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How to pass TOGAF Business Architecture Level 1 in less than 1 week?

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

Thanks to Allah; I have passed "TOGAF Business Architecture Level 1" on 6-Jan-2021. In this blog post, I'm sharing my experience on how you can achieve this certification in 6 days.

If you would like to know more about the certification, I recommend that you watch this good video Applying TOGAF® Business Architecture Enhancements - The Open Group. I think this certificate makes sense in the following situations:

When you are dealing with C-Level business management.
Working with corporate strategy team.
Working with corporate program management.
Working in Enterprise Architecture Office as Business Architect.
If you are a business analyst who wants to go to the next level.

Exam information

Current exam code: OGB-001 - English
Number of questions: 30
Exam duration: 45 mins – ESL (1hrs, 15mins)
Open Book: No
Passing score: 18/30 (60%)
Multiple choice with single most correct answer.
Time / question: 1.5 mins – ESL (2.5 mins)
Cost: 315 $ - 362 $ (Including Taxes)
Validity duration / Expiry: No expiry / No renewal required.
Location: Home or testing center.

Pre-requisites

Officially: None.

Personal opinion: I will recommend having TOGAF Certification v9.2 prior to applying to this exam. For the following reasons:

This certification is for architects who wants to specialize in development of a business architecture based on TOGAF standard v9.2, so how you want to seek specialization without understanding the general framework first.
To pass this certification you will need to read specific sections from TOGAF v9.2 specification, I think it will be hard for you to understand these section without understanding how the overall TOGAF framework work; especially I consider TOGAF change the mindset of IT professionals.
TOGAF Certification is more known / wanted than this specialization so if you have limited budget better invest in TOGAF certification.

If you have earlier certification of TOGAF v9 or v9.1, please consider this post "Passing TOGAF Essentials 2018" for upgrade to v9.2 I think it will be better path & knowledge for you, also includes many aspects in business architecture from this certificate as value streams, business scenarios & others.

Study sources

1- Self Study Guide

Purchase B190-TOGAF® Business Architecture Level 1 Study Guide, 1st Edition. This is what I have done.

Reasonable price: 29.95 USD (Summer, Black Friday, and Christmas sales you can get 50%).
Authors: AndrewJosey, The Open Group and Steve Else, EA Principals
The number of pages: 206.
The number of chapters: 12 chapters.
PROS: Every chapter ends with questions, answers provided.
PROS: Includes similar exam test with same difficulty, answers provided.
PROS: One document have it all, focused target.

2- Self Study multiple resources

If you want to save the cost of previous study guide & study from a complete set of free available resources. You will need to:

Download X191-TOGAF® BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE LEVEL 1 CONFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. It contains all required sections required for the exam, and with links to free resources from TOGAF publications.
It references the following resources:

3- Training courses

All TOGAF® 9 Accredited Training Courses are available in this link, previously I have made a small comparison below, but if you intend to select this way better to go with the full list for more updated options:

Course / Link	Cost	Duration	Notes
The Open Group Accredited Course Training Calendar	1395 USD	6 hrs - 2 days	Expensive
Good e-Learning - TOGAF® Business Architecture Level 1 eLearning	529 USD	7 hours for 6 months access	Include free exam voucher Include 2 exams Sometimes offer discounts up to 20%
EA Learning - TOGAF® Business Architecture Level 1 - eLearning	450 – 529 USD	7 hours for 6 months access	Include free exam voucher
EA principals - Applied Business Architecture	1395 USD		Active contributor in EA, and author of official TOGAF Study guide (Steve Else). Classroom or live online. Expensive

Register for home online exam

Start from “Pearson VUE The Open Group” page.
Click “Pearson VUE launch page”.
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”.
In dashboard, click “View Exams”.
Select “OGB-001” “TOGAF Business Architecture Part 1”.
Select “Online from my home or office”, click “Next”.
In agree to online exam policies, please read carefully, and mark checkboxes, click “Next”.
Click “Next”
Select suitable date. Your local time zone will appear, select best way to view the timing 12/24hr.
Value with estimated tax is 362.25$
Click “Proceed to Checkout”.
Read and agree to policies, click “Accept”. (These important policies will be sent to you by email after completion).
Add card details, click “Next”, then “Submit order”.
ESL will be added after complete exam registration as long as you register from one of the ESL countries. Exam length 90 minutes!!!
Check-in time will be 30 mins earlier.
You will receive email with details of invoice, and policies / useful information.
For customer service online chat, use this link.

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

Getting exam results

After exam completed with 15 mins, I received email with subject "Score Report Available Notification". You will need to login 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.

After the exam with around 8 hours, I received another email with subject "The Open Group issued you a new badge".

References

How to pass APMP Foundation in 2 weeks?

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

I have passed APMP Foundation in 25-Nov-2020. In this blog, I'm sharing my experience on how you can achieve this certification in 2 weeks.

