How to pass Digital Practitioner Certification: DPBoK™ Foundation in less than 1 month?

Youtube video about certification contents	Presentation shared in slideshare
Youtube video how to pass the certification

Thanks to Allah; I have passed Digital Practitioner Certification: DPBoK™ Foundation on 2-Apr-2021. In this blog post, I’m sharing my experience on how you can achieve this certification in less than 1 month.

Target Audience (Personal opinion)

The exam is covering 12 competencies recommended for digital business based on company size.

Company	Number of employees	Capital
Founder	1-3	< $1m
Team	8 - 12	> $1m
Team of teams	40 - 70	> $10m
Enduring Enterprise	350 - 500	> $50m

The exam is covering all company sizes, I think candidates considering the certification should have worked in enterprise to be able to understand the challenges at every company size. A fresh graduate or entry-level computing and digital business professionals might not face such challenges and my recommendation to them will be reading Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge™ Standard related to their company size and not target the certification.

Exam information

• Current code: OGD-001 DPBoK™ Part 1
• Current release date: October 2019
• Open book: No
• The number of questions: 40 (Multiple choice, one correct answer).
• Exam duration: 60 mins
• Passing score: 26 / 40 (65%) Each correct answer scores a single point, no negative scoring.
• Time / question: 1.5 mins
• Cost: 360$ (414$ including VAT)
• Retake: After 1 month
• Exam location: Home (OnVUE Online Proctoring from Pearson VUE) or Testing center.
• Validity duration / Expiry: Indefinite, no recertification or renewal requirements.

Note about ESL

When you are booking the exam from one of the ESL countries, you will get approval for 90 mins. But I found the actual exam time is 1 hour only. I opened a case with OnVue and the answer was that 90 mins is covering all duration including tutorials, agreements, ...etc. And this is actually mentioned in the email when I purchased the exam, as copied below:

Your appointment's time extension applies to all information presented on the computer, including any agreements and tutorials, in addition to your actual testing time. The total appointment length noted in this confirmation includes each of these components and is not equal to the actual testing time available to you.

Study material

Purchase The Digital Practitioner Certification Self-Study Pack ($39.95).

• Reasonable price: Sometimes discounts reach 50% (Summer, Black Friday, and Christmas sales you can get 50%).
• The number of pages: 231.
• The number of chapters: 14 chapters.
• It includes a pocket guide (I didn’t use it as it was 151 pages, so I thought of reading the study guide again better).
• It includes a reference cards summary (I didn't use it as it is considered briefer than the required information about the exam, and a smaller set of figures you need to memorize).
• It includes one exam that is good but the actual exam is harder.
• PROS: Every chapter ends with questions, answers provided.
• PROS: One document has it all, focused target.

Study tips

• Exam difficulty: Above intermediate.
• Build a study plan (MS Project, MS Excel).
• The study guide must be read at least twice.
• Understand & memorize all figures in the study guide, you will have lots of questions about them.

Register for home online exam

Follow the below steps:

1. Login to The Open Group Certification website.
2. From left menu, click “Take an examination”.
3. Click “Pearson VUE launch page”.
4. Review personal information that is from the open group profile page that will be used to create or login to Pearson VUE, before clicking “Proceed to Pearson VUE”.
5. In the dashboard, click “View Exams”.
6. Select “OGD-001” “DPBoK part 1 Exam”.
7. Select “Online from my home or office”, click “Next”.
8. In agree to online exam policies, please read carefully, and mark checkboxes, click “Next”.
9. Click “Next”
10. Select a suitable date. Your local time zone will appear, select the best way to view the timing 12/24hr.
11. Value with estimated tax is $414
12. Click “Proceed to Checkout”.
13. Read and agree to policies, click “Accept”. (These important policies will be sent to you by email after completion).
14. Add card details, click “Next”, then “Submit order”.
15. ESL will be added after complete exam registration as long as you register from one of the ESL countries. Exam length 90 minutes!!!
16. Check-in time will be 30 mins earlier.
17. You will receive an email with details of the invoice, and policies / useful information.
18. For customer service online chat, use this link.

Taking exam from home

For a detailed checklist for OnVUE exam preparation, please check this blogpost Online Proctored Exams (OnVUE) Checklist

Getting exam results

After the exam completed and within 15 mins, I received an email with the subject "Score Report Available Notification". You will need to login to Pearson with credentials of The Open Group, and you will find the link "View score report" and you will see your score and detailed report.

If you didn't receive an email from "The Open Group" having an email with a link to agree on the Trademark License Agreement. You will need to send an email stating your issue to certifications@opengroup.org and it will be looked at only if 6 working days (US, UK timing) has passed. When you agree on the trademark license agreement, you will have your certificate ready as a soft copy and be able to download it.

