In order to earn the certification candidate should pass three exams:

• 70-483 Exam: Programming in C#
• 70-354 Exam: Universal Windows Platform – App Architecture and UX/UI (beta)
• 70-355 Exam: Universal Windows Platform – App Data, Services, and Coding Patterns (beta)

Currently 354 and 355 Exams are available in Beta only and candidates can pass them for FREE, as MS has opened 300 beta seats for each exam. As for the regular price, including 483 exam, it costs 150$ to sit for it in USA, however prices vary in different locations. Beta exams can be taken either in Pearson VUE testing centres or through online proctored exam delivery, subject to availability in your country. To take the exams for FREE, simply use promo codes BETA354MCP and BETA355MCP for 354 and 355 exams respectively.

Note! Beta code is not valid in the following countries: Vietnam, Turkey, India, Pakistan, China. For these locations you will have to wait until full paid exam releases.

By passing the exam applicants will receive full credits towards their MCSD certifications. However score report will be available only within 8-12 weeks after exam, following the end of the beta period.

In short, 354 Exam assesses the following skills:

–        Creation of the specification’s design for a mobile (LOB) app

Here is the shortlist of the skills, measured in 355 Exam:

–        Identify and employ specific design pattern

In order to prepare for beta exams, check out Microsoft detailed preparation guides on the exam official pages and practice the skills listed. Be aware that the exams questions might go beyond the topics mentioned on the website.

354 Exam Prep Guide: Universal Windows Platform – App Architecture and UX/UI (beta)

355 Exam Prep Guide: Universal Windows Platform – App Data, Services, and Coding Patterns (beta)

As for 483 Exam preparation, we recommend you to check out real practice tests available for FREE from the community of IT certification exam takers called ExamCollection. There you can find complete database of IT certification practice test with real exam questions and answer in the VCE format. All files are uploaded by community members, are rated and verified. In addition to FREE practice exam tests ExamCollection also offers inexpensive and reliable study materials and premium VCE files verified by industry experts.

Here is the link for downloading 70-483 Exam files: 70-483 Exam Free Practice Tests

So hurry up and register now, as the number of FREE Beta seats is limited and this is an excellent opportunity to move in your IT career and save 2/3 on MCSD Universal Windows Platform certification. We wish you good luck with your exams!

• Take a Microsoft certification exam between January 5, 2015 and May 31, 2015.
• After your exam, log in to check your personal dashboard at https://www.microsoft.com/learning to verify testing results. Ensure you allow up to 24 hours for results to show up on the dashboard.
• Failed the exam? All you have to do is select “retake” for your exam within 30 days from your first take.
• Schedule your retake in a Pearson VUE training center .
• For complete terms and conditions of this offer, visit the Second Shot page .

Since failing an exam is far from being an uplifting experience, Microsoft makes it a bit easier since at least you won’t be at a loss financially. But, as nice as the ‘Second Shot’ offer is, be sure to visit ExamCollection for latest Microsoft practice exams and Premium VCE subscriptions to ensure you pass your Microsoft certification exam from your first try.

You can take one or both of the exams, but remember – during the beta stage you can take each exam only once. You can take the exams at a Pearson VUE test center or via online proctoring (participating countries only).

What do you need to do?

Exam 695 Deploying Windows Devices and Enterprise Apps. To register, go to: https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/exam-70-695.aspx

Use promo code VITOMVP when prompted for payment at the payment screen

Exam 696 Managing Enterprise Devices and Apps: To register for exam 696 go to:  https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/exam-70-696.aspx.

Use promo code VITIMVP when prompted for payment at the payment screen

Registrations via promo code are available on a first-come first-served basis.

Do remember that you will not know immediately if you passed the exam – this is standard for all Microsoft beta exams. Once the beta period is over, the exams will be scored and your results will be available.

The offer is not valid for India, China, Pakistan, or Turkey.

If you take the exam, remember to share your feedback and thoughts with our IT Certification community. Happy Holidays!

To earn Microsoft Certified Specialist in Azure, pass one or both of these exams:

• 70-532: Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions (beta version exam)
• 70-533: Implementing Azure Infrastructure Solutions

To earn Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate in Office 365, pass both of these exams:

• 70-346: Managing Office 365 Identities and Requirements
• 70-347: Enabling Office 365 Services

HOW DO I REGISTER???

