Microsoft Private Cloud exam preparation

For the first time ever at MMS, attendees could take Microsoft Certification Exams onsite. For those interested in the Private Cloud, you could be one of the very first to take the beta version of Microsoft’s private cloud certification exams. For that reason I scheduled two exams and it will approximately take 8 weeks for the final score. The exams were not that easy; you must have good understanding of all MS Private Cloud products to have a good change. In this post I will share some hints & tips for the exams. 

When passing both exams and MCITP: Server Administrator you get the new "MCSE (Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert) Private Cloud" status. 

Exam 71:246 (58 questions)
For it seems most of MS Private Cloud exam questions are about Virtual Machine Manager, Operations Manager, Service Manager and Orchestrator. Furthermore there a questions on Data Protection Manager and WSUS integration in Virtual Machine Manager. It's the hardest one of the two exams.

Preperation materials: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-246

The distribution of questions is about:

• Virtual Machine Manager: 30%
• Operations Manager: 20%
• Service Manager: 20%
• Orchestrator: 20%
• Data Protection Manager: 10%

Exam 71:247 (47 questions)
Again most of MS Private Cloud exam questions are about Virtual Machine Manager, Operations Manager, Service Manager and Orchestrator. Furthermore there are questions on App Controller, Data Protection Manager and App-V Server. This one seems a little bit easier then the other one.

Preperation materials: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-247

The distribution of questions is about:

• Virtual Machine Manager: 30%
• Operations Manager: 10%
• Service Manager: 20%
• Orchestrator: 20%
• App Controller: 10%
• Data Protection Manager 10%

Because of the ConfigMgr 2012 exam 70:243 (which is final by now), there are (almost) no questions about Configuration Manager and Endpoint Protection. All other 6 products from the System Center 2012 suite will be used. 

Good luck with both exams! (and post the results)

Useful Information from MMS 2012 Las Vegas

Last week I was at Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas. With 5,500 delegates the event was sold out! It was a nice week with lots of useful information about Microsoft System Center 2012 and Microsoft Private Cloud. Besides the fact that there were many Configuration Manager 2012 sessions to follow, the Microsoft Private Cloud exams released at this event also. Therefore I scheduled two exams and it will approximately take 8 weeks for the final score. I had close contact with a lot of suppliers on ConfigMgr (add-ons) and OpsMgr (management packs).

Here's the information I have gained partly during MMS:

System Center 2012 & MS Private Cloud

• System Center 2012 is released officially on Tuesday April 17th 2012, during the Microsoft Management Summit
• All System Center 2012 products has some kind of integration with each other
• Live Migration is greatly enhanced in SCVMM 2012 & Network Virtualization in SCVMM 2012 available
• The new "MCSE: Private Cloud" exams (71-246 & 71-247) are available for Beta testing now
• Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) is reinvented for the cloud, "MCSE: Private Cloud"
• You must have good understanding of all MS Private Cloud products to have a good change

Windows Server & Windows Client

• Windows Server 8 is called Windows Server 2012 from now on, and will be released this year (2012)
• MCITP Windows Server 2008 has become MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate) Windows Server 2008
• App-V 5.0 and UE-V (User Experience Virtualization) are available for download now
• There will be four Windows 8 client versions released, Windows 8 (x86/x64) and Windows 8 Pro (x86/x64)
• Metro style will be supported in ConfigMgr 2012 around the Windows 8 release, isn't that cool?!

Configuration Manager 2012

• Configuration Manager 2012 and Endpoint Protection 2012 are RTM now
• In ConfigMgr 2012 it will be possible to publish Metro style apps and Microsoft store apps
• Migration tools are really useful to migrate ConfigMgr 2007 components to ConfigMgr 2012
• Application approval in ConfigMgr 2012 and Service Manager 2012 is possible
• New Package Conversion Dashboard available for application migration, which is a seperate download
• App-V integration in ConfigMgr 2012 requires a App-V 4.6 client, otherwise it won't work
• You can simulate installation and removals for all kind of applications (e.g. MSI, App-V, XenApp)
• Package Conversion Dashboard has a deep integration in the ConfigMgr console, but must be installed seperately
• Citrix XenApp publications visible in ConfigMgr console now, publish as XenApp or App-V package
• Citrix Receiver is publishing apps deployed by ConfigMgr 2012, as XenApp or App-V package

Windows Intune & Embedded Device Manager

• Windows Intune pre-release announcement on April 18th 2012, during the Microsoft Management Summit
• With Windows Intune you can control and publish apps to iOS and Android devices
• With an Exchange connector, Windows Intune can manage Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) connected devices
• Windows Intune will support multiple Exchange policies, ConfigMgr will not (yet)
• Device Manager 2011 SP1 integrates with ConfigMgr 2007, Device Manager 2012 integrates with ConfigMgr 2012
• New in WEDM 2012: Software distribution & Software updates (above Compliance, Collections and Device imaging)

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012

• Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 is RTM and available for download now
• Much of new features in MDT 2012; it will give you way more value on top of ConfigMgr functionality
• With DaRT tools in MDT 2012 it's possible to have remote control functionality in WinPE step
• MDT 2012 will have support for the new application model in ConfigMgr 2012 too
• In MDT 2012 there's continued support for ConfigMgr 2007, isn't that good news?!

Mobile Device Management

• Microsoft will provide deep management of almost all mobile devices, including Windows Phone, Android and iOS

Next year MMS 2012 will be in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hope to be there again for my 3rd Microsoft Management Summit!