Nutanix : NCP-MCI Certification, my Feedback

Background

It's been a while since I passed my NPP 4.5 certification. I've seen that a new branding plus full revamp of the Nutanix certifications just been relased by the Nutanix Education team. So I thought I should give it a try ! And after all, a new badge is always satisfying.

Certification Experience

I completed the course on the Nutanix Education portal, watch most (if not all) video related to the exam topics and the best of it, I have an exam voucher that expires Sept, 30. This is about time ! Ok let's register for the exam.

You need to know a few things about this exam. So yes, this is a proctored exam. It means that someone will ensure that you do not cheat. And actually, you are very well overwatched.

Sneak peek : Yes ! I did it ! I just passed my NCP-MCI 5.15 Certification today.

So, well before the time, I joined the session in a browser and I had to installed a specific secured browser environment to attend the exam. They will have full control on your machine : no other applications must run, full control on your desktop, webcam and microphone ....

Prepare yourself

- Lock yourself in a room;

- Your desk must be empty;

- No pen/pencil/notebook;

- No headphones/earplugs;

- No secondary monitor;

- Prepare your national ID;

- Do not allow anyone entering the room;

- Do not talk or whisper;

- Do not mask your mouth;

- Do a 360° camera walkthoguht of the room;

- Show the examinator that nothing is hidden under the desk/table;

- No drinking, no eating allowed during the exam;

15 minutes break is allowed, you can change answer to questions even when submitted and you can flag some questions to come back to them later ... This being said, if you are not stressed, you are not human !

Well ... once started, you have 2 hours to answer 75 questions. Total points 6000, you need 3000 to pass. I completed them all in 58 minutes without any break. Not sure this is good or bad. I flagged 3 questions to review them later on. I was happy that the postman didn't ring the bell ;)

I'm not able to comment about the content of the questions of course, but you will be shaked around anything related to Nutanix cluster administration in a whole. The questions are not 3rd party application specific obviously but everything is concentrated around AOS / Prism / AHV / Network / Security /... Some questions are tricky and requires to make some mental computation.

I understood there is a pool of question and each exam is unique by the content and the position of the answer is moving from one session to another.

As I said earlier, I was a bit in a rush to do this exam and I really wanted to do it. I was not fully prepared (you never fully prepared to an exam ! are you ?) and I was actually not expecting to get it ! I think my 5 years experience on Nutanix in general helped me a lot. So, if you already have a strong professional experience with Nutanix and are involved into the various products on a day to day basis it will definitely be a plus.

It is true that the proctored exam is stressful, but once you are in, you only think at the questions and more specifically at the answers. So let join the fun ! 

This is my return of experience/feedback about the NCP-MCI certification. 

I hope this helps !