How to Pass the MCSE Private Cloud Exams

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The prerequisite certification for MCSE Private Cloud is a MCSA on either the 2008 or 2012 platform ( https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-private-cloud.aspx ). You will earn your MCSA 2008 if you are already a MCITP Server Administrator on 2008 on Windows Server 2008, passing Exam 70-640, 70-642 and 70-646 ( https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-windows-server-2008-MCSA.aspx ). The requirement for MCSA2012 is the new exams on Windows Server 2012, namely Exam 70-410, 70-411 and 70-412 ( https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-windows-server-MCSA.aspx ) or via an upgrade exam of 70-417 if you have an MCSA on 2008 platform

Therefore you can proceed for the elective exams with either of these (MCSA on 2008 or MCSA on 2012). The first elective exam will be Exam 70-246 Monitoring and Operating a Private Cloud with System Center 2012. The proportionate skills measured in this exam is in here https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-246#tab2 . If you intend to go for more hands-on learning in CPLS, the course code is 10-750. Make sure you cover the following topics during your exam preparation: https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=10750A&locale=en-us . Among the essential topics are VMM, Server App-V, Operation Manager, Application Performance Monitoring (APM), Service Manager, System Center Orchestrator 2012, Self-Service Provisioning automation, IT Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) using System Center 2012, SLAs, Dashboards, and Widgets.

The prerequisite knowledge for Exam 70-246 are Windows Server 2008 R2, ADDS (Active Directory Domain Service), Working knowledge of previous versions of System Center products (not a must0, Hyper-V, SAN and some data center management processes.

Your next aim will be Exam 70-247 Configuring and Deploying a Private Cloud with System Center 2012, which covers these skill measured in their proportions https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-247#tab2 , and make sure you cover the following topics sufficiently before aiming at the exam: https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=10751A&Locale=en-us .  Recommended pre-requisite knowledge for this exam are (not a must): Windows Server 2008 R2, Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Hyper-V, VMM Service Manager, Data Protection Manager (DPM), Operations Manager , Networking and storage experience, Familiarity with data center management processes, Previous knowledge with IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) or Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). Although not a mandatory must-know, but it will definitely help if you could equip with some of these knowledge/experiences.

Of course, it is most important of all to have a practical hands-on knowledge of System Center 2012 and all of its product suites before aiming for its exams. Evaluation of System Center 2012 is available here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/hh505660.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_103_1_33.

If you are a traveler and love to practice some hands-on skill on System Center 2012 in a “Anywhere, Anytime” basis, you can do it right here https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh913622.aspx .

For Windows Server 2012 evaluation, please visit https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx . It is available in both ISO and VHD.  

For more self-guided learning on other Microsoft products, you can go to https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com . There are a couple of new exciting Windows Server 2012 courses just added.