Cloud Essentials

[sigsoldier]

Has anyone taken this exam yet? I was just curious what is a good study source? I bought the uCertify Prep Kit, but I'm thinking that was a bad choice. The practice test questions kind of seem like garbage to me and the test notes don't seem any better.

[Moe 0101]

I have not taken this exam, but I can say the two uCertify Prep Kits I have purchased are horrible. Spelling, questions, reusing topics etc. I guess you get what you pay for.

[sigsoldier]

Yeah I can't see myself buying any more Prep Kits. There just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of study material for this exam, unfortunately.

[pumbaa_g]

Heard from someone who had taken it that it was pretty general and not very difficult

[sigsoldier]

Thanks pumbaa_g. I figured it couldn't be too tough. I'll be job searching soon and wanted a little resume booster.

[gsawyer]

There are three curricula that I know of for Cloud Essentials: ElementK (Logical Operations), uCertify, and ITPreneurs. I've reviewed all three and taught from LO and ITP. I'm a bit biased but I think the quality of the ITP material is head & shoulders above the other two. It's certainly not the cheap option but you get what you pay for.

The folks getting the most from this class/cert seem to be people in project management, consulting, IT management, decision makers, technical sales, etc. It's not necessarily well suited to the network admin type folks who would benefit more from a technical cert like a VMware credential. This is a very business-oriented course with a focus on terminology, ITIL, and decision making.

[sigsoldier]

I just scheduled the exam for next Thursday. I'll give a report after I take it!

[sigsoldier]

Ok so I just took the Cloud Essentials exam today and passed with an 816. The questions were pretty basic and overall the test was fairly easy. My only study materials were the uCertify prep kit and Securing the Cloud: Computer Security Techniques and Tactics by Vic Winkler. I feel like reading the wikipedia site on cloud computing would have been enough, though.

[Moe 0101]

Congrats on the pass. Is this lifetime or do you need CEs or retake after 3 years? How much was the exam?

[sigsoldier]

Thanks! I used the Sybex 10% off coupon so it was $180. I believe it's lifetime.

[gsawyer]

Congrats to sigsoldier! And yes, it is lifetime.

[tanmoy]

Some of my friends have taken training on CompTIA Cloud Essential from a company named Simplilearn and they were quite happy with the training.
You can also try with them.

[Katiusha]

Scheduled exam for this Friday!

[ThePawofRizzo]

Cool. Let us know how it goes. I'm hoping to do Cloud+ pretty soon myself.

[Katiusha]

Passed Cloud Essentials! Exam was not technical at all, included quite a few case-specific questions, but it is still relatively easy.

[ThePawofRizzo]

Great to hear! Congrats! Roll with the momentum and take Cloud+ while you're in that mode! I hope to be taking it in the next two weeks, only delaying because of my own schedule to get to the test center.

[hikerguy]

I just sat for this exam today and it wasn't even close to what I had expected. I studied using two books:

Cloud Essentials: CompTIA Authorized Courseware for Exam CLO-001

CompTIA Cloud Essentials Certification Study Guide (Exam CLO-001) (Certification Press)

To me, the questions where way out in left field. I was shaking my head the whole way through saying "WTH"? I wish I could remember the questions to give you some idea of what they were like, but my confidence was rocked after about the first 10 questions. Mind you, I've worked in telecom and IT for 25 years and have passed several exams (including Cisco). I am disappointed in the questions they asked. I don't feel it really tested your knowledge of Cloud Computing. It reminds me of Cisco's poorly written exams back around 2000. I made it through (799 - needed 720 to pass), but I really didn't have any confidence that I had passed when I clicked for the last time.

There is MUCH room for improvement with this exam. If this exam is supposed to prove you know the basics of Cloud Computing, it's worthless.

[AD200]

Congrats on the pass hikerguy. I'm in two minds about doing cloud essentials or cloud+. Cloud+ seems a more technical exam. Did cloud essentials touch on any technical questions at all? I'm looking for one that has technical and a bit of service management.