Due to my decision to aim for my VCDX6-CMA this year and thereby to get it in in time for the only VCDX-CMA defence of the year (so far) I have signed up for the VCAP6-CMA Design beta exam. I’ve been working on a very large scale vRA 6.2 project for the past 14 months and so I hope this experience of designing and building it as well as my preparations via these objectives breakdown and using some of my VCDX5-DCV knowledge will help me. So I thought I would slowly post up each objective for my own benefit but also hopefully help other people looking to pass the VCAP6-CMA Design exam (beta or GA).I will be updating the objectives as I make my way through them.

Section 1 – Create a vRealize Automation Conceptual Design<- EMEA vBrownbag recording for the VCAP5-CID is available here which applies quite a fair amount: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hZ7_2r44e8
Objective 1.1 – Gather and analyze business requirements
Objective 1.2 – Gather and analyze application requirements
Objective 1.3 – Differentiate requirements, risks, constraints and assumptions
Objective 1.4 – Identify existing business practices and organizational structure

Section 2 – Create a vRealize Automation Logical Design
Objective 2.1 – Map Business Requirements to the Logical Design
Objective 2.2 – Map Service Dependencies
Objective 2.3 – Build Availability Requirements into the Logical Design
Objective 2.4 – Build Manageability Requirements into the Logical Design
Objective 2.5 – Build Performance Requirements into the Logical Design
Objective 2.6 – Build Recoverability Requirements into the Logical Design
Objective 2.7 – Build Security Requirements into the Logical Design

Section 3 – Design vRealize Automation Machine Blueprints
Objective 3.1 – Design a vRealize Automation multi-machine blueprint
Objective 3.2 – Design a complex multi-machine blueprint
Objective 3.3 – Design a machine blueprint according to resource requirements
Objective 3.4 – Design vSphere templates/snapshots to match blueprint requirements
Objective 3.5 – Integrate VMware network virtualization into a machine blueprint

Section 4 – Design a vRealize Automation Catalog for Service Consumption
Objective 4.1 – Design a catalog service structure to given requirements
Objective 4.2 – Determine entitlements needed for a given design
Objective 4.3 – Determine approval policy requirements for a given design

Section 5 – Design a vRealize Automation Solution for Multi-Tenancy
Objective 5.1: Determine Use Cases for Multi-Tenancy
Objective 5.2: Determine identity source requirements for a multi-tenant design
Objective 5.3: Determine RBAC requirements for a multi-tenant design

Section 6 – Incorporate Cloud Services into a vRealize Automation Design
Objective 6.1 – Determine use cases for incorporating cloud services into a vRealize Automation design
Objective 6.2 – Design a vRealize Automation solution to support workload provisioning/migration into other clouds/cloud services

Section 7 – Determine Resource Allocations for a vRealize Automation Design
Objective 7.1: Determine vSphere requirements for a given endpoint design
Objective 7.2: Integrate VMware network virtualization into a vRealize Automation solution
Objective 7.3: Design tiered resource solutions as part of a vRealize Automation design

Section 8 – Incorporate vRealize Orchestration into a vRealize Automation Design
Objective 8.1 – Determine method of deployment for vRealize Orchestrator in a given design
Objective 8.2 – Determine how vRealize Orchestrator will be used in a given design (IaaS)
Objective 8.3 – Determine how vRealize Orchestrator will be used in a given design (XaaS)

Section 9 – Incorporate vRealize Business Standard into a vRealize Automation Design
Objective 9.1 – Determine a cost management structure based on customer requirements
Objective 9.2 – Customize a vRealize Business Standard solution to fit a given design

Section 10 – Incorporate vRealize Application Services into a vRealize Automation Design
Objective 10.1 – Design a tiered application solution using vRA Application Services
Objective 10.2 – Design an application to be deployed by vRA to multiple clouds/cloud services