Part of our goal as a certification program is to create policies that enable you to validate your expertise and show your relevancy in the industry.
The recertification policy of a two-year upgrade was in place to help you maintain that relevancy through upgraded certifications and up-to-date skills. Recertification is important enough to create policies around, but we’ve heard your feedback and we are making a change. We want the VMware certification program to match the needs of each candidate and allow the flexibility to do what best supports individual and organizational needs.
So, effective immediately, the mandatory recertification requirement will be removed from all current certifications. We want you to upgrade and recertify when it’s important or viable for you.
To learn more about these changes and what they mean to you, please view this video and read the FAQ to answer the most common questions.
Sketch
With no mention of dropping the money-grab-specific-class-requirement?
Too Little. Too Late.
Wojciech Marusiak
Hi Karl,
I think this is the right move. Thanks for listening. I just checked my VCP-NV and VCP-DCV 6 and I still got an expiration date at 24.03.2019 (earned in March 2017). Is this ok?
I thought that it will be effective immediately.
Karl Childs
Hi Wojciech, the back end systems are being updated still, so it’ll be a little while before it’s reflected in CertManager. But your expiration date will go away once the changes are made (that’s true of anyone, even if CertManager shows they expire between now and when the changes are fully implemented).
terrapin24h
This is great news! Now maybe i can justify doing some other vmw cert now that i’m not on the treadmill any more
Dave8
Hi Karl, this is great news but it would have been better if this was announced with some notice. My VMware certs expired at the end of Dec 2018. Do you know if VMware will make any exceptions or bring forward the cut-off point?
Karl Childs
Hi Dave,
Yes, we will be re-activating older certifications up to VCP5, so even if you expired, that expiration will be removed (once the backend system gets updated so it reflects in CertManager).
Thanks,
Karl
Dave8
Thanks for the clarification Karl.
Bill T
So if your certification lapses will you still be required to take a VMware class (as well as an exam) in order to regain the certification? Or will you only have to take a qualifying exam for the certification to become active again?
Karl Childs
Hi Bill, with the removal of the mandatory recertification requirement, you won’t have a lapsed or expired certification status any longer. So you will be able to upgrade to a more recent version of certification through the upgrade path, which is typically a single exam.
Note that very old certifications will still retire (or stay retired). For example, the VCP2/3/4-DCV are old enough that they won’t become active again and would require the New Candidate path to renew. But if you hold a VCP5-DCV or newer, you can upgrade through one exam.
We won’t retire certifications that are newer than three years old, so you have longer now than before to take advantage of the one-exam upgrade path.
JJ
What a confusing mess, I was very disappointed with the 2 year recertification. I know that when I received my VCP 5 I was looking at the next step which I believe was called VCAP back then. Once the change happened It literally stopped me in my tracks for that cert and last couple of years I took 2 other vendor certs that I probably would not have taken. Hopefully it will be streamlined and more path friendly for the rest of us. Make it right VMware, admins are your best advocates in the business space. Thanks for letting me drop my 2 cents.
Karl Childs
Thanks JJ,
Along with this change, you’ll continue to see even more of the streamlined upgrade options. We’ll soon start adding more upgrade options for our certifications that are more in-line with activities you and other admins are doing already, to help make it easier to stay as current as you’d like to.
And the VCAPs are still available, whenever you’re ready!
Thanks,
Karl
Ioan Vancea
Hi,
That’s a good thing, but would be really good to drop the requirement to attend an expensive class in order to get the certification. Not every company is feeling to pay for that class and to pay myself such amount of money is ridiculous.
Regards,
Ionut
Josh
How do we claim the 1yr LZ subscription having recently re-certified?
Karl Childs
Hi Josh, for everyone who has met the requirements, they’ll receive an email with instructions in how to redeem.
Thanks,
Karl
BrianT
Like Sketch and Bill T mentioned, if you let your certification lapse will we be required to take a VMware class in order to get re-certified? I didn’t see anything about it under the new policy.
Thanks,
Brian
Karl Childs
Hi Brian, no, as long as the last certification you hold is a VCP5-DCV or newer, you don’t need to follow the Expired path to upgrade – you can upgrade directly through a single exam.
Thanks,
karl
Bill Ballmer
Great news. Thanks VMware,
Kamruddin Chowdhury
Hi Karl, my certification profile is attached to a vmware partner for their competency requirement. Do I need to re-certify within 2-year?
