourlearning.ibm.com/.

I wish you best of luck on the exam! Feel free to reach out if you are studying for this exam and have any questions.