| If you like to view the video version of this blog post, you can click on the video. |
Thanks to Allah; I have passed ArchiMate Certification on Nov-2021. In this blog post, I’m sharing my experience on how you can achieve this certification.
Target Audience (Personal opinion)
This certification is targeting Enterprise Architects and Domain Architects.
Version releases
The below table lists versions for ArchiMate, listed below as there are several resources on the Internet that are considered old and not matching the current version v3.1.
| Version | Release Date |
|---|---|
| ArchiMate v1.0 | Feb-2009 |
| ArchiMate v2.0 | Jan-2012 |
| ArchiMate v2.1 | Dec-2013 |
| ArchiMate v3.0 | Jun-2016 |
| ArchiMate v3.01 | Aug-2017 |
| ArchiMate v3.1 | Nov-2019 |
Exam information
| Foundation | Practitioner | |
|---|---|---|
| Exam code / name | OGA-031: ArchiMate® 3 Part 1 Exam (English) | OGA-032: ArchiMate® 3 Part 2 Exam (English) |
| Open Book | No | Yes |
| Duration | 1 hr (ESL: 1 hr, 30 mins) | 1 hr, 30 mins (ESL: 2 hrs) |
| Questions | 40 simple single choice questions. 1 (Correct), 0 (Incorrect) point per question | 8 Complex gradient scoring. 5 (Best answer), 3 (Second best), 1 (Third best), 0 (Incorrect) points per question |
| Time / Question | 1.5 mins (ESL: 2.25 mins) | 11.25 mins (ESL: 15 mins) |
| Passing score | 24/40 (60%) | 28/40 (70%) |
| Individual Cost | 360 USD | 360 USD |
| Combined Cost | 550 USD | |
| Validity | Indefinite | |
| Exam location | Home (OnVUE Online Proctoring from Pearson VUE) or Testing center. | |
| Retake policy | After 1 month | |
Note about ESL
Study material
| Reference | Cost | Mandatory / Optional | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArchiMate® 3 Certification Self-Study Pack, 3rd Edition (B175) | $49.95 | Mandatory (Selected) | Updated to 3.1 specs. Summer, Black Friday, and Christmas sales you can get 50%. I found it contains more examples than the public specs site. |
| ArchiMate Modeling Language – Youtube playlist | 0 | Optional | Provide good introduction before you start learning if you are new to the language. Not all videos are required. Voice quality for some videos is not as expected 😌 |
| Archi Five Minute Guides – Youtube channel | 0 | Optional | Demo for using ArchiMate in Archi. |
| ArchiMate Cookbook (Patterns & Examples) | 0 | Optional |
The book is usually updated, download from the link. Introduces
patterns and examples of what you can do with ArchiMate. Many thanks 🙏 to the author for making such a book free, it is simply a treasure to any Enterprise Architect. |
| Mastering ArchiMate Edition 3.1 | $31.87 | Optional | I received two recommendations for this book. |
| Enterprise Architecture at Work: Modelling, Communication and Analysis (The Enterprise Engineering Series) 4th Edition | $54.22 | Optional | Referred as one of the best in presenting ArchiMate. Not exam-focused. |
Practice makes perfect
- Archi – ArchiMate Modelling (Free Download: Many thanks for the contributors).
- ArchiMapp - Free design tool for iPad.
- ArchiMate® Tool Certification Register
Study tips
- The foundation exam is easy to intermediate but requires memorization (I found it hard to memorize all the meta-models and decided not to do it).
- The practitioner exam is tough (I will try to share my tips for this in another post).
- Build a study plan (MS Project, MS Excel).
Exam Payment
- Purchase “ArchiMate 3 Part 1 and Part 2 Bundle Exam |Voucher (Retail)”
- It is mentioned that you will receive vouchers within 3 days, in my case it is 1 day but I didn’t know as I was expecting an email, but it was sent. Just you need to check the website.
- Go to The Open Group Shop -> My account
- Click “My Order Attachments” from left menu, download two CSV files containing voucher codes (Expiry date after 1 year).
Register for home online exam
- Go to website.
- From left menu, click “Take an examination”.
- Click “Login”, and use the Open Group credential.
- Click “View exams”
- Select “OGA-031: Archimate 3 Part 1 Exam (English)” / “OGA-032: Archimate 3 Part 2 Exam (English)”
- Click “OnVUE”
- Click “Next”, “Next”, “Agree”
- Select Exam date and time
- Make sure of your information, and click “Proceed to Checkout”
- Click “Add Voucher or Promo code”, enter Voucher coder, click “Apply”, you will find the estimated total due is 0
- Click “Next”
- Click “Submit Order”
Taking exam from home
For a detailed checklist for OnVUE exam preparation, please check this blog post Online Proctored Exams (OnVUE) Checklist
Getting exam results
After the exam was completed and within 15 mins, I received an email with the subject "Score Report Available Notification". You will need to log in 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.