I’ve heard a few numbers get thrown around for how much of the VCP5-DCV exam is covered during the vSphere 5.5 ICM class. This post only concerns those two products.
Mapping the course to the exam
There are 27 objectives on the VCP550 exam. All but 7.5 (the .5 coming from a SS/vDS combined objective) are addressed by modules in the vSphere Install Configure Manage course.
Note the sections that are not addressed:
vSphere Distributed Switches
vCenter Operations Mgmt
Backup and restore VMs
Troubleshooting
So the next question might be, if the course is required for the exam, why isn’t there 100% coverage? There are a few answers:
1) There are multiple classes that qualify for the education requirement. All together they cover 100% of the exam, but you are only required to take one.
2) The initial ICM class is targeted at those who are just beginning with vSphere. The certification is aimed at full-time vSphere professionals with at least 6 months of hands-on experience working with all aspects of the suite, 2-3 years experience in IT *and* have taken a class.
3) The exam is not intended to be a pop-quiz to see if you paid attention during the ~20 hours of lecture.