To register for these free Microsoft exams, visit this page to request an exam voucher. Once you receive you voucher, schedule and take your exam by the end of the year, before December, 31, 2014.

What’s The Story With Brocade Networking?

Brocade is really pushing its virtual routing products – both software and routers. This is definitely worth looking into since Brocade Vyatta vRouters and VCS Fabric technology enable NFV in data centers and support efficient and elastic network architectures that can scale up or down to match current application needs in dynamic workload situations. Obviously, this results in significant reduction in hardware costs for network infrastructure – according to Brocade, these savings can go up as high as 90%. It also allows for better usage of the data center and networking resources. More info about Brocade technology is available here.

So, for now, becoming Brocade Certified vRouter Engineer (BCVRE) is free. This offer also includes a 60-day free trial of the Brocade Vyatta vRouter software plus free online training. Then you take the exam and end up with a Brocade Certified vRouter Engineer (BCVRE) credential.

Once you register for the exam, you will get access to the online course materials and study guides for your exam preparation.

BCVRE Exam Objectives:

Brocade Vyatta vRouter System Operations

• Describe show command system usage
• Identify key CLI operations
• Describe the commit and save processes

Ethernet Concepts

• Identify Ethernet operations
• Identify VLAN operations and settings
• Identify bonded interface operations
• Demonstrate knowledge of configuration and operation using show commands

TCP/IP

• Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between Layer 2, IP and TCP/IP
• Identify TCP and UDP differences
• Identify address subnets

DHCP and DNS Troubleshooting

• Describe troubleshooting of DHCP operations
• Describe troubleshooting of DNS forwarding

Routing

• Identify uses for routing
• Identify show commands for use with routing
• Identify configuration of different types of static routes

Firewalls

• Describe firewall operations and troubleshooting using show commands
• Describe firewall rulebase operations

NAT

• Describe NAT concepts

Upgrades

• Describe the Brocade Vyatta upgrade process

Logging and Packet Captures

• Identify logging options for firewall and NAT operations
• Identify methods to verify operations and troubleshooting

OSPF Single-Area

• Describe OSPF show command output
• Describe how to configure OSPF

From what we can see this is a good NFV certification – even if the exam hadn’t been free. There is a lot of potential to this latest Brocade technology, so if you are interested in software defined networking, just go and register for the exam now!

Background info:

Brocade is a San Jose, CA based technology company that specializes in data and storage networking products. Founded in 1995 and gone public in 1999, Brocade’s product portfolio includes network-attached storage, storage area network (SAN) directors and switches, data center switches, Virtual Cluster Switching, software-defined networking, network virtualization, and more. Brocade’s certification program validate the knowledge and skills in the company’s products, as well as overall understanding of the networking landscape, data and storage concepts and other related fields.

If your job has anything to do with designing, implementing, managing, and maintaining a virtualization infrastructure, get a free proof of your skills on current Microsoft virtualization technologies!

Just get your free exam voucher on the Microsoft website here. Hurry up as the number of vouchers is limited.

Tell me more…

Released recently, this new Microsoft exam gets you the title of Microsoft Certified Specialist: Server Virtualization with Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center. With a limited choice of virtualization certifications available today, this may be a good boost for your career from the key industry leader.

The exam covers the following topics (as usual, do expect more than that and be sure to consult the resources of our friendly community):

Configure Hyper-V

• Create and configure virtual machine settings.
• Create and configure virtual machine storage.
• Create and configure virtual networks.

Configure and Manage Virtual Machine High Availability

• Configure failover clustering with Hyper-V.
• Manage failover clustering roles.
• Manage virtual machine movement.

Implement a Server Virtualization Infrastructure

• Implement virtualization hosts.
• Implement virtual machines.
• Implement virtualization networking.
• Implement virtualization storage.
• Manage and maintain a server virtualization infrastructure.

Monitor and Maintain a Server Virtualization Infrastructure

• Plan and implement a monitoring strategy.
• Plan and implement a business continuity and disaster recovery solution.

Sounds good? Why not claim your voucher and put this exam on your New Year Resolutions list?

This means, you can still earn the certifications associated with these exams, namely MCITP: Database Administrator 2008 and MCITP: Database Developer 2008. So, if you were considering earning these certifications and worried that you’d be out of time, you have another half a year to get it done.

Now we can sense a question many certification beginners would be tempted to ask…

..Why would I look at certification exams that will be retired in 6 month (SQL Server 2008 – related) if there is some newer stuff (SQL Server 2012) out there?

