I re-wrote IBM DataPower Certification test 284 over the weekend and passed with a 75% when requiring a 60%. Taking the course made my life a lot easier. I still spent two hours writing and reviewing the answers but I was a lot more confident about passing when I ended the test.

I did notice that there is a bug in the Prometrics Windows based client (non web-browser) that you need to be aware of. One of the questions deals with “Which of the XMLs is invalid”, and the answers use xmlns to define namespaces. The problem is that the URLs follow the http:// format and the windows client is turning them into blue-underlined hyperlinks while removing the surrounding quotes. This will make three of the answers appear as invalid XML.

I have emailed the only person in IBM who I know is deeply involved in the certification organization and I hope IBM will either update the question or fix the windows client bug.

The other weird thing about the windows client was that I didn’t see an option to provide feedback directly when ending the test but not yet getting the score. I took a notes about questions that I really disliked and wanted to provide feedback on but I didn’t have the opportunity. The ‘paper’ I was given to record my notes on when writing the test was an erasable surface that had to be returned at the end.

Anyway,  the test was pretty much the same one that I had written previously except that the hard questions were first which freaked me out a bit

Related Posts

• IBM Certification Tests 253, 142 & 664
• IBM Certification Tests
• Impact 2008: Free Certification Testing
• WB552: Random DataPower Thoughts Part 5
• WB552: Random DataPower Thoughts Part 7

This is the course that I am attending this week. This will be nice as I’ll have a hardcopy of the course contents. Also, being able to go through the content slowly over a week with hands-on usage of the datapower box will be a huge bonus. When I was trying to learn the machine without  the help of the exercises, I was overwhelmed by the number of options available and unsure when to use what. So far, I see nine attendees in the room. Lower than the other two times I’ve been here (WebsSphere Application Server v6.1 admin had a maximum room of 20 and WebSphere Process Server was the same).

Additionally, for attending this course I have two certificates for free certification test (WebSphere 284 firmware v3.6.0 and WebSphere 289 v3.6.1) .

Related Posts

• Attending DataPower Classroom Training Next Week
• Impact 2008: Free Certification Testing
• DataPower Course WB552 Overall Impressions
• IBM Certification Tests 253, 142 & 664
• WB552: Introductions

Sometimes the stars just align perfectly. I’m trying to get my DataPower Certification and IBM’s business partner relations team is offering a free course on DataPower next week in Markham. It pays to be in a city with an IBM Office. I’ll be in attendance there and hopefully sitting in the room for 5 days will put me over the edge.

Naturally, I’ll try and blog it.

Related Posts

• DataPower Course WB552: Accelerate and Secure XML and Web Services with IBM DataPower SOA Appliances
• Impact 2008: Free Certification Testing
• DataPower Course WB552 Overall Impressions
• WB552: Random DataPower Thoughts Part 7
• IBM Impact 2008 Attendance

I wrote three certification tests:

1. Test 253, IBM WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment
2. Test 142, XML 1.1 and Related Technologies
3. Test 664, SOA Fundamentals

Test 253, IBM WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment

As I had mentioned before, I attended a WAS 6.1 Administration business partner course run out of the IBM Toronto Lab. I have a printed copy of the course and have spent the last month reading it off and on. I decided to attempt to write the certification. I thought that the test was pretty fair and I don’t remember anything note worthy about weird/unfair questions. The course was a very good match for the test.

Passing Score: 53%
Your Score: Pass - 61.11% (33 earned out of 54 possible)

Test 142, XML 1.1 and Related Technologies

Given that I’ve been working with XML for a long time, I figured I should be able to pass this one pretty easily. The test is focused on DTD & XSD definitions of XML. There are also questions along the lines of “Why is this XML bad” or “When to choose SAX over DOM for parsing”. There were some low-level technology questions too. Things like “How do you create an XML Reader” or “What jar do you need to put on the classpath to use XSLTC in Java 5?” (??). There were also some hardcore XSLT iterative data manipulation calls where you had to describe the output or error. I’d say you’ll have a better time with this certification if you are currently using SAX/DOM API to parse trees. I haven’t done that in a very long time.

Passing Score: 61%
Your Score: Pass - 61.22% (30 earned out of 49 possible)

Yes, I passed by %0.22.

Test 664, SOA Fundamentals

I wasn’t in the mood to write another difficult test (say WPS Admin). I noticed that 664 is a required test to obtain IBM Certified WebSphere Administrator status (I’m not sure about the exact term, but it’s the combination of 664 + 235 + WPS 094). This test was pretty easy if you have been working in the SOA space in any capacity. The key terms to remember is that SOA is all about business value and rapid responses to change. That theme was hammered in about 50% of the test. If you use common sense and understand things like Web Services and WSDL you should be fine.

