But, there’s still one question in your mind – what kinds of ID do they mean when they say “bring two forms of ID”?

Here’s what I found from taking both the VCP 3 and VCP 4:

1. Bring a state driver’s license. This is a no-brainer.
2. Bring a credit card or something else with your “signature” on it.

Beyond that, don’t bring anything else. The test center will provide you with an erasable/laminated paper and marker should you want to take notes. Nothing else is allowed to enter the computer area with you.

When I went to take my VCP 4 in December 2009, I brought my company badge with me since it has my name AND photo on it. The guy at the testing center would not accept the photo-badge as the second form of ID. He then asked for a credit card “because it has a signature on it”. How that proves my identity is beyond me, but whatever.

Oh, and the new process (at least since I took the VCP 3 in 2008) involves taking a photo of you to put on the print-outs/etc. so be prepared to smile and dress reasonably well if that’s of concern.

Basically, VMware is looking to increase the difficulty by a VERY large margin. Previously, the VCP 3 was taken in about an hour by most people. The beta testers in the VCP 4 program report that it’s going to be a FOUR HOUR test! The guide given to the beta testers which just outlines the areas to study is a whopping 16 pages long. Yikes!

So, what does this mean to you?

If you’re wanting to get “VCP certified” (or have a boss who’s demanding it) and you want to take the easier test, I would strongly advise that you make it a high priority goal to take the VCP while it’s still in version 3. If you delay too long, you’ll be stuck taking the four hour long VCP 4 exam instead and who knows how many times you’ll have to attempt it before passing. Grab the VCP study kit today and get started before it’s too late!

First, I had to schedule an appointment with your local Pearson Vue test center. I did this via their website and there’s not really much to say about that.

When I arrived, I had to sign-in and provide identification. At my testing center, they wanted two forms of ID, but the confirmation e-mail from Pearson Vue will confirm the requirements for your test, so be sure to read it closely. Bring multiple IDs regardless.

Next, I had to place everything in my pockets such as car keys and wallet into a backpack. The attendant placed a padlock on the backpack so that I could not get into the bag. She kept the key at the front desk while the backpack traveled with me so I could know that nobody was stealing my wallet.

I was lead into a small room with four or five computers each divided by a wall. Think of the study carols you used to have in school. The attendant started the particular testing program on the computer and told me to sit down and follow the on screen prompts. There were TV cameras watching the room to ensure that you don’t talk with other people or try to pull a cheat sheet out of your pocket.

On the computer system, I entered my name/etc. and the test began. Using the mouse, each question is answered one at a time. As you proceed, you have no indication of how well you’re doing. You may go back to previous questions and at the end of the test before you submit it, you have another chance to re-visit any questions. I think the time limit was 90 minutes and I took my time, being extra careful, and finished in about 60 minutes.

Once done, I took the backpack up to the front counter where the attendant was waiting with my print-out showing my score and certification number on a temporary form. I grabbed my keys and wallet and left. The print-out is your temporary proof that you passed or failed and it has a confirmation number and some other information on it.

A couple weeks later, I received the official certificate of completion from VMware in the mail along with a free serial number for a copy of VMware Workstation. The certificate is the usual “congratulations you’ve completed such and such” type, but I am proud of it. Even with my day-to-day use of VMware and relatively deep knowledge, I only passed with a 77 out of a required 70, so I’m very glad I prepared for the VCP exam in advance or I’d probably have failed.

Taking the official VMware Certified Professional test is much harder than most of the hundreds of tests I took in college for one simple reason: there can be multiple answers for each question.

You see, after many years in college, I have become very adept at taking multiple choice tests and when there is only one answer allowed per question, I can usually rule-out at least half of the questions and then reason the actual answer from what remains. You probably can too.

However, the VCP destroys that multiple-choice test taking skill by requiring multiple answers on most of the questions! For example, some questions may have a list of seven possible choices and you will select four of those to arrive at the correct answer. You can’t use deductive reasoning on these questions – you must know the answer and know it well.

The difficulty is also increased because a very large number of the VCP exam questions are derived from the introductory/early chapters in the official VMware manuals. Yeah, you know, those books/sections that you never read? If you’re like me and use the manuals as a reference and don’t actually read them from cover-to-cover, you’ll be in for a shock when you see that many VCP questions are pulled from those early beginner-level chapters in the manuals!

The hours I spent studying and memorizing the study guide and sample exam were invaluable. Having many possible answers per question really makes the test tough, especially when the questions may be about trivial information or even (gasp) things I know to be wrong or untrue from my experience using VMware on a daily basis! Do yourself a favor and grab the study kit. If you have to re-take the VCP test, it will cost you more than the kit, so it’s really stupid not to prepare fully with the kit.

The VCDX is a grueling examination of not only your VMware-centric skills, but also your understanding of advanced IT architecture and how to best apply VMware products and technologies to accomplish any conceivable goal. The list of skills needed to get a VCDX is incredibly long (see it here) and only the most diehard technologist will be able to achieve such an accomplishment. I’m sure the rewards will be great for such a person, but alas, I do not have nor am I close to getting a VCDX, so I can’t say what it’s like. See the FAQ on the NCDX.

As for other certifications that mesh well with a VCP, you may want to consider:

RHCE: The Redhat Certified Engineer program. This is a practical hands-on examination in addition to a written test, so it’s rather difficult to obtain. However, having a RHCE will assist you in working with VMware because you’ll often be running Linux servers and even some portions of the VMware product line are descended from Redhat Linux. You can get RHCE test prep kits to aid you in your studies as well.

CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate program. A solid network is the foundation for a Virtual Infrastructure deployment because without the network, your virtual servers can’t do anything useful. The CCNA is the Cisco foundation program which validates your skills in router setup, best practices for network deployment, switching concepts, network protocols, and many other network-centric skills. Check-out the CCNA test prep kit to boost your chances of taking this very difficult exam.

