Tag: exams

MB-600 Solution Architect Exam

I haven’t really touched very much on any exams that I’ve taken so far during the lifetime of this blog. I’ve mentioned them a few times (ie how important they can be), but haven’t really gone into detail.

However, having seen various comments online recently around the MB-600 exam, I thought I’d do a post on it with my thoughts and comments!

So, what is the MB-600 exam? Well, it’s sort of the ‘Holy Grail’ for Dynamics 365/Power Platform. This is due to the actual full name for it – ‘Exam MB-600: Microsoft Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Solution Architect’. Indeed – assuming you pass it (and you’ve already passed the MB200, and either the MB210. MB220, MB230, MB240), you can officially refer to yourself as being a Microsoft certified ‘Solution Architect Expert’.

Impressive!

The exam was being talked about at the beginning of 2020, and went live (in beta) on Jan 27th 2020. If you’re wanting to book it, do so at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/mb-600.

I sat it several days after it went live, and to be honest found it quite challenging. Why was that? Well, when I sat it, there were no learning paths on Microsoft Learn for it at all. Thankfully that’s now changed – there’s a massive amount of great material at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/power-apps-and-d365-solution-architect-expert. If you’re looking to go ahead and do the exam, I’d highly recommend you go through everything that’s there.

I’ve taken quite a few exams since early 2019, and have now taken the general approach to take exams in Beta. Although there can be some waiting until the results are announced, they’re cheaper, and give you an understanding of what’s going on.

I sat the exam through the Proctored option. I’m not going to say too much about that (you can look up online what this is about), other than to say that I feel that Microsoft really should be doing something about the proctored experience. Pearson Vue is in charge of this, but it can be really bad at times (having taken a dozen or so exams this way in the last year, I feel I’m quite qualified to be able to judge this!). I hope that things do get better for this.

So, to the exam itself. Well, I was lucky – there were no Labs in it (yet!). Several case studies, and lots of questions. Quite hard questions as well – make no mistake, they’re out to seriously test your knowledge.

The first thing that I ‘loved’ when starting the exam was the general briefing, which included something along the lines of this absolute gem (this isn’t word for word, as I’m not allowed to write it down during the exam, but it gives the gist of it):

Some question sets may have more than one solution, while others might not have a correct solution at all

Right. So tell me – if there’s no correct solution, what am I supposed to do? I’m still waiting for someone to enlighten me on this matter, as I haven’t found anyone who’s able to explain it….

Now, part of the exam rules state that it’s not allowed to share any of the exam questions. What I’ve therefore included below is an overview of the sorts of things that were covered for my exam (Note: exams are composed from question banks, so there could be many things that weren’t included in my exam, but could be included for someone else!).

  • Data imports – what they are, how to go about them, troubleshooting them, etc. Also covering different types of sources
  • Security models, permissions, security types (field level, role, user, team etc)
  • Teams integration. How it’s set up, configured & used
  • Solution patch types. What they are, how they’re applied, how they’re used, benefits & drawbacks
  • BCP (Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery) processes. What option/s should you be considering to ensure your business is fully covered in a disaster situation, how are they configured
  • Portals. What they are, how they’re set up, security permissions
  • Business rules, Business Process Flows, Workflows. What each one does/doesn’t do, benefits & drawbacks, how they’re set up & configured
  • Systems – On Premise vs Cloud. The advantages and/or drawbacks of each type, and the different BCP methods (see above) for each one
  • Data integration. OData vs Custom Service for continuous data
  • SLA’s and KPI’s. What they are, when each is used, how to set up & configure them
  • System upgrade paths and compatibility. How you go about upgrading legacy systems, and the necessary path/s that you have to take for a given version number
  • Customer Service through multiple channels. Which option/s would you select for a given scenario, how would you set it up/configure it
  • CDM/CDM/PowerBI/Azure Service Bus/PowerApps. What is each one, what are the benefits/drawbacks of them, how is each one used, & set up/configuration
  • Licensing Types. What license/s would you need for a given scenario
  • D365 Sales Insights. What it is, what benefit/s it brings, how is it used
  • Data security. How is security used for Dynamics 365 & PowerBI data, how is it set up/configured
  • Field properties. For a given scenario, how would you change field properties and/or parameters?
  • Data Migration. Different options available for this, benefits/drawbacks, resolving issues
  • Form security. What is it, what are the different types of security that’s able to be used, how is it set up
  • Solution management. What are the different types of solutions, how is each one used, what are the associated risks, which option would you use for a given scenario

Wow. That’s a LOT of stuff. Like…an incredible amount. Some of it touches on parts of the system that I’ve never used before (like PowerBI). Other parts are extremely familiar.

