Veeam Backup & Replication Version 12 is available since February 2023.
Taking a look into the “Whats New in Version 12” document proves that a large number of features was added to the solution. And so it is time to update (or get) your VMCE certification to keep track of this development.
The new VMCE v12 exam is available since October 1, 2023. Here some points you should know about it:
As usual start your certification experience at the Veeam Certification site.
There you can find everything you need to know about the necessary trainings, the exam and of course your current certification status.
If you do not have an upright VMCE certification you have to start your journey with a 3-day technical training called “Veeam Backup & Replication v12: Configure, Manage and Recover” course. If you are already a VMCE check the upgrade path here: https://www.veeam.com/vmce-training-faq.html#upgrades
After the training you should take your time to study the documentations and get your hands dirty in the labs (or you work with Veeam in your daily job, than this experience should do the trick).
Here you can find some helpful links for preparation:
Whats New in Version 12?
Veeam V12 Release Notes
Veeam V12 helpcenter
In my opinion, working with labs brings the best learing effect. You can build your own homelab or you use Veeam Hands-on-Labs on demand: Hands-on-Lab by Veeam
When you are ready for the exam, you can schedule it via the Veeam certification website.
Veeam VMCE v12 exam:
.) 60 questions
.) minimum passing score is 720 on a scale of 300 to 900
.) time: 75 minutes (+15 minutes extra for non-native English-speaking people)
.) take the exam in person at a test center or online with OnVUE
My personal experience:
I know Veeam Backup & Replication very well and I already passed various Veeam exams (starting with VMCE 9 five years ago) without any issues. So I scheduled the brand new VMCE v12 exam as soon as it was available and made an appointment in the testcenter 5 days after it was released.
I prefer to do my exams in person in a testcenter, most particularly because of the clean desk directive for online exams… my desk is definitely not ready for this 🙂
As usual you need two different IDs (eg. passport + driving license) in the testcenter for registration and you have to empty your pockets. After making a photo for identification the test is started in a monitored room.
If it is your first exam I would recommend you to start with the demo to make yourself familar with the test interface and the available features like calculator, etc.
Comparing the VMCE v12 with previous exams, in my opionion there are more questions with long text than before. Maybe I was still tired, but it took me sometimes longer than expected to read through the question and possible answers.
One topic I had in various questions was the new Object Storage support as primary target, combined with capacity tier and archive tier. Veeam ONE was part of the questions, too – but not so often as in previous exams (only once). Immutability with Veeam Hardened Repository and Object Lock for the cloud seems to be another focus topic.
As always there is a nice number of questions about features where you already know the answer while you read the question, eg. Secure Restore, Staged Restore, Data Labs and so on.
Talking about time:
I really read the questions and answers very carefully and patient.. Finally it took me one hour to answer all questions and review them.
Clicking at the “END EXAM” button is always exciting as the next page will view your exam output… in my case the screen went black and I did not get the feedback if passed or not. I am not sure if this was as expected, but the nice lady from the training center already waited with the printed exam document.
I passed the exam with a score of 842 – unfortunately I have no idea which question(s) I did not answer correctly.
So there is no reason why YOU should not schedule your exam (or course) NOW and prove your knowledge!