360GSP VCP5 - DV ICM Course Blog

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As some of you know I used 360GSP last year for my VCP 4 training, this year I have returned to them to undertake my VCP 5 training.

First things first, there have been some changes to the way that 360GSP run their VMware courses, last year they ran the VCP 4 training over 3 weekends, this year however the VCP 5 ICM (Install Config and Manage) course is being run over 4 week ends, that's 8 days of training where as if you go through most training providers they only do it in 5 days.

The change comes for a couple of reasons, first of all because VMware have removed some of the content from the new ICM 5 course (you are no longer taught about the vSphere Distributed Switch, only the vSphere Standard Switch), they have done this to cover newer content but another reason why 360GSP have increased the training period to 8 days is to allow the student to cover more than just the ICM content.

For those of you who don't know the VCP exam tests more than what's covered in just the ICM course, it's expected that students will also use extra material to cover the shortfall in knowledge to pass the VCP5 exam, so by using the extra days study to cover extra material 360GSP are hopefully providing the extra boost to their students to help them a little further along with their study prep for the exam.

Another thing that's changed since my ICM 4 course was the class size, the new courses now have 16 students in the class (actually 17 in my class as one of their students who was booked on the course in the new year had to get bumped onto this course due to a change in circumstances), with 17 students on the class there was an initial shortfall in environments but the instructor came to the rescue with another esxi test environment before the start of lab 2.

One thing that was clear to me on this course is that the level of students ability on this course is much higher than I have seen on previous courses (not just with 360GSP but also other providers), it's actually refreshing talking to other like minded people who actually know what the product does and how to use it.

One weekend down, three more to go and I just hope that the next three weekends go without the expected new arrival (my wife is currently 34 weeks pregnant) as this could obviously throw a spanner into the works .

 

Hi mate, it's a 5.0 course, the 5.1 material should be widely available towards the end of November with everyone using it by the end of the year apparently.

Midway through the course I will also be attending the vCD course with QA so getting a report on that one as well (that starts next week).

As for kids, we have a 5 yo boy at the moment, expecting a little girl early December so exciting and nervous times ahead

 

I hope your ready to get in touch with your feminine side, I'm regularly covered in facepaint and lipstick by my girls.

 

Two boys for me - Scalextric and footy all the way!!!

All the best Simon

- - - Updated - - -

You will already know a LOT of what's in the 5.0 ICM Simon, just to warn you!

 

Thanks for sharing the information Simon, I'm pretty sure you will find he ICM course a breeze, but I reckon your probably doing it for the 'tick box' to get the qualification :P

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on vCD course.

 

Over the weekend I completed day 3 and 4 of the VCP5 class, in addition to the class I also had a long conversation with the owner of 360GSP (Sher) and it was refreshing to see someone with as much passion for his company and staff, it's obvious that 360GSP are wanting to expand on their training offerings but are being somewhat held back by lack of more decent instructors (there are only so many days a man can work).

Anyway, back to the course, this weekend we covered a storage and networking and actually it was a good mix of study and discussions between all of the candidates, as I mentioned in my previous post the level of student on this course is much higher than I have experienced in the past (perhaps I am too use to the MCITP courses where it's usually bums on seats).

It was really good to sit down during lunch and have a chat with Systems Designers, Architects and Engineers, the students are a mix of levels but all have a really good grasp on the various different aspects of the course.

As has been mentioned in the past (and as already noted by the instructor) this really is just a case of ticking the box for me, nothing is standing out so far as something I wasn't aware of but we obviously do still have more content to cover.

My only gripe at the moment is the cost of petrol (obviously nothing to do with the course), so far the two weekends have seen me put about £180 into the car and put over 800 miles onto her , if it weren't for the fact that Network Rail are always doing work on the railway line between here and London I would seriously consider going by train (or staying in a hotel on the Friday \ Saturday night but that may be frowned on with a seriously pregnant wife :O)

So far I have definitely been impressed with the level of training and students.

 

Too bad I don't live in London, judging by the reviews of 360GSP, I would of been interested in their course.

 

can anyone help me with my problem?

 

This is the wrong thread to post for help, I responded to your other thread.

Thanks.

 

If you're going to cross dress then its only fair you should learn to do it yourself

 

So days 5 and 6 flew past (mainly because they were days 8 and 9 in a stretch of continuous training that I did so everything by this point was going very fast).

Continuing with the training it's obvious that VMware have dropped various subjects from the curriculum, unfortunately these subjects aren't the type that, in my opinion, should be left out (for example DVS, Host Profiles, DPM) and it was the same with 360GSP, Dai took the time to take us through the lessons from the ICM 4.1 class so that the class had a better understanding of the missing subjects to aid us in the studying for the VCP5 DV exam.

I have been very impressed with the level of instruction from Dai (who really should find the time to do his VCAP exams ;)) and the makeup of the students this time made for some very interesting class led discussions.

This has been one of the best classroom based training courses I have attended for a while, sure the 400miles of driving every weekend (£100 of fuel ) is still taking it's toll (not just on me but the car as well which I don't like putting extraneous mileage on) but the guys on the course and the course itself were worth every minute.

10/10 to 360GSP for the class and instructor and 11/10 to the students who made up the class and made it really enjoyable.