I can’t tell you if I’ve passed it or not…YET!. Results aren’t yet out, as it’s still in beta (and from what I’m hearing, it’s likely to be remaining in beta for several months still.

So, if you’re aiming to take it – I wish you the very best of luck, and let me know your experience!

Training & Certifications – Success!

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post ( https://thecrm.ninja/2019/05/08/training-certifications/), I’ve been updating my knowledge and studying for the MBP-900 exam.

At the same time, I’ve also been studying for the MB2-15 and MB2-716 exams, in order to attain the MCSA qualification. These had an inherent deadline, as the 716 exam and MCSA qualification are ending at the end of June 2019.

Once I felt that my knowledge level was up to the necessary levels, I went to book all three of them! My preference is to take the exam using the Remote Proctored method, whereby you use your own system, and the audio/video is monitored by a remote exam proctor. They check the workspace, room (to make sure that no-one else is there), and keep an eye on things.

The date for my exams was June 19th 2019 (yesterday). I staggered the exams to give some time between each to relax and get ready for the next one.

Amusingly as part of the whole process, I memorised the script that the proctors use…which didn’t necessarily endear me to them, as they’re not allowed to skip any part of it 😀

Having taken the 715 and 716 (and passing!), this then resulted in the MCSA award. Knowing that the MCSE was tantalisingly in reach (and also stopping at the end of June 2019), and only needing one more exam to attain, I decided to book the 717 exam for late afternoon – I’ve been looking at the material for it, but wasn’t sure if I would be able to pass it or not.

The next exam was the MBP-900. This is the new format of exam (only lasting for an hour, with around half the number of questions of the previous exams…at least that’s what I had during it). Thankfully due to the marvellous course by Julian, I was extremely well prepared, and sailed through it. One question didn’t make sense at all, so had to guess it – not sure if I answered correctly or not….

Then the last exam of the day was the 717. I took more time on this than any of the others (almost ran out of time), due to not having spent a lot of time studying the material. Thankfully….I managed to JUST scrape in with a PASS!. And as a result, also got the MCSE for Business Apps.

Many thanks to Mark Smith for the motivation, Julian Sharpe for the MBP-900 training course, Neil Parkhurst for the materials on his blog, and many others as well.

All in all, an intense day, but with a real feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment from it. And not to forget – I also get badges! Woop woop

Training & Certifications

As many people know, it’s usually considered quite important to keep up to date with training and certifications. Sadly, although I’ve been doing the former, I’ve neglected the latter.

This is something that I’m now in the process of taking care of. Marvellously (where’s the sarcastic emoji when you need one!) Microsoft has now updated the curriculum. So most of the studying that I’ve done recently is now no longer applicable, and I need to re-do various things.

One of the best trainers that I’ve come across is Julian Sharp. Not only does he have one of the most impressive beards that I’ve ever seen across both devs and non-devs (see picture below, which isn’t up to date!), he’s been giving training for a LONG time. His approach is easy to follow, and although technical at times, is simple and clear to understand.

I’m currently enrolled in his MBP-900 Fundamentals course, which I’m thoroughly enjoying.

He also has a wonderful blog, located at https://ukcrm.wordpress.com/ . Take a look – it’s got some amazing resources published and linked on it

Another resource worth mentioning is Neil Parkhurst’s blog – https://neilparkhurst.com. When I started out recently on my learning and revision path, Neil’s site was extremely helpful with working out what I actually needed to take a look at

There are already a plethora of blogs and sites out there which have exam/revision content, so I’m not going to start my own (especially as I’m new to blogging).