Ok, let’s take a closer look as we believe that you SHOULD earn your SQL Server 2008 cert before you proceed with SQL 2012.

First of all, SQL Server 2008 certifications will continue to be honored by the industry. They’ll still look good on the resume, especially combined with relevant work experience. After all, it’s not just about the certification you hold, but the skills you’ve acquired to support it, right? Moreover, the technology of SQL Server 2008 will remain widely used for quite a while. And the experience you get with 2008 will make it a lot easier for you to move to the SQL Server 2012 technology.

Also, if you hold an SQL Server 2008 cert, you can benefit from a streamlined two-exam upgrade path to the new MCSA: SQL Server 2012. Those holding any SQL Server 2008 certification can take a fast-track exam upgrade path to MCSA: SQL Server 2012. You will have to pass 70-457 and 70-458 exams. Until 31 May 2014, Microsoft gives a special 25% OFF promo for these upgrade exams. In addition, you can benefit from their ‘second chance’ promo with free retakes.

So, you can speed up your preparation to become SQL Server 2008 AND 2012 certified before summer 2014. It does look like a tempting path, doesn’t it? Let’s take a closer look at the 2008 to 2012 SQL Server upgrade exams.

70-457: Transition Your MCTS on SQL Server 2008 to MCSA: SQL Server 2012, Part 1

This exam is intended for candidates who have already earned any one of the MCTS certifications on SQL Server 2008 and who wish to transition their skills to MCSA: SQL Server 2012. The topics covered include but aren’t limited to:

• Create database objects
• Work with data
• Modify data
• Troubleshoot and optimize queries
• Install and configure SQL Server
• Maintain instances and databases
• Optimize and troubleshoot SQL Server

Get 70-457 exam dumps in VCE here.

70-458: Transition Your MCTS on SQL Server 2008 to MCSA: SQL Server 2012, Part 2

Topics covered:

• Manage data
• Implement security
• Implement high availability
• Design and implement a data warehouse
• Extract and transform data
• Load data
• Configure and deploy SSIS solutions
• Build Data Quality solutions

Get 70-458 exam dumps here.

From now until May 31, 2014, there is a special promotion of 25% off the cost of these upgrade exams, plus free retakes if needed.

So, if you are not sure as to whether you should rush into your SQL Server 2008 certification and then upgrade to 2012, or start from scratch with SQL Server 2012, we highly recommend that you take a closer look at the MCSA: SQL Server 2012 path and check the upgrade path above. It looks totally worth it, especially with the discounts Microsoft currently offers. And, SQL Server 2008 AND 2012 do look better on your resume than just SQL Server 2012. Now, which path will you take?

What Are The VCAs About?

VMware did not have entry level certifications before. So, while those seeking to start their career in, for example, networking, could choose a certification to validate their entry level skills between’s CompTIA Network+ and Cisco’s CCENT or CCNA Routing & Switching. Meanwhile, if you’d want to build a career in VMware virtualization, you would have to rely on getting practical experience and self-study up to the level when you’d be ready to for their Professional Level certification. Not anymore though. Here’s what VMware has for you now. Click on the links for detailed information, exam blueprints, FREE eLearning and exam registration:

VMware Certified Associate – Data Center Virtualization

VMware Certified Associate – Cloud

VMware Certified Associate – Workforce Mobility

Certification titles are rather self-explanatory: the certifications validate candidates’ skills and understanding of strategically important technologies related to virtualization: Data Center Virtualization, Cloud Solutions, and Workforce Mobility/Horizon. With the extensive FREE study materials available and braindumps starting to come in, the exams shouldn’t be that challenging, if this is your area of interest.

Take ‘Em Now!

To promote the VCA certifications, VMware gives limited time 50% discount for all of them. Yet, we go even further by giving you with a FREE certification code. By inputting it during your registration, you can get all 3 VMware Associate Level Certifications for FREE. The trick is, you can’t be registered for a more than 1 certification at the same time, so your algorithm would be: registered with the code for the first exam – took the exam – registered for the second exam – took the second exam- registered for the third certification exam – and you’ll be using the same code. You get the point – that’s in case you want do go all three of them. And, if you have time, why not try? After all, you can take the exams online, whenever it suits you, in the convenience of your home or office. Here’s your code and good luck:

VCA13GKN

 Hurry up as the code is valid until January 31, 2014