Last month we kicked off a new series profiling some of the subject matter experts (SMEs) who dedicate hours of their time to making VMware Certifications the best in the industry. Developing a certification exam takes a lot of work by a lot of different people and hope you enjoy getting to know them like we do.
This month, we’re speaking with Ross Wynne, VCIX6-DCV, VCIX6-NV, VCIX7-CMA.
How long have you worked in IT?
I have over 10 years experience in enterprise and for various clients in EMEA & MENA including government agencies, financial institutions, gaming industry, and Telcos. I started as a systems engineer and one of my first responsibilities was to maintain a VMware GSX and ESX 2.5 environment. I was immediately hooked by the virtual voodoo!
What do you think makes for a great testing experience?
The best testing experiences are when you are challenged on legitimately useful topics and real-world scenarios. When you click the finish button and find out that you’ve passed the exam it can really boost your self-confidence. I’ve seen colleagues be quite timid about working in a vSphere environment, but by passing their VCP exam they were able to master their environments with confidence. That’s the human value beyond the certification itself.
Why did you get involved in the VMware Certification Contributor program?
There were two main reasons for my interest, the first reason was that my original VCP3 (VMware Certified Professional 3) certification was career defining so I wanted to give back in some way. The second reason was an interest to find out how certifications are put together and to maybe address some issues that I’ve seen over the years.
One of those issues related to people having to memorize various minimum and maximum values which, in my view, are not always valuable to learn off by heart as they change from version to version. What I believe is more important is that the candidate understands the impact of VMware technology to their business, and how to use the technology in a way that’s supportable and efficient.
What is the most desirable facet of the program?
Being able to help shape an industry certification is pretty cool. You also get to network with other contributors and learn from them about how the products are used in other regions of the world.
What have you gained from the program?
What I have learnt as part of the program is that there’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes to make a certification. There have been many hours/days in workshops and conference calls with other contributors debating the precise wording in the blueprints and the phrasing of questions. The contributors I’ve worked with are real-life experts in their fields and wish to keep the VCP as a certification of quality and respected industry-wide. It also has helped me understand what a certification program is for and how the exam blueprint is so important to analyse and understand.
If you’re interested in joining Ross and our other SMEs in developing future VMware certification exams, please let us know.
