So now that I’ve got  my VCDX-DCV out the way I can finally start looking at the stuff I do daily and that’s vRA. The VCP6-CMA covers vRA 6 which is a perfect fit and is a nice introduction into the CMA track that I am looking to take on next. So below I have listed all the resources I plan to use to some extent and what I would recommend to people who are looking to sit the VCP6-CMA.

• The Blueprint can be read (that right they stopped the pdf versions for some painful reason) on the VMware certification website. There are only 10 sections/objectives and most of them aren’t in depth. What I’m really happy about is the CMA isn’t like the soon to be retired VCP6-Cloud where the first 7 objectives were the same as the VCP6-DCV.
• Xtravirt colleague Craig Gumbley has done an awesome break down of almost all of the objectives and the places you can find out the required information. Really helpful stuff and saves all of us the time and effort of searching for all of it.
• The EMEA #vBrownbag of which I am one of the co-hosts have started to go through the VCP6-CMA blueprint. We are lookign to complete all of the objectives by the middle of January 2016 with a slight break over the Christmas period. I will update this posting as new updates are out but at present the follwing objectives have been covered:
  • Objective 1- “Install, Configure and Upgrade vRealize Suite Components”
  • Objective 2 – “Administer vRealize Automation User, Roles and Privileges”
  • Objective 3 – “Create and Administer Cloud Networking”
  • Objective 4 – “Configure and Administer Tenants and Business Groups”.
  • Objective 5 – “Allocate and Manage vRealize Automation Resources”
  • Objective 6 – “Create and Administer vRealize Automation Components”
  • Objective 7 – “Monitor and Troubleshoot a vRealize Automation Implementation”
  • Objective 8 – “Configure and Administer vRealize Orchestrator”
  • Objective 9 – “Configure and Administer vRealize Business Standard”
  • Objective 10 – “Configure and Administer vRealize Application Services”
• Pluralsight have done a large number of videos for all the VMware certifications, they currently only have an introduction video series for vRA 6.0 but it’s still a really good one even though it might apply more to the the foundation exam knowledge rather than this exam.
• There’s a fair amount of official training and if you havent already got a current VCP then you will need to attend some of the pre-requisite training before obtianing the certification. One of the following training courses is required:
  • vRealize Automation: Install, Configure, Manage [V6.2]
  • vRealize Automation: Install, Configure, Manage [V6.2] On Demand
  • Cloud Orchestration and Extensibility [V6.1]
  • vRealize Business: Costing and Implementation [V8.0]
• The above training is also recommended even if you do have a current VCP. I did the ICM course for vCAC 5.1 a number of years back and it’s a really great course to give you all the essentials but my personal opinion is that just attending course won’t give you enough knowledge to apss the exam so make sure you also use other resources before sitting the exam.
• If you attended VMworld this year then I would recommend watching quite a few of the sessions from there although don’t watch the vRA 7.0 ones specifically for this exam but for interest sake.
• The VMware Hands on Labs are a brilliant resource for getting hands on experience of how to do the tasks without having to build out your home lab. These are also great to play around with even if you start a session and don’t follwo the lab transcript but just look around and try to all the portions in the blueprint. Also if you break it just do the lab again 🙂
• There are amazing blogs and resources around vRA 6 that I would reocmmend reading even if some of it is out of scope of the exam. I’ve listed pretty much all of them in my vRealize Autoation 6.x Resources blog posting
• VMware have also just released the VMware Learning Zone and it has quite a few videos that you can pay to watch:
  • vCloud Automation Center 6.0: Custom Properties and Build Profiles
  • vCloud Automation Center 6.0: Installation Prerequisites
  • vCloud Automation Center 6.0: Installation Procedure
  • vCloud Automation Center 6.0: Requesting and Deploying Services
  • vCloud Automation Center 6.0: Service Catalog
  • vCloud Automation Center 6.0: Tenants and Roles

So that’s all the resources I’ve come across at present, I’m sure I’ve missed some so let me know and I’ll add them and good luck with the exam!

Gregg