Final word on BOBJ Certifications

I’ve received a number of messages over the past few months from people requesting details about the BusinessObjects exams. Some have been as blatent as asking for exam questions and answers. I’ve always, and will continue to, delete those messages.

When you take these exams, you need to sign/agree to an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement). This basically means that you will not divulge the details of the exam you are about to take. I have worked particularly hard for this certification, having put in many hours of study and practice. I am not going to risk losing my certification by divulging exam questions or answers to anyone. So please, don’t ask.

At the end of the day, certifications demonstrate your level of competence in a particular subject matter. If you are honest with yourself and feel you are ready, by all means take the exam and feel proud of your achievement. If you feel you need to request exam questions and answers from people, then you are certainly not ready and will need to put in more effort. If you have confidence in your abilities, you do not need to be requesting questions and answers.

Consider this – if you have cheated and gained the certification, you run the risk of putting yourself into some very awkward situations with employers/clients when you are asked about a topic that you should know about.  Are you going to put yourself in that situation?

For those that are studying hard for the exams, credit to you, particularly if you are doing this without the benefit of a classroom or e-leanring course. Don’t worry if you fail the exam the first time around. It is not the end of the world. Take from it the fact that you have seen what the exam is like, and you can move forward and focus on those areas where your performance wasn’t up to scratch. Good luck to you!

SABE410 exam pass – BOCP-BOE Certified

Good news (for me anyway). I recently passed the SABE410 exam.

Having passed the SABE210 and SABE310 exams, this now makes me (to give it it’s full title):

Business Objects Certified Professional – Business Objects Enterprise (BOCP-BOE)

Those that have read my previous blog entries will know that I prepared for this exam using a combination of e-learning courses, reading of Business Objects guides and real world experience. I commented that I felt tat the e-learning courses, as well as the classroom based courses were expensive, particularly when you compare their cost against other IT courses. I still feel that to be the case.

To give Business Objects credit, the e-learning courses themselves are well written, with plenty of subject material and sample exercises at the end. They covered the whole syllabus in a logical fashion and did help with my learning.

However, I felt that the SA410 e-learning course was poor value, particularly as there was a lot of material duplicated from the SA210 and SA310 courses. Not having a physical document to read away from the computer was also a negative point.

The final exam (SABE410) itself is different to the first two exams. It is more real world, with perhaps less emphasis on the technical aspects. However, it is important that you don’t go in blind. Read the syllabus and make sure you are familiar with all the concepts that may be presented in this exam.

I’ve seen posts in various forums asking whether the BOCP can be gained without taking the e-learning or classroom based courses. This is certainly a question I asked before I took my studies. To be honest, I think you may struggle with the first two exams without some form of learning material. SABE310 was particularly technical, as this covers all of the BOE services. The syllabus highlights these services, along with the parameters that can be set and the command line options. Now I have been working with Business Objects products for many many years, and have been using the admin side of XI for about three years. However, this ‘real world’ experience does not prepare you sufficiently for the exam. I have always found that if I needed to tweak a process, I would read a page or two on it, and change the relevant parameter. More often than not, I found you didn’t have to change default parameters.

However, this is were the whole exam process/learning experience comes into play. I am now familiar with all the processes/services and what they do. I know what the parameters are, and I know what effects they can have on the rest of the system. I am now also familiar with sizing and performance of specific processes. I can now, with confidence, troubleshoot issues far more quickly, from memory, than my previous years of experience. In terms of planning, I covered most aspects of content plans, DR plans, etc. during my normal work. However, overall, there is much I will take from this.

This is important. These exams aren’t just about memorising facts, only to be forgotten once you walk out of the exam room. You really do pick up a lot of useful information which you can use time and time again in various client scenarios. I always thought that I knew quite a lot about Business Objects. Having taken the BOCP, I will be able to offer a higher level of technical knowledge to my clients than I previously thought possible.

Back to the original question: Is it possible to pass these exams without taking the official courses? Well, following the exams I reviewed the various technical guides available from Business Objects Support (I believe these are free). And, you will be happy to know, that all the material you are assessed on in the exams can be found in these guides. Note however, that the syllabus content is spread across, and in cases, duplicated, across several guides. Therefore, using the guides themselves to prepare for the exams will require effort and patience. Make extensive notes and don’t leave anything to chance. If your company is willing to pay for these courses, by all means take them. It will make your learning experience far better and easier. If you are having to take exams yourselves out of your own pocket, then use the guides and study hard. If you can stetch to one e-learning course, I’d go for the SA310. Don’t waste your money on the SA410 course. And at the end of the day, if you fail the exam, do not worry. You are able to retake the exam after five days (you have to pay the fee again I believe).
To all those that are planning on taking the BOCP exams – go ahead. They will enrich you. If you put in the effort and back it up with practical work, you will be in a much stronger technical position in the real world.

