The Secret to HP Certifications

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I would like to take a short break from providing IT context to share a secret.  At work, I lead a team of 14 excellent presale architects and recently documented the path to self-education and certification in HP solutions.  Making this path clear for my team took three separate meetings with the very helpful HP ExpertOne team and I thought others might benefit from this learning.  Note: This process is helpful even if you just want to learn without achieving certification.

 Warning: This is a very complete (aka long) post.  Here are the steps:

  1. Decide the certification level that matches your focus and depth.  ATP for foundation, ASE for base and Master ASE for Advanced.  If you are just starting, choose ATP.
  2. Visit HP ExpertOne to find the courses required to achieve that level of certification.  Either view all certifications and filter or use the PDF map.  The PDF map has embedded links, so I will use that.  Let’s pick “HP ATP – BladeSystem Solutions Integrator V8.1” from page 4.
  3. Let’s go to the HP Partner Portal to add this cert path the Learning Center to get more help and track our progress.
  4. Once logged in to the Portal, choose Train & certify then Access “The Learning Center”

  5. Sign in to the Learning Center with your HP Passport account
  6. Click “Add Certification” in the Certification Section
  7. Click Add Certification again
  8. Paste “HP ATP - BladeSystem Solutions Integrator V8.1” into the Name field and click Search.  You can also use wild cards like %HP ATP
  9. Click the Select box to the left of the name of the certification
  10. The certification will now show up in your transcript as Assigned:
  11. Click the name of the cert to see the learning and test requirements
  12. Choose the Certification data sheet and then Complete requirements
  13. Expand the Exam section
  14. By clicking on View Course Details, I can see that the first course is instructor-led while the second course is web-based self-paced.

  15. Self-paced is easy, but what if I do not have the time nor the funding to attend the instructor-led class for $4,500?  Well, I have two more affordable options – 1) Buy the course material 2) Buy the HP exam cram book 
  16. Back on the HP Partner Portal Train & Certify page, there is a link to “HP Press” under Resources.  HP Press sells Learner Guides (Class materials) and Study Guides (Exam cram books).
  17. Let’s go find these materials for the 00433855 Implementing HP BladeSystem Solutions, Rev 13.21 class.
  18. Choose the HP Press link and either log in or create a login for HP Press.
  19. For the Learner Guide, type the course number in the search field and click Go

  20. You’ll notice that the class materials are $529 while the class is $4,500.
  21. If you are looking for Study Guides (Exam Crams), use the phrase "certification guide" "study guide" in the search field.  The certification guides are $50-$80.  There are currently ten of these books.
  22. Take your courses, read your books, pass your tests and keep sharpening the saw.
I hope you have found this helpful and please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.  I can be reached at @DennisFaucher or dennis@faucher.net.

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