Passing Score: 66%
Your Score: Pass - 77.78% (42 earned out of 54 possible)

So far so good. I will likely write Process Server certification today.

Related Posts

• Passed Certification Test 284: IBM WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances Firmware V3.6.0
• IBM Certification Tests
• Impact 2008: Free Certification Testing
• Planned IBM Certification Tests
• DataPower Course WB552: Accelerate and Secure XML and Web Services with IBM DataPower SOA Appliances

I was recently asked about where to find resources on WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Integration Developer in order to pass certification tests 093 and 094. I responded to basically search developerworks for articles along with IBM RedBooks.

I didn’t really like responding without concrete links, so I did a little browsing of the site and found the following books. I’d recommend reading the latest books on the software, as a lot has changed since the 2005-product release days.

1. Technical Overview of WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Integration Developer, REDP-4041-00
   Redpapers, published 6 December 2005, Rating: (based on 14 reviews)
2. Getting Started with WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus V6, SG24-7212-00
   Redbooks, published 14 June 2006, last updated 14 June 2006, Rating: (based on 9 reviews)
3. Patterns: SOA Foundation - Business Process Management Scenario, SG24-7234-00
   Redbooks, published 8 August 2006, last updated 11 August 2006, Rating: (based on 10 reviews)
4. Human-Centric Business Process Management with WebSphere Process Server V6, SG24-7477-00
   Redbooks, published 15 October 2007, last updated 17 October 2007, Rating: (based on 6 reviews)
5. Getting Started with WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus Part 1: Development, SG24-7608-00
   Draft Redbooks, last update 18 April 2008
6. Patterns: Building Serial and Parallel Processes for IBM WebSphere Process Server V6, SG24-7205-00
   Redbooks, published 23 April 2006, last updated 25 April 2006, Rating: (based on 3 reviews)
7. A Simple Example: Using the WebSphere Adapter for Flat File, REDP-4235-00
   Redpapers, published 28 December 2006, Rating: (based on 3 reviews)
8. Business Process Management: Modeling through Monitoring Using WebSphere V6.0.2 Products, SG24-7148-01
   Redbooks, published 21 August 2007, Rating: (based on 8 reviews)
9. WebSphere Business Integration V6 Performance Tuning, REDP-4195-00
   Redpapers, published 26 September 2006, Rating: (based on 1 review)
10. Migrating WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation to WebSphere Process Server & Best Practices, SG24-7416-00
    Draft Redbooks, last update 9 December 2007, Rating: (based on 2 reviews)
11. Getting Started with WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus Part 2: Scenario, SG24-7642-00
    Draft Redbooks, last update 18 April 2008
12. Patterns: SOA Foundation Service Connectivity Scenario, SG24-7228-00
    Redbooks, published 17 August 2006
13. WebSphere Adapter Development, SG24-6387-00
    Redbooks, published 20 June 2006, Rating: (based on 9 reviews)
14. Redbooks - Production Topologies for WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere ESB V6 2007-04-20

It’s a bit much to ask someone to read all of them, but the ones that actual focus on the product themselves instead of scenarios or patterns are probably the most useful in order to pass a test.

Related Posts

• Getting Started with WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus Part 3: Runtime
• Getting Started with WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus Parts 1 & 2
• WebSphere InterChange Server migration to WebSphere Process Server
• Pre-review: WebSphere Business Integration Primer
• WebSphere Business Integration V6.1 Performance Tuning

If you are attending Impact 2008, don’t forget that you are allowed to write three IBM certification tests for free this week!

I’m a big fan of free, so I always max out my conference allotment. If you need some suggestions for tests, check out my previous entries about my impressions having written SOA Solution Designer, WebSphere Integration Developer and WebSphere Process Server.

I firmly believe that anybody attending this conference can pass the 664 and 667 tests on SOA. 664 titled SOA Fundamentals is something that most people will pass implicitly if they half-listened to any of the speakers this week. 667 titled Architectural Design of SOA Solutions is the 2007 revisement to 665 which I passed with no studying, again if you’ve actually implemented anything to do with SOA you should pass.

Happy Certing!

