Seeing as the VCP5-IaaS is now live and that it is one route to obtaining the VCP5-Cloud certification, I thought I would start listing all the best resources out there for the VCP5-IaaS and VCP5-Cloud certifications.

VCP5-IaaS

• The first resource for the VCP5-IaaS that I’m looking to use is the Trainsignal VMware vCloud Director Essentials videos by the infamous David Davis. I’ve currently only had a chance to watch the first two videos and they look to be of the same outstanding level and depth that all the Trainsignal videos have been so far and will be one I will be using extensively in my preparations.
• *Update* I sat and thankfully passed the exam and wrote a blog posting all about my exam experience and what resources I found extremely helpful here
• Trainsignal have also released the VMware vCloud Director Organizations set of training videos done by Jake Robinson. I’ve recently received these and am looking forward to using them in my preparations.
• There are three official training courses you can take to prepare for the VCP5-IaaS which are:

VMware vCloud: Design Best Practices [V1.5]

VMware vCloud: Deploy and Manage the VMware Cloud [V1.5]

VMware vCloud: Architecting the VMware Cloud [V1.0]

• The Blueprint for the exam can be downloaded from here. As with all the previous VMware exams I’m planning to go through and “tick off” every single objective prior to attempting the exam.
• Jason Shiplett has already started breaking down Objective 1.1 of the blueprint on his blog here. He is also planning to make his way through all the objectives and created a dedicated page for the objectives on his blog here.
• Nate Raper has written the Peason Exam profile for the VCP5-IaaS exam here. Where he gives great insight into what to expect and what is required from you in the exam
• The EMEA vBrownbag’s have now begun and already there are a few of the VCP5-IaaS objectives covered by Larus Hjartarson and Kenny Garreau. They can be downloaded from iTunes here
• As with any of the VMware exams having a home lab or a test lab at work that you can build everything in and practice is a must to fully understand and know how to do all the tasks and skills listed on the Blueprint. I’ve personally already began following along with David Davis in his trainsignal videos in rolling out vCloud Director in my VCAP5 lab.
• Larus Hjartarson has also started making his way through the blueprint and is already on Objective 3 and is storming through them and providing some really great information for each piece.
• Paul McSharry has created three practice test for the VCP5-Iaas which can be done here VCP5-IAAS Practice Test 1, Test 2 and Test 3
• Now that vCloud Director 5.1 has been released the latest vCAT (vCAT 3) is available for download. These resources are priceless in deploying vCloud Director and preparing for the exam.
• Manish Patel has blogged about the resources he used to pass the exam on his blog here
• This may be obvious but all the official documentation will be very important especially in practicing in your lab. I have downloaded all of them and will be actively using them in my lab deployment and reading through all of them to fully understand all the components and how they work
• John Davis has done a page on his website as a follow up/filler for those people who have done the vCloud ICM course with portions he feels the course doesn’t cover but you should know. There are some really great resources listed and even if you haven’t done the course I think they are highly beneficial
• David Davis posted a blog posting on the official VMware vCloud Blog covering an extensive amount of vCloud resources from vCloud 1.5 to vCloud 5.1 listing blogs,resources,courses and videos. Check it out here
• VMware vCenter Chargeback Manager is an important component of vCloud and the whole of section 3 of the IaaS blueprint is on Chargeback so I have been using the VMware vCenter Chargeback Fundamentals course to get my knowledge up to speed on the product
• Jonathan Medd recently sat the VCP-IaaS exam and has done a brilliant posting around what resources he used for the exam. Congrats on the pass Jonathan
• Shane Williford has created a great study resources PDF around all the portions he found for the exam and breaks down all the objectives and gives you all the resources for each objectives and loads of examples and descriptions

VCP5-Cloud

• The exam is now ready for registrations and you can download the blueprint and learn more about the exam here
• To give you a solid base level knowledge around vCloud 5.1 I recently watched the VMware vCloud Director Essentials [V5.1] and vCloud Networking and Security Essentials [V5.X] VMware Partner Central training course for my VTSP 5 Cloud and found it a really great refresher on vCloud concepts and it covered off all the new features of vCloud 5.1 really well. The VMware vCloud Director Fundamentals course is available for free here which covers pretty much the same information and it’s free for everyone
• This exam at the moment is more for people who haven’t done the VCP5-DCV (the original VCP5) as if you have got the VCP5-DCV then you just pass the VCP-IaaS exam and you will get the VCP5-cloud and VCP5-IaaS at once.
• A large portion of the resources for this exam are actually covered off in my VCP5 study resources and the above VCP5-IaaS resources and so I would highly recommend using these.
• Two super clever VCDX’s Nate Raper and Tom Ralph have written a book for VMware Press called VCP-Cloud Official Cert Guide (with DVD): VMware Certified Professional – Cloud . The book looks amazing and I have had a read through of the portions you can see on rough cuts section and this does fulfill the Official Cert Guide name.
• Tom Ralph also wrote the Pearson Exam profile for the VCP5-Cloud here

Gregg