VMware certification and course advice

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Hi Guys

I'm an MCSE 2003 currently working towards the 2012 path however we've started doing more and more with VMware so work has kindly offered to put me on a VMware course, i've already rolled out ESXi servers, Veeam and also done a test VSA setup which I eventually got working so i've got some idea of the concepts but I really want to become good at it.

Question was, which is the best VMware cert to go for, and also what course provider would you recommend for this? I dont mind if the course is a bit longer as I do want to learn as much as I can about it.

Advice would be much appreciated

Thanks!

 

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VCP5-DCV is the certification to go with, and vSphere: Fast Track would be course I'd recommend.

You can take that course at any VATC, the biggest in the UK are QA and Global Knowledge. You'll be trained by a VMware Certified Instructor and use labs which have to meet a set of standards defined by VMware too.

 

Thanks, some people have mentioned 360gsp too so was going to check them out as well, not sure how they compare tho.

 

I did a review here of the 360gsp college http://chrisstark.co.uk/2012/12/rev...vsphere-install-configure-manage-v5-0-course/ any questions just shout. A couple other folks have done the course, one which were two of us which was good.

 

360GSP are a participant in the VITA program.

VITAs are colleges and will be cheaper, they are only allowed to deliver the training over a longer time period (many weeks) and their tutors will only be VCPs.

VATCs will deliver the training in 5 days, and their instructors must be VCIs. VCIs have their technical and delivery skills assessed individually in person by VMware.

 

That's interesting to know! I will say the teacher was excellent but at the same time you got to be careful as a VCP might not be no where as good as a VCI right?

 

What's to say a VCP makes a good instructor? Only VCIs have their classroom/delivery capabilities assessed by VMware.

Of course I'm not saying a VCI at a VATC will always be better than a tutor at a VITA.

 

Having experienced training at both a VATC and a VITA (the VATC courses were all vCloud or VMware View related rather than VCP DCV) I can say that the level of instruction by 360GSP didn't fall down because of the lack of VCI.

There are some people who prefer the idea of doing training over weekends (I am one of them, when I first did my VCP4 course I booked it up for weekend training because I was a contractor and time off work was going to cost me double) whilst there are others who want to get the training completed in a week. Considering it's unlikely that people are going to sit the exam straight after the training (attending the course isn't enough to pass the exam).

I for one would definitely attend more training at 360GSP in the future even with the lack of VCI.

 

Thanks Guys thats been very helpful, I'm looking at 360GSP now, I started a new thread with a query, was just after the prices you guys paid for the VMware course, any info would be great

 

Just have a chat with Angel and I am sure she will do all she can to help. Asking people what they paid for course prices is in my own opinion bad form because what one person paid for the course may well be more or less than the next.

As long as you're happy with the price being quoted then that's all you should really worry about (I have seen times when people found out how much others paid for a course and get upset).

Good luck with whatever you decide.