Related Posts

• IBM Certification Tests
• IBM Certification Tests 253, 142 & 664
• Impact 2008: Dana Gardner and Michael Coté Blogging the Conference
• Planned IBM Certification Tests
• Passed Certification Test 284: IBM WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances Firmware V3.6.0

Just thought I’d outline my current thinking towards which tests I’m going to prepare to write at the WebSphere Services Technical Conference 2008:

1. 284 - IBM WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances Firmware V3.6.0
2. 093 - IBM WebSphere Process Server V6.0, System Administration
3. 252/253 - IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V6.0/V6.1 Core Administration
4. 664 - SOA Fundamentals
5. 807 - Web Services Development for IBM WebSphere Application Server V6.1
6. 735 - Developing Applications with IBM Lotus Sametime 7.5

284: Top priority for me as I foresee a lot of opportunity in this space and a potential skill gap that I could fill.

093: Sweet revenge for failing this last year.

252/253: WAS 6.1 server is the latestet even though most of my experience is on WAS 6.0. So it will be a game time decision over which one I choose.

664: This is a prerequisite to becoming a “IBM Certified Administrator for SOA Solutions” (664, 093 & 252/253 prereq).

807: Leverage all the experience I have with WSDL and XSD into a certification.

735: Before I left IBM, I wrote a few fun utility plugins for SameTime 7.5. The first would just display the last message received into a text box. I used to be involved in group chats and didn’t want to give focus to the window but still wanted to read what was being said. The second (and far more fun) was the “Early Warning System”, a plug in that could detect when someone had opened a new chat window with you but hadn’t yet started typing. It could give you a chance to either surprise them with a “hi”, or for the more devious, jump off line and plead ignorance. Alas, I wrote them both at IBM so they’re IBM property. If you are an IBMer and interested in either I can direct you to someone internal who has them.

Related Posts

• IBM Certification Tests
• Passed Certification Test 284: IBM WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances Firmware V3.6.0
• IBM Certification Tests 253, 142 & 664
• Impact 2008: Free Certification Testing
• Steve Mills Responds to My SOA Jam Idea about ESB

Generally, I’m not a big proponent of the certification process. They tend to be too focused on the ‘book smarts’ of the products instead of probing the candidate on their knowledge of the core abilities. But last year at the WebSphere Services Technical Conference, I took advantage of the attendee benefit of writing free certification tests. I’d like to talk about my impressions of them.

Test 094 - WebSphere Integration Developer v6.0.1

The first one that I wrote was WID v6.0.1. Given my background from WID Development I had a unique insight into the test. I found that the test overall was extremely fair and that someone who had used the product on a project would have the skills to gain certification. A few of the questions posed were based on little used pieces of the products (Selectors and Relationships) and I felt they were a little unfair. I’d hate to see a competent candidate fail their test due to the ‘marketing slide -> Certification question’ transformation.

As an aside, I felt that the questions about the Integration Test Client were pretty good. One even covered a common ‘mistake’ people do where they right-click a single component, click ‘Test Component’ and then spend time removing all the extra emulators that were created. (Answer: Right click the background and click ‘Test Module’ for a complete module test).

I passed, gaining the title of “IBM Certified Solution Developer — WebSphere Integration Developer V6.0.1″

Test 665 - Architectural Design of SOA Solutions

I was directed to this test by a fellow colleague from Perficient with the statement “It’s easy.”. I have to agree with him. My background has been so called ‘Top-Down’: I spent a lot of time inside WID but not much inside process server. The constructs of WID map nicely to this SOA certification. If you are competent with WID and SOAP/HTTP services, you should be able to pass this test as well.

I passed, gaining the official title of “IBM Certified Solution Designer”.

Test 093 - IBM WebSphere Process Server V6.0, System Administration

To complete the ‘other half’ of the WID cert that I obtained earlier, I wrote the WPS test. This test was a lot harder for someone whose interactions with WPS was only through the test server built into WID. There were a lot of questions about Queue Connection Factories and which level (cell/node/server) resources are created in. Also, you were expected to know a lot of default JNDI’s by heart. As I mentioned earlier, I came from a ‘top-down’ background and this was very much a ‘bottom-up’ test. It questioned you on core WebSphere constructs and how to configure clusters. Buyer beware.

I’m shamed to admit this, but I failed the certification by one question. My plan at the conference in 2008 is to avenge my death with the experience I gained over the past year consulting and rectify this injustice.

Related Posts

• IBM Certification Tests 253, 142 & 664
• Impact 2008: Free Certification Testing
• Passed Certification Test 284: IBM WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances Firmware V3.6.0
• Planned IBM Certification Tests
• Taking component testing to the next level in WebSphere Integration Developer