Since VMware announced that its VCP certification is no longer valid for life, and now expires every two years, there has been plenty of debate in forums and blog posts surrounding this decision. There are many who viewed the change as necessary and even desirable, while others noted flaws that make it more harmful than useful.
What is VMware’s new recertification policy?
“VMware is implementing a recertification policy for VCP certification. To recertify, VMware Certified Professional (VCP) holders must pass any VCP or higher-level exam within two years of earning their most recent VCP certification.” This is the short version, according to the FAQ page. VMware’s announcement also specifies March 10, 2013 as the effective start date of the policy.
This means that if you achieved VCP before March 10, 2013, you would have until March 2015 to recertify. Likewise, if you achieved your VCP after that date, you would have two years from the date when you passed your latest exam to recertify.
There are three ways you can recertify:
- Pass the current VCP in the same track. For example, passing a VCP5-DCV exam will recertify VCP4 or VCP3 without the need to take another VMware Class.
- Pass a current VCP in another track. This means that passing a VCP-Cloud should breathe life into a VCP4-DCV certificate for two more years.
- Pass a higher level exam like the VCAP in any track. This is assumes that you have a strong foundation, as you will need a significant amount of relevant knowledge to reach the next step in the certification track.
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How does VMware’s new policy change things?
I know some VCP4 holders who took the course many years ago, learned the material, and passed the exam. At that time they worked actively with it, and they were good VCPs. A few years later, however, these people moved into management or other fields in IT while maintaining the VCP title. Despite being no longer up to date, their respective companies were still able to use the VCP status to qualify for VMware partner requirements. This is exactly what the new policy aims to eliminate.
I started with the VCP4 course and its exam. When the VCP5 exam became available, VMware allowed me a grace period of a couple of months to take it, without the need to retake the entire course. At that time I used TrainSignal’s (now Pluralsight) great course by David Davis and Elias Khnaser, which helped me learn the material and achieve my VCP5-DCV. If I missed that window, however, I would have had to take VMware’s official “What’s new Course,” or another more advanced one to satisfy the requirement.
Thankfully, VMware makes upgrading much easier now, as you are no longer required to take a course if you remain current and recertify every two years. Theoretically, this may mean that you have a much longer grace period than just a couple of months: Assuming VMware releases vSphere 6 around the time of VMworld 2014 in August, you would have six months to learn it and pass the new test before March 10, 2015.
Also, if we assume that VMware continues releasing a new version every year, things will align perfectly. However, if releases get delayed, you will have to look for other options like moving up a track or between tracks.
Moving between different certification tracks
One of the biggest advantages of this new policy is that a VCP exam in any track recertifies a candidate in all other tracks. This makes it much more attractive to explore other fields of virtualization like desktop, network virtualization, or the Cloud.
At one point, I let my Juniper certification expire and was no longer current in Juniper technologies because I had to continually recertify each track separately. On the other hand, it was much easier and more valuable to me to keep my CCNP-Voice by doing exams from the Design or the Routing, and Switching CCNP tracks.
So, VMware made the right choice here, especially now that it has three established tracks including Data Center, Desktop, and Cloud. It is also starting the fourth; networking, and may soon begin the fifth; Storage Virtualization.
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But aren’t VCP certifications already versioned?
This is the strongest argument against VMware’s new recertification policy. It claims that a VCP4 or VCP3 already shows their age and that there is no need to expire these; employers can tell by the version number whether or not a VCP holder remained current. So, the market can decide what is still relevant.
However, this argument is not completely accurate, as it should be the certification provider’s duty to guard the value of the certification it offers. Cisco does not use versions for its certifications, and Microsoft stopped using them with its current MCSE iteration.
Technology changes rapidly and its focus is no longer products, but complete solutions. If you take a close look, you will see that VMware is also moving away from versioning its certificates. The VCP-Cloud is non-version-specific, as are the VCAs, and most of the VCAP.
You can also see that the VCP logos themselves are now non-version-specific and, as a result, are more focused on specialization instead.
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However, these logos downloaded in 2012 specify the version number.
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I predict that we will soon see VMware moving completely away from versioning its certification, in turn making more sense of the recertification policy.
Is two years too short?
It’s true that a lot can change quickly in the modern IT landscape – and too much does change in two years, as VMware claims. Still, we have to be realistic and admit that, except for IT pros specialized in virtualization, two years is a very short window for recertification. Microsoft and Cisco, for example, have adopted a more reasonable three year policy which makes recertification less of a hassle.
The average IT Pro holds certificates from at least three different vendors. And now that almost every vendor requires recertification (CompTia, Microsoft, and Cisco, to name a few), one may choose to just let some expire. I bet those that need recertification more frequently are most likely the first to go.
While I agree with the motives and implementation of VMware’s new recertification policy, I also believe they took it too far with the two year window. The industry standard is three years, not two. Demanding more than the standard does not make the VCP more valuable; it just makes it harder to keep. After all, we have other demands to meet in our professional lives in addition to studying for and passing exams, including applying the knowledge gained to generate value to our employers.