Exam information

Current code: APMP (2015) Foundation
Current release date: 12-Feb-2016 (Exam option: 2015), updated every 5 years.
Number of questions: 75
Open book: Yes (Unrestricted material)
Exam duration: 1 hr – ESL (1 hr, 15 mins)
Passing score: 42/75 (56%)
Time / question: 48 secs – ESL (1 min)
Cost: 400$ Exam + 160$ Membership + Course fees
Validity duration / Expiry: 2 years (20 Educational Units CEU to renew, blogging, publishing articles, presenting).
Exam availability: 24/7
Exam location: Home / Authorized Training organization.

Training courses

On Oct-2020, I have checked all approved Training Organizations. I have made a quick comparison based on available information on these companies website:

Course / Link	Cost	Duration	Notes
baachuscribble	161 USD	12 hours / 1 - 2 weeks	Lifetime access. Includes 200+ sample practice questions. Opportunity for money back with WOW2K program. Found some youtube videos about APMP Very responsive in email's reply.
Bidcraft	360 USD
thebidtoolkit	307 USD	4 hours / on demand
sixfold	602 - 712 USD	1 full day training	Includes exam fee. Seems they are confident to sit for the exam in the same day after you finish the training. Includes Study guide. Includes glossary. Include quick reference guide.

I have selected baachuscribble from the above list based on the notes mentioned above and reasonable course price.

Study plan

I will recommend you start by answering the free sample exam, and select "APMP Foundation" before studying to understand how the exam looks like.

I'm sharing with my MS project study plan to achieve both certifications in less than 2 weeks of study (Study time 20 hours / week ). If you don't have MS project, here is a link for Excel sheet having the same information. You can use it as a base for your study schedule.

Exam registration

1. Register on the apmp website. Offer 15 months for 12 months price 160$ (PayPal).

2. Register in course from WOW2K link.

3. Register in course from Baachuscribble link. Price 153$ (VISA, MasterCard, American Express). Your will find two courses:

APMP Foundation Level Certification.
APMP Foundation Practice and Revision.

4. Booking the exam on website

Language: English.
APMP Foundation (2015).
Enter last name, and APMP membership id so exam fee is 400$ (Without membership 600$).
If you didn’t register, you will need to register in this site. Fill your data.
Is exam in a second language? Yes (This will add an extra checkmark in same page that you won’t be able able to book your exam until APMG confirm your request by contacting you).
Click “Pay by card”.
Enter information and card details.
Gives you a booking reference with a validity of 1 year & sent by email (Login information will be sent within 24 hours unless further information is required as ESL).

5. Within 1 day, I received an email to register on the exam website after filling:

Personal information
Employer
Industry
Communication preference
Name appearance on certificate First, Middle, Last.
Data protection.
Confirm declaration about entered data is correct.
After this step, you are ready for an online exam at any time.
I received a receipt for purchase after 4 days.

Exam tips

The exam can be scheduled anytime, I prefer to have it during vacation or before work.
Pick a quiet time to test.
Disable notification from your PC (Windows Focus Assist).
Silent Smartphone, no vibration, screen facing down.
Avoid conducting the test from your work network and use your home network.
Fully charged laptop not PC & connected to an electrical outlet.
Test your internet connection & have a backup connection up & running for an easy switch (Mobile Hotspot and set as a metered connection on your laptop).
Use Chrome browser.
Have Study guide, APMP Glossary website for quick reference, but use it as last resort as no time will be available in the exam.
Have google translate opened or its plugin installed to your browser.
Have the APMP tracking sheet printed per exam attempt.

References

APMP Certification Program

Frequently Asked Questions for the APMP Accreditation Program

How to efficiently plan and study your next IT certification & nail it

I have published a Udemy course for "How to efficiently plan and study your next IT certification". It is vital for IT professionals to have a handful list of certifications to assist their knowledge in any job interview and also increase their in-depth knowledge of an IT domain.

Click the above image to claim your instant discount

Have you tried before and you faced challenges in time management? If the answer is yes, then this course is for you. This course is designed for busy IT professionals who want to achieve more.

It is providing a detailed step by step guide during any IT certification journey. Whether you are a programmer, an administrator, or an architect this course will help.

By the end of the course, you will be able to confidently plan & achieve your target IT certification as we will be applying techniques used in project management & psychology.

What you’ll learn?

Define study strategy that match your personality & your need from certification.
Build your study plan & effective time schedule for any IT Certification.
Avoid distractions during your certification preparation.
Monitor your study progress to avoid procrastination.
Motivate yourself during your learning journey.
Advices on exam day.
Post-certification TODO list.

Are there any course requirements or prerequisites?

Eager to study for IT certification.
Access to any of these planning tools: Trello (Free), Project Libre (Free), Microsoft Project (Paid)

Who is this course for?

IT professionals seeking to plan their IT career by acquiring IT certifications.
IT Students, recent graduates, & job seekers willing to stand out from the crowd by acquiring IT certifications.
IT professionals having challenges in acquiring IT certifications.

References (English)

References (Arabic)

Founders Lessons Learned - Part 4: Venture Capitalists

If you are presenting the business plan to VC you don’t know and you can’t trust he won’t get the idea and build it somewhere else; it is better to present a plan for something related to the idea not the whole picture to judge what is the reaction of VC and get to know him.
Don’t get frustrated from VC when you present ideas, and they mention low experience, this is considered an advantage more than a disadvantage. For start-ups, VC looks into team spirit & idea more than experience.
Expect the following questions from VC:

What is your background?
Too young, how many years of experience?
Do you have management experience?
How are you going to make money if you are going to give it away for free?
What's the revenue mechanism?

