What You Should Know about VMware's New VCA Certifications

VMware announced three new certifications known as the VMware Certified Associate (VCA) at VMworld this year. These new VCA certifications are designed to confirm your knowledge and understanding of virtualization technology so that you can start down the path of a valuable IT career. Naturally VMware hopes that it will pique your interest enough to pursue multiple VMware certifications. Currently, there are currently three VCA certification paths available, all aligning to VMware’s current certification tracks:

• VMware Certified Associate - Cloud (VCA-Cloud)
• VMware Certified Associate Workforce Mobility (VCA-WM)
• VMware Certified Associate - Data Center Virtualization (VCA-DCV)

A fourth certification, called VMware Certified Associate-Network Virtualization (VCA-NV), will be released in the future. It will be the first certification in a new “Network Virtualization” track coming from VMware at some point down the line.

The whole point of the VCA-Cloud exam is to highlight your ability to identify cloud infrastructure requirements and specify which solutions and products satisfy those requirements. It is a good idea to have some understanding of the vCloud Suite’s products. The VCA-WM tests your ability to identify Workforce Mobility requirements and select technical products to meet those requirements. You should also have an understanding of VMware Horizon Suite products. The VCA-DCV focuses on your ability to determine technical requirements for datacenter virtualization and associate those with technical solutions and products. Additionally, you should have an understanding of vSphere and vSphere related products and technologies.

These exams do not require you to sit an official VMware class, although there are free course materials available to prepare you for the exam. The materials can be found on the following pages: VCA-Cloud, VCA-DCV, VCA-WM.

There is no requirement for you to schedule an appointment at a testing center as the VCA exams can be taken at home or work. To register for the exam, you must first request authorization from VMware via www.vmware.com/certification. Once the email notifying you of authorization is received, you will be directed to the Pearson VUE website to login and pay for the exam. The VCA exams are web based and can be accessed once payment has been made. The cost for taking the exam is $120.

The VCA exams are an excellent way for you to see how the VMware testing process works using content that is less technical than the VMware Certified Professional (VCP) exams, but still important to know. The VCA exams are 50 questions with a time limit of 75 minutes. The passing score for the exam is 300, using a scaled method; the scale is from 100-500. Upon passing the VCA exam, you will be officially VMware certified.

So what are you waiting for? Go get certified!