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VCAP Exam Retirement - Not Well Received...

VMware Education dropped somewhat of a bombshell today when they announced the almost immediate retirement of the VCAP CIA/CID/DTA/DTD http://blogs.vmware.com/education/2015/03/exam-retirement-announcement.html Effective March 2, 2015 the following certification exams will be retired and no new registrations accepted:

  • VCID510 – VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 – Cloud Infrastructure Design
  • VCIA510 – VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 – Cloud Infrastructure Administration
  • VDTA510 – VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 – Desktop Administration
  • VDTD510 – VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 – Desktop Design

There has already been (https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=Exam%20Retirement&src=typd) around the decision to scrap the exams…and even though this move had been expected with the announcements of the new VCIX Advanced Exam Roadmaps, what I think people didn’t expect was the chopping off at the head of these VCAPs. This has left some people’s plans of VCDX defense attempts in limbo…specially for those who where looking to defend for Cloud based on vCloud Director…vCloud Director has been pulled from the vCloud Suite for Enterprise but is still very much alive for Service Providers…I know of a few guys (myself possibly, though not 100% committed) who where already building documentation around vCloud for a defense. To me I this shows a clear disconnect from the VMware Education and Certification team from what is actually happening in customer and partner land…the way this has been done is a mistake and VMware needs to retract the immediate retirement and put a 3-6 month period of these exams to EOL. There also needs to be some direction as to a roadmap for Service Providers who will continue to use vCD+NSX+VIO who would not be looking at vRealize Automation. Feel free to comment below on your thoughts around the retirements…hopefully VMware Edu Services will read the communities thoughts and respond with something positive.

6 Commentsarchived

  1. rnelson0
    While vCloud Director isn't part of the suite, have there been any statements indicating that it could be not used as part of a VCDX defense?
  2. medea61
    Feeling very much alike. Beeing VCAP-CID and VCAP-CIA myself with no real way forward. :-/
  3. Rich Dowling
    Are the folks in the VMware Education and Certification team having some kind of competition to see how many people they can upset?
  4. JLocke
    There has been considerable disconnect for a couple of years now.
    1. vBeacon
      Amen to that!
    2. Drexciya
      As a VCI and employee of a VATC I feel your pain. In my opinion VMware Education has been flip-flopping too much the last few years. It would be a good thing, if they would consult with people from the field (as well as the VCI and VATC community) before doing another 180 degree turn on their certification/training program. The current management doesn't seem to do that at all, is the impression I'm getting (from trustworthy sources), and I really hope they will get their act together, because this can backfire spectacularly. Just look at the slump in Microsoft certifications in Windows 2008 compared to previous versions.
    3. k00laidit
      This needs to be nailed to the front door of where ever VMware education is based. I've been Cisco certified much longer than I've been VMware and my impression from the beginning is that the big difference is VMW sees training and certification as a revenue source where Cisco sees it as a means to distribute their brand. As a end user customer I agree the killing of the VCAP-*A certifications is a big deal; I was roadmapping my training for next year to include this certification, at this point I'll just continue to renew my VCP and be done with it.
  5. dave
    I just took the older VCP-Cloud exam because I work with vCloud Director all the time and never with vCAC/vRA which is what the later VCP covers.
    1. dave
      ...and +1 what JLocke said as well!
  6. Chris Colotti (@ccolotti)
    We've updated the requirements as a temporary remediation. https://communities.vmware.com/message/2483295#2483295
    1. Anthony Spiteri
      Its a good move for those who might have taken a punt on getting designs done before exams... But it still doesn't fill the gap on advanced certification for those who work with vCD and will be doing awesome work on Next gen platforms using that as a foundation...that is to say it's not all about the VCDX pathway