So I decided that as head of my ECM Practice, I should set the example and get my EMC Proven Professional certification for Content Management. I took the first exam a couple of months ago, Content Management Foundations Exam (E20-120), and blew it away. This is good and what one would expect from any experienced Documentum “expert”.

Now came my dilemma. I’m an ECM Architect. I still develop, and have done so quite extensively in the past. I’ve known for quite a while that the first “Architect” exam isn’t due out for at least until the end of Q4. The problem was that I wanted to move beyond the Associate tag and grab the Specialist tag. To do this, I would have to take one of the two Application Development Specialist exams. That meant either the Server Programming Specialist Exam (E20-405) or the Web Application Programming Specialist Exam (E20-455). I had done a LOT more work with the Documentum Foundations Classes over the Web Development Kit course of the years, so I thought I would try that.

I took the practice exam. Pretty damn hard. From experience with the Fundamentals exam, I knew the real exam was likely to be harder. So I studied. I talk to some people that helped write the exam. They said that they couldn’t pass it without a lot of studying. I studied some more. I knew of one person that had taken the exam and passed. Apparently he didn’t enjoy the experience, and he has more recent DFC experience than I do. I remembered my goal of setting a good example and studied.

Test day came on Monday. I failed. It was close. I needed a 71% to pass. So I rescheduled to take it again this morning. I wanted that Wii and to just be done with the whole process. I really studied. I PASSED this time. I even got a high enough score so that my average score was passing. A large number of the questions were different, but no less challenging. It wasn’t a simple learn what I missed and try again. I had to study the topics that I had troubles on and study hard.

I am now a Content Management Application Development Specialist (EMCApD). This basically means very little since I am not a developer other than I can easily evaluate what the exam means. Without experience, nothing. With experience, fairly impressive.

Now I await the”Architecture” certifications. I am also going to look at broader certifications, such as the ones from AIIM. However, until the Iron Bowl is over, I think I am just going to work and learn. Oh yeah, and if I see Johnny (one of the writers and thus free from having to take the exam) wandering the street, he’s a dead man.