Even having worked hands-on with VMware products for just under a year, I passed the VCP exam with a more narrow margin than I expected. You are required to get a score of 70 on the test to pass and I got a 77. Considering my fairly extensive daily hands-on experience and passing by only 7 points, that may give you an idea of the difficulty.

I studied the VCP test preparation kit and other materials for about three or four days for a couple hours each time to get the results I did. Had I not used the test prep kit, I am 100% sure that my score would have been lower. The VCP includes a number of questions which are things that you’d just never think to read-up on and the sample exam in the test prep kit opens your eyes to those questions. Like most computer nerds, I don’t often open the manuals for products and if I do, I skip the introductory chapters. Well, some of the VCP questions come from those chapters!

Simply taking the VCP exam without any preparation or seeing an example test would not be something I recommend. You could always take the exam to see the questions and plan to re-take it, but that is more expensive than simply grabbing one of the test preparation kits and passing the first time. Even if you are a VMware guru with years of advanced hands-on experience, there are questions from those introductory manual chapters which will get you because you never worry about the “minimum RAM required to run Virtual Center” since no good nerd gives anything the “minimum RAM required” (for example).

The VMware Certified Professional is the first rung on the VMware cert ladder and it’s the easiest exam to take. However, that does not mean passing the VCP test is easy! The VCP exam covers a very wide range of knowledge about VMware ESX, Virtual Center, and overall IT hardware in general. It is common for people with actual hands-on experience to fail the test the first time.

You should plan to put some effort into studying and preparing to take the VCP test. You can find materials that I suggest to study on this site and you may also be interest in obtaining a test preparation kit which will help guide you in your studies. I found such a VCP exam prep kit invaluable and without it, I would have been one of the people who failed the first time even though I had nearly a year of hands-on VMware experience under my belt!

So, the answer to “how long will it take to get my VCP” is difficult to answer. If you have hands-on experience and utilize a test preparation kit, you can probably pass with only a week of easy preparation. However, if you are less experienced with virtualization and wish to study on your own without a test prep kit, you will probably want to plan on a month or so and also save some additional money to pay for a test re-take.

If you’re interviewing against someone who doesn’t have a cert in a desired field and you do, that may just be the deciding factor in the employer choosing you over the other person.

Many people who contract in the I.T. industry hold several certifications for similar reasons. If you’re bidding on a job, having certifications shows the customer that you bring a certain known quantity of information and knowledge to the table and helps them feel good about their decision to contract with you.

I’m the first to say that I don’t believe that holding a certification alone makes you good. I’ve certainly known many people with everything from college degrees to vendor certifications who knew less than I do. However, if you’re wanting to work in the technology field, you have to get your resume or contract bid into the hands of someone who will want to see your qualifications and having a certification will help do that.

So, having a VMware Certified Professional cert under your belt will only help you and might actually make the difference in landing that high-paying virtualization admin job or not. Nothing is guaranteed, but you want to do everything to help get your name called!

For example, using VMware Workstation which is the “desktop” class product, you can be running Windows XP on your host machine. You can then create virtual machines in which you could install Linux, Windows Vista, FreeBSD and even another copy of Windows XP. Each of these machines boots, shuts-down, and behaves as though it’s a normal machine, yet it is actually running in a window on the desktop of your XP host machine. This is useful for people who want to learn about different operating systems, for example, and who don’t want to erase the primary OS on their computers. Developers also use virtualization to test their programs because if you run something inside a VM, it is partitioned-off from everything else on the computer and an errant program cannot cause harm to the host machine.

The VMware Virtual Infrastructure product line takes this concept to the highest level and allows enterprise-level virtualization for entire businesses rather than just on your desktop. One high-end server in the office datacenter can run 20 or more virtual machines, thus saving on power, space, and manpower to administer the machines. In a typical business, you may have dozens of old, physical servers taking-up space and drinking electricity. With virtualization you can take those dozens of old servers and turn them into virtual servers running on just a couple of modern, high-powered servers.

It’s a tough concept to get your head around sometimes, but virtualization is here, growing, and won’t be disappearing any time soon. That’s what makes having skills and certifications such as the VCP so valuable.

For more information, you can visit the Wikipedia page on virtualization or the VMware introduction to virtualization.

The VCP currently covers the VI3 (Virtual Infrastructure) suite which includes ESX 3.5, Virtual Center 2.5, and limited portions of VCB (VMware Consolidated Backup). From time to time, VMware will introduce a new revision of the VCP certification to reflect newer versions of the software.

By taking and passing the VCP exam, you will show potential employers that you have a certain measured level of knowledge and expertise. Virtualization is one of the hottest trends in technology right now since it allows greener computing and saving money and VMware is the undisputed leader in the field. Thus, if you have a VCP certification on your resume, it just might be the boost you need to beat another job candidate and land the position you’re hoping for!

VMware requires that you take an official course through their training program in order to test for the VCP. Typically, this class will be what they call the “Virtual Infrastructure 3: Install and Configure” course. I&C is a beginners-level course which explains the various aspects of the technology, how VMware products fill those roles, and other general overview information. You may qualify to take the VCP exam if you have taken other VMware-led classes such as “Deploy, Secure, and Analyze” (DSA) but you will want to contact VMware directly to ensure that your course qualifies.

In my experience, while the I&C course was useful, it is nowhere near enough information to pass the VCP. I know people who have worked with VMware tools for a couple of years who failed the VCP test at least once. So, don’t take the I&C course and expect to waltz into the testing center and pass. This is why I’m documenting my experiences in this site and will offer resources to help you study and pass the test “for real”.