When I started working with VMware over 20 years ago, their product range was fairly simple: we had VMware Workstation and VMware GSX, we then moved to ESX.
The very first VMware system I implemented was for a customer who had a very specific problem: a power supply had failed inside a manufacturing PC and the supplier wanted a lot of money to exact the repair. Fortunately, the hard drive was intact and we tried a cold physical-to-virtual conversion – basically, we pulled the data from the hard drive and created a VM. It worked. The new PC plus operating system and the VMware came in at £10,000 less than it would cost to buy replacement hardware from the software vendor.
I was hooked on the VMware products.
I worked as a virtualisation engineer until 2007, and at that point, we only had the VMware Certified Professional certification, but that piece of paper got me my current job at QA. So for me, VMware certifications have been critical in my career progression.
What if you’re an employer?
If an employee or prospective employee holds the VMware Certified Professional certification, you at least know that the person attended the qualifying course. Obviously, that doesn’t guarantee they paid attention, but it ensures that the VMware professional has been trained – not many software vendors can guarantee that.
PC Mag UK has it as one of the top 10 IT-based certifications for 2020 and found that IT professionals with this credential earned an average of 7.4 career certifications, which means that they usually know more than just VMware.
The certifications and why you should pursue them
“VMware certifications are a badge of honour, designed to validate your expertise and get you where you need to be – proficient today and future-proofed for tomorrow. According to a recent survey of 10,000 certified IT pros, 34% reported a salary increase as one of the benefits to becoming certified.” Source: VMware
The two main certifications are the VMware Certified Professional, and the VMware Certified Advanced Professional, and we offer both here at QA. We are an official VMware Partner and is recognised as a VMware Authorised Training Centre (VATC). Our 10 VMware Certified Instructors (VCIs) are here to ensure you get the most out of your training and certification journey. Whether you wish to study remotely, dial into a classroom course, learn at your own pace, or experience our top-of-the-class training facilities, QA offers you the highest-quality VMware learning experience.
View this brochure to see all the QA VMware certifications.
So, on to the certifications.
The VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
The VMware Certified Professional (VCP) program is designed for IT professionals (administrators and engineers) who install, configure, manage and optimise VMware solutions.
The VMware Certified Professional takes on average 6 months to complete and comes in 6 different tracks:
- Cloud Management & Automation (CMA)
- Data Centre Virtualisation (DCV)
- Desktop & Mobility (DTM)
- Digital Workspace (DW)
- Network Virtualisation (NW)
- Security (NSX-T)
The VCP certification currently has certified professionals in 193 countries, and the average salary for a VCP is $130,226 (figures obtained from VMware).
VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP)
The VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) program is for IT professionals (administrators, architects and engineers) who design and build VMware solutions (VCAP Design), and manage and optimise VMware solutions (VCAP Deployment).
The VMware Certified Advanced Professional takes on average 12 months to complete and comes in 6 different tracks:
- Cloud Management & Automation (CMA)
- Data Centre Virtualisation (DCV)
- Desktop & Mobility (DTM)
- Digital Workspace (DW)
- Network Virtualisation (NV)
In each track you can earn Design certification for the VCAP-Design, and also Deploy certification for VCAP-Deploy; earn both in any track and you also earn the VMware Certified Implementation Expert designation VCIX.
The VCAP certification currently has certified professionals in 110 countries, 34% reported a salary increase, 26% got a job promotion, and 44% stated they had increased productivity and efficiency. Also, 65% of respondents saw first benefit within 4 months. (Figures obtained from VMware).
Also see:
- Which VMware certifications and tracks are right for me?
- VCTA: The new introduction certification from VMware
Whichever certification or track you pursue, the journey can be rewarding for yourself and your company, and you’ll learn a lot on your journey.
Bryan O'Connor
Bryan has been working at QA as one of the principal virtualisation trainers for 13 years and counting, specialising in VMware, but also working with Microsoft Hyper-V, and multiple Cloud technologies.More articles by Bryan
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