Tag: 12.1

Certification : OCP 12c and OCP 12cR2 Updates

Just a couple of certification related updates.

Upgrade to oracle Database 12c (1Z0-060)

About a week ago I finally got round to doing the 12c certification. As followers of the blog/website know I’ve been writing articles about Oracle Database 12c since it was released nearly 4 years ago and for pretty much all of that time I’ve been trying to convince myself to sit the 12c OCP DBA upgrade exam. It’s not that I care about the piece of paper itself (see my certification FAQ), but I’ve had so many people write and thank me for my 12c revision notes, that it felt a little bit odd I hadn’t actually sat the exam myself.

The biggest factor in delaying taking this exam was it was not a conventional 12cR1 new features exam. Instead it was an upgrade from OCP 9i, 10g, 11g to 12cR1. That meant it potentially covered anything introduced from 9iR2 onward.  That means in addition to learning the new features well enough to pass the exam, you also have to cover the old ground, which is quite a burden. Oracle used to provide catch-up exams like this as well as a straight new features exam and I think that was a better option.

Now I’m sure some of you will think, “But you should know that stuff anyway!”, and you are right, but knowing enough to do the job and knowing the type of things you are tested on in an exam are not the same thing. The thought of revising everything from 9iR2 onward was quite daunting and it put me off doing this exam. This seemed to be a common reaction amongst many people I spoke to.

I realise maintaining a catch-up exam and a regular new features exam is extra work for the certification folks, but if you want to keep people on the OCP treadmill, I think you’ve got to do this. I came very close to ditching the whole OCP thing as a result of this 12c upgrade exam, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Upgrade Oracle DBA 11g/12c to 12cR2 (1Z1-074)

I mentioned in a recent post there is an exam called “Upgrade Oracle DBA 11g/12c to 12cR2 (1Z1-074)” in beta at the moment. I’ve been writing about Oracle Database 12cR2 since its release on the Oracle Public Cloud, so there are quite a few articles on my website already.

Normally the release 2 articles get lumped together, since they don’t form part of an exam syllabus, but now they do, so I’ve split them up into two sections.

I’ll continue to add new articles to both sections, and at some point I will have a complete set of revision notes for the new exam. 🙂

Once again the new exam is a catch-up exam, but at least it only covers 12cR1 and 12cR2 this time. As before, I think this is a mistake, but that’s just my opinion. 🙂

Part of me wants to cram for this new exam and get it done on the cheap while it is in beta. Part of me thinks I may never take this new exam. Time will tell I guess. You’ll probably see an update post in 4 years when I’ve finally got round to it. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…