VCs always have deals and back-doors technical people don’t like, sometimes you might want not to share all ideas with your VC.

PMP Preparation advices & exam tips

Last updated 15-Mar-2019

I have passed PMP 4th exam on Dec-2012 and would like to share the experience with everyone. The following is the recommended steps from my prospective to prepare and pass the exam:

1- Download PMP handbook pdf
This is a free download from PMI, the link might change for the book; anyway you should find it in PMP certification main page. This book is a MUST read. Always check for newer version as this document changes frequently.

2- Attend PMP course
When you read PMP Handbook, it is a must to have “35 contact hours of formal education”, there are mainly two ways for this:
a- Attend formal course for PMP in your area, but usually it costs you too much, unless it is included within your company training schedule.
b- Distance learning by purchasing an online course, and at the end you get your certificate by passing an exam.

I have searched the Internet for quite some time and found the cheapest and really good deal The PMP Exam Simulator. It is around 100 USD (Currently, 139 USD as of Mar-2019), and has great value; lots of people will recommend it to you, other courses I found online was above 250 USD. You can easily watch the video on your computer or other portable devices.

3- Purchase good preparation PMP
Reading a preparation book is very important to clearly understand the idea of PMP and its related tasks, PMBOK is considered tenser and towards exam objectives, I find myself try to understand or seeking more declaration about a subject in preparation book if I can’t understand from PMBOK.

You will find most PMP holders refer to two books for certification:
1.    Head First PMP 2nd edition.
2.    PMP Exam Prep, 6th Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam.

You will find lots of comparison between two books, I prefer that your read those comparisons before purchasing, but most of them mention that Rita is more directed to exam and teaches you as classic text book, while Head first uses its great way for teaching, but it sometimes miss some minor information.
At the end I picked Head first, and I purchased e-book copy for 50% discount from Oreilly using a coupon, so, I suggest before purchasing from whatever website always try to get a coupon from Internet.

4- Becoming PMI.org member
When you read PMP Handbook, fees section, you will find fees differ if you are PMI member or not. All people will tell you better become a member as you will receive discounts on exams, re-examination and renewals plus some more extra stuff. Please create a new account in PMI before applying for individual membership that will cost you 129 USD.

5- Download PMBOK Guide 4th edition
As per your PMI subscription you are eligible to download free electronic water marked copy of PMBOK guide 4th edition (A guide to the project management body of knowledge), it is found in this link. There are other good documents in the same link, but not mandatory for PMP exam.

6- Stick to a study schedule
One of the biggest mistakes that you will do is that you get the certification in relax mode, this may take months or even years. My advice will be making a schedule for the preparation till the day of the exam including solving exams. I have prepared a study schedule using Microsoft Project 2010 shared here (For Microsoft Project 2007 shared here). It has specific study calendar “PMP Study Calendar” of 4hrs/day, 5 days/week. I encourage using it and modifying the project calendar to suite your availability. This link provides a detailed explanation of how to change the calendar in Microsoft Project 2010. You will find that most PMP holder mention that you can have the certification in 3-4 months which matches the project schedule mentioned before.

7- Solving exam questions
You need to solve lots of exam questions before showing for the exam. Following is list of available free:
•    PMP Exam Self-Assessment Test (75 questions).
•    About.com Tech certification (20 questions).
•    BestSampleQuestions.com PMP Sample (160 questions).
•    Test prep review (15 questions).
The above are just samples, you can search and find lots more.

8- Real Exam advices

a- Language aid: If English is not your mother tongue language, apply for free language aid in the exam, this sometimes help in some types of questions.

b- Exam time is limited, you need to be fast: You have 4 hours to answer 200 questions, i.e. you have only 72 secs per question (1st hr --> you should have reached 50 questions, 2nd hr --> 100 questions, 3rd hr --> 150 questions) you should check these milestone in the exam in-order to keep moving as fast as you can.

c- Exam duration is 15 mins tutorial, 4 hours exam, 15 mins survey. The first 15 mins you will have complete tutorial on how to mark and review exam, and use of calculator before you finish this tutorial (As exam will start after this) take the remaining time for writing down all equations you know in a clear paper the testing center have provided you. This is really helpful as you might get distracted from long time in exam and will consume time trying to remember them.

d- Method of elimination is best used for exam, for tough questions, pick any answer from what you think are probably correct before marking the question for review; i.e. never leave a question without an answer.

c- Sometimes for long questions, it is better to start reading the last part sentence to know what it require, before reading a whole paragraph as it is giving stoo much unneeded information.

d- When a question is asking what you will use for a process, it is asking you to pick up input, tool, technique that’s part of the process.

e- Take your time answering “Which is not” question. I think the best way to eliminate confusion is to remove the word “NOT” in the phrase and write down your answers then convert it x --> √ & vise versa. This worked for me very well.

I hope this will help someone there.