Karl Childs
Hi Kamruddin, yes, to meet partner competency requirements, there is no change. The 2-year certification requirement will be handled through the partner program and you (and/or your organization) will receive information directly from the partner team.
Thanks,
Karl
kamruddin chowdhury
If I detach my profile from the partner , does the recertification still
mandatory for me?
Karl Childs
No, but to be safe, I would confirm with your organization. It may be possible your VCP may be one they are using to qualify for competency benefits and authorization.
Kamruddin Chowdhury
So, you mean after detaching my certification profile from the partner I will be relieved from mandatory re-certification and they can also use my VCP for their competency benefits. Does my understanding is right?
Actually I am looking for a way that can relief me from mandatory re-certification as well as my VCP can be used for the partner’s competency fulfillment.
Karl Childs
Hi Kamruddin, no, if your certification is used to qualify your organization’s competency requirements, it will need to be updated within the last two years.
Thanks,
Karl
kamruddin chowdhury
If someone was certified by VCP6-DCV Delta Exam (6.5), can he use the same exam to re-certify?
Dheeraj Soni
My VCP5 certification 2 year is due to expire on 16th Feb. I have booked the exam for VCP6.5 for 12th Feb . Will I be still be able take VCP6.5 exam on schedule o or do I have to take VCP2019 only ? Or Do I have to postpone it for post April ? Will I get access to VMware learning zone ?
Karl Childs
Hi Dheeraj,
You may take your scheduled 6.5 exam and still earn the VCP-DCV 2019. The certification is based on when you pass the required exams and so currently, either the 6.5 or 6.7 exam will earn you the certification.
The Learning Zone access is for those who followed the Expiration path to upgrade again within the last six months (I’m not sure if you fall into that situation or not?)
Thanks,
Karl
بلاگ
It was excellent thanks
BF
Hi Karl, what about us who just took an exam solely to re-certify?. I have taken an exam to recertify my VCPs just before 2 months. I know that taking the exam as an upgrade is also good, but I would not be in hurry and invest in time and money for just small version upgrade. If I knew, I would wait to do major upgrade, or try another track. Is there any compensation in training or may be exam vouchers for us in case like this?
Karl Childs
Hi BF, there is not. As you state, recertification is still valuable and good to do. It is situations like yours that helped us decide to make the change so that you can decide when it best makes sense to you to upgrade rather than within our timelines.
Thanks,
Karl
Jamel
Thanks for all the great information Karl! But didnt VMware at one time allow you to take another VMware exam and it would update your previous one? For example lets say I am VCP 5 (which will be newly reactivated) But I take the either the VCP6-CMA or NSX exam instead and pass. Will that automatically put me back in compliance and possibly give me extra time to recertify myself to pass the current VCP 5 even after the expiration date without taking a class? Hope this makes sense, I thought there was an option not to have to take the class if you had updated your cert in another track.
Thanks again!
Karl Childs
Hi Jamel, yes, that was the case in the past with any active certifications. If you held a VCP5-DCV, and it was still active, you could earn a VCP in another track by passing that track’s VCP exam, and it would reset the expiration date on all your VCPs.
With the recent change of removing the 2-year recertification requirement, you’ll see those dates will go away. We will no longer expire certifications at an individual level, but certifications as a whole. So anyone with VCP5-DCV will now remain active until we retire the certification as a whole. Certifications that we retire will still be on your transcript but will be noted as Emeritus (such as VCP2/3/4 is now).
While you have an active certification, you may follow the upgrade path and earn a new VCP in a different track, without having to retake training or the Foundations exam. To earn a new VCP in a different track, you must be within two versions, but that upgrade path will still exist.
Thanks,
Karl
Tedi Rachmadi
My vcp 6-dcv expired at end of January 2019, with this change can I take vcp-dcv-2019 exam at February? Or I need to wait until April 2019 when certification manager show my vcp active again?
Thanks
Karl Childs
Hi Tedi, you may take the upgrade exam at any time. When the back-end system is updated, it will reflect the exam taken and your new certification, regardless of when you passed the exam.
Thanks,
Karl
GD
Great news as my VCP was set to expire tomorrow.