Good luck!

SA410 e-learning

In between my client assignments, I’ve been working through the SA410 e-learning course.

To say that I am disappointed with it’s content is a massive understatement. These materials are expensive and I am finding that much of the material in this course is a repetition of the SA210 and SA310 courses. It has left me feeling that something is missing.

I’ve checked through the requirements for the exam, and I feel I have covered all aspects.  I can help but feel that I’ve been short changed by the SA410 e-learning course. Perhaps the classroom based course is different?

I’ll soon find out. I’m taking the SA410 exam later this week. I feel prepared, so hopefully I won’t get any surprises.

SABE310 in the bag

I passed SABE310 today! Thats the second of three towards the BOCP certification.

This exam required a lot of preparation on my part, as there was a lot of material to study. The exam consisted of 50 questions in multiple choice format. Slightly more time was allowed than the SABE210 exam.

For this particular exam, I am glad I took the e-learning course. It helped me a lot. Looking over the PDF guides, I think I would have struggled to get all the necessary information.

I’m now preparing for the final exam – SABE410.

Business Objects Exams

A couple of people have asked me how and where they can take the Business Objects exams.

Business Objects exams, which can lead to certification, are delivered by Pearson Vue. Pearson Vue have a number of authorised test centres throughout the world, and there is sure to be one close to you.

To register for an exam, visit their website, and select ‘Information Technology’ from the left hand box. Select ‘Business Objects’ from the right hand box. This will lead you to a section detailing the three certifications currently available from Business Objects. For those that don’t know, these are:

• BOCP – BusinessObjects Enterprise
• BOCP – BusinessObjects Data Integrator
• BOCP – Crystal Reports

Information on each of the certifications is available by clicking on the relevant link.

To book an exam, you need to register with Pearson Vue. Once registered, you can schedule a test. This is a straightforward process.

After selecting the exam you want to take, specify a location or area you want to take the exam in. A list of the five closest test centres are displayed. Select a test centre. A list of available dates and appointment times for that test centre are listed. Select a date and time, and then pay for the exam. Once done, you will receive a email confirming your exam date and time. It is important to check that the details are correct.

In the UK, the BOCP-BOE exams are all priced the same – £90 + VAT (£105.75 including VAT). There may be variations to this pricing in other parts of the world – I do not know. Perhaps someone can let me know, and I’ll update this post.

Whether you pass or fail the exam, you are given a printout of your score. This is must be embossed by the test centre. Your results can be viewed within a few hours on your account history on the Pearson Vue website.

Note that if you fail an exam, you can retake the exam as many times as you like. It does not affect your overall certification. However, you must wait five working days before retaking an exam.

So thats a brief overview of the how’s, where’s and how much of the Business Objects exams.

Study hard and good luck!

XI 3.0 certification

As I start out on the road to BOCP-BOE XIR2 certification, I can’t help but wonder whether it was worth waiting for the XI 3.0 certifications to come out.

However, most clients appear to be on XIR2 or planning to migrate to XIR2, and I don’t think we’ll see much in the way of a mass migration to XI 3.0 for at least 12 months.

Business Objects Certification

I’ve never been a big fan of technical certifications. I firmly believe that it’s experience what counts. And experience shows when on site and tackling a complex problem.

However, there are times when having a formal certification could give you the edge in a new job, contract or sale. Sometimes, that is all that is required – an edge.

I have therefore decided to take the three exams to becoming a Business Objects Certified Professional (BOCP).

I don’t feel I need to take the full classroom based course. I have worked with and administered XI for a couple of years, and the classroom course is quite expensive in relation to other IT courses.  However, I want to make sure I don’t have any gaps in my knowledge which get highlighted in an exam.

Fortunately, Business Objects offer an e-learning option which covers the same material as the classroom based course. It is half the price of the classroom course and I can study the course material in my own time. While I don’t get the training manuals and the ability to ask questions to a tutor, I do have access to the materials for one year, which is more than sufficient.

In the next few days, I’m be taking the Business Objects Enterprise XIR2 Administering Users & Content e-learning course. I’ll be posting an update as to whether it offers good value for money.