In the same reply email, you will find that the open badge may take up to 10 business days to get issued in Credly platform. I received mine after around 1 day of accepting the agreement.

References

• Official exam site
• DPBoK™ Certification: How to Get Started with Individual Certification
• DPBoK Twitter account It was showing when there are discounts on self-study packages, they are very responsive.
• DPBOK™ PROGRAM CONFIGURATION – X194
• DPBOK Foundation Data Sheet
• The TOGAF Role Based Badges
• Very good Arabic session in DPBoK covering first 2 contexts

Online Proctored Exams (OnVUE) Checklist

If you like to view the video version of this blog post, you can click on the video.

[8-Jan-2021: Blog created after passing the exam "TOGAF Business Architect Level 1" from "The Open Group"].

[3-Apr-2021: Blog updated after passing the exam "DPBoK foundation certification" from "The Open Group"].

[19-Nov-2021: Blog updated after passing the exam "ArchiMate certification" from "The Open Group"].

I passed my first Online Proctored Exams (OnVUE) exam for TOGAF Business Architect Level 1 certificate on 6-Jan-2021. In this post I'm trying to share a checklist for test-takers. I think the experience is the same regardless of the exam.

I will try to maintain this blog post if I found more tips in the future, as content is important.

Before Exam

1. Make sure to use a personal laptop with administrative rights not a work laptop as be revoked based on your company policy.
2. Use a Windows laptop, if you have Mac please check in the references section for steps to follow to make it work without issues.
   
3. The following software are allowed to run during the exam:
• Norton Anti-virus.
4. The following software should be disabled/stopped before the exam:
• Microsoft PowerToys.
• Autodesk Desktop App Service: AdAppMgrSvc.exe
5. Locate your laptop on the same location that you will be testing from.
6. Perform system test (The URL with amended /onvue):

• The Open Group: https://home.pearsonvue.com/theopengroup/onvue
• AWS: https://home.pearsonvue.com/aws/onvue

Exam night

1. Prepare your room/testing space.
• No notes.
• No pencils.
• No posters.
• No TVs, or monitors.
• My room was having mirrors and it was not an issue.
  
• Clean desk (Laptop + Mouse only).
• The room has enough light, and you may use a desk lamp. You need to make sure enough light so your picture is clear during the whole exam as usually, a computer webcam needs sufficient light to provide a good photo.
• The room has a lock inside.
• Prepare a "Don't disturb" sign to be hanged on your door from outside as a reminder to your family.
2. Prepare your ID: Passport, driving license, ... If you will use a passport, prepare a dark surface that will be used as background for it. If you get an email that you need to use your ID with your signature, just use your passport it is widely accepted (I have confirmed that with support prior to the exam).
   
3. Charge your mobile (You will need it in the beginning & if they wanted to contact you during the exam).

Exam day

1. Prepare yourself:
• Fully clothed.
  
• No hat.
• No hood.
• No watch.
2. Final room preparation:
• Close Window for no sound if possible.
• Hang the "Don't disturb" sign outside.
• Lock the door.
3. Start before 30 mins of the exam. From the dashboard, select your exam, and click "Checkin".
4. Very important: Take a note with exam access code on your computer, you might need it later to file any technical case.
5. Enter your mobile number.
6. Test your system (Microphone, Internet speed, Webcam).
7. Use your mobile to access the web browser for m.proctorcam.com?l=en-US
8. Follow the steps to take picture of:
• You.
• Identification (Passport with dark background).
• Workspace (Front, Back, Left, Right).
9. Place mobiles, headphones and watches out of reach.
10. The above process consumed around 15 mins, then wait for the proctor facing the webcam.
    
11. In one of the exams, I was asked before the exam start to lift & rotate the laptop, and use the webcam to show the desk content I was using in the exam.

During Exam

1. Food, drinks, smoking and gum are prohibited.
   
2. You must stay within your webcam view all the time.
3. You cannot move your webcam once your testing session has started.
   
4. You cannot use scratch paper, take physical notes, or talk.
   
5. You cannot get up and walk around.
6. You cannot leave your testing environment for any reason.
7. No one can enter your testing environment.
8. You can use the scratchpad provided within onVUE software (It was slow, but recent versions (After Apr-2021) are near real-time and you can use them).

References

• PearsonVue OnVue webpage
• Comprehensive Youtube video with screenshots: EXAM DAY: Process of using onVUE App (Pearsonvue Online Exam Application) at Home or Office
• Another Youtube video some more tips: Pearson VUE online exam review (August 2020) - What you NEED to know!
• Some issues Youtube video with Mac computer: MCSA Online Proctored Exam - Procedure And My Experience
• Recent video for onVue on Mac computer: Mac tips for success with PearsonVue testing software