Does this alter the path for VCAP though? I hold VCP6 and was rather annoyed I had to upgrade to VCP6.5 before I can do VCAP. Will this still be the case or could I go directly for VCAP exam now?
Karl Childs
With the current version of the VCAPs at v6.5, the underlying VCP also needs to be 6.5. However, for the time being, the VCAP6-DCV Deploy is still available, and you can earn that one with the VCP6-DCV. THen upgrade later on.
Kirtan Patel
Thanks so much VMware…. now I will start preparation for my VCAP
Brandon
Hi Karl,
So I understand that the 2-year certification requirement will be removed and instead of expiring certifications at an individual level, VMware will just be retiring older VMware certifications as a whole when they eventually “age out”. Is there a set time frame for that, though? I believe I saw that you will not be re-activating VCP2/3/4-DCV as part of this change and that those individuals would still need to go through the New Candidate path to renew (VMware Training class requirement). Hypothetically speaking, if I currently hold a VCP6-DCV and I don’t take any new exams in the future to renew, would I eventually get to a place where I would have to go through the New Candidate path again (VMware Training class requirement) in order to obtain a newer VCP-DCV?
Karl Childs
Hi Brandon, great question. On average, it’ll about double the time to take advantage of upgrade paths. Certifications will retire after 3-4 years, depending on the track and content.
Thanks,
Karl
kamruddin chowdhury
Hi Karl,
My last re-certification exam was VCP6-DCV Delta (6.5). Can I attend the same exam again to re-certify? Or to chose another/older one?
Karl Childs
Hi Kamruddin, you will have to select another exam. Once you pass an exam, you are unable to retake it.
Thanks,
Karl
Conor Walsh
Hi Karl,
I am looking to do a vSAN specialist exam. This exam has a requirement of an active / current VCP.
My VCP – DCV 6.0 certification has expired.
My question is, do I have to wait until April when my VCP – DCV 6.0 is active again before I proceed with taking the vSAN exam?
Thanks,
Conor
Karl Childs
Hi Conor, you can take the exam now. There is a chance it will not process until April, but it will process for sure, even if you take the exam prior to April.
Thanks,
Karl
Garrett Skjelstad
This was a great effort. Next time give additional pre-announcement, and stop sending automated emails telling people to “not wait” and “recertify now!”, well before you plan on making this change, vs the 120/90/60/30 day countdowns to a change that will no longer matter.
Instead of “Effective immediately”, would have been nice to rather say, “with the release of the next exam”, or “90/60/30 days from now” that way you give people the time to FIND this announcement, and then cancel scheduled exams prior to the date, or continue with their plans, and not feel they just wasted a bunch of time studying for a exam, they no longer need to take. It will also give you more time to announce through additional channels as well.
There are plenty of other IT certification tracks, pay attention to how they handle Certification and Exam change announcements. Take note. Thank-you, next.
Karl Childs
Thanks, Garrett for your note. The timing of communication for things like this is always a bit tricky since it will be at an inopportune time for someone, regardless of when it goes out. But I agree, while we didn’t want to stop those automatic emails until the confirmation of recertification being retired, we could have started to adjust the wording in those emails. I appreciate the feedback and how it affected you, as it does help drive how we respond and create notices ongoing.
Thanks,
Karl
Renee
Thank you for this specific info I was basically researching all Yahoo to be able to find it!
Kamruddin Chowdhury
Hi Karl, a guy has passed VCP5-DCV 5 on March, 2015. Later he passed VCP6-NV on March, 2017. If he want to attend any VCP-CMA exam after 2-years period (after March,2019) is it mandatory for him to attend the training course?
Karl Childs
Hi Kamruddin,
Nope! Training is only required one time while the most recently earned certification is still active. But it’s always recommended to prepare.
Thanks,
Karl
Giovanni Ruotolo
Big Karl,
Excellent strategy
carlos
Hi Karl,
to wich adres can i mail for more information and to activate my logon again??
Karl Childs
Hi Carlos, you can send questions and requests to certification@vmware.com.
Mando
Hi there,
How long does it take before I receive the Certificate after completing the required exams..
Karl Childs
Hi Mando, it will be within two days before your certification appears in CertManager. You can see more detail here: https://blogs.vmware.com/education/2017/11/24/certification-appear-certification-manager/
From CertManager, you can download the e-certificate.
Thanks,
Karl