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Good things take a while.
Indeed - it took some time, longer than ever before as GA release of Veeam Backup & Replication v12 happened already February 14th 2023. But eventually here we are: starting with September 1st the all new VMCE training named Veeam Backup & Replication v12 - Configure. Manage and Recover is truly available. And besides of the changed and speaking name it was worth the development time.

What's new?
The course has been redesigned from the ground, taking into consideration the feedback of thousands delegates. Not only a lot of new content showing up - due to new features - but also in term of how to present the stuff much has changed.

Different. What and how.
Regarding VMCE v11 and the quite different VMCA training approach the following topics got quite often not sooo positive feedback:

• too much content for just 3 days
• not enough demos or screenshots shown during presentation
• labs running too long with too much things to do
• (new) functions sometimes only handled in theory but without labs
• too broad content approach while lacking practical advises and examples
• not enough preparation for the exam and expecting too much Veeam knowhow in advance

• less content but more focussed eg. on security
• the expected interactive discussions must be kept focussed on the training content as a training is not equal to consultancy services (contacts for individual problems are eg. Support ⧉, R&D Forum ⧉ plus the Community Forum ⧉).
  Discussions were cancelled because of timing issues
  
  Topics like Veeam ONE or Veeam Cloud Service Provider and Veeam Cloud Connect are not included any more but should be covered with upcoming special trainings. For tape a self-paced online training is said to be planned.
  
  
• more whiteboards and demos - to show where which function can be enabled and how things work
• preparation of the trainer is essential here and must not be missunderstood as an aequivalent to missing basic prior VBR knowledge as there is not enough time for a complete GUI walkthrough or discussing everyone's individual scenario
  
  
• more labs (13 11 instead of 10), but most of them are now shorter ones
• one will still need to work focussed in the labs! Besides of that there are now core labs which have to be done during the course while there are some where the student can choose between optional labs of which at least one has to be done.
  
  Labs are now available for a total of 30 consecutive days (before 13). Labs have a typical runtime of one hour which can be extended for one time. Academies (VMAECs - Veeam Authorized Education Center) are free to choose where to purchase the labs from but if Skillable ⧉ (former Learn on Demand) should be chosen then each lab can only be fired up five times during the 30 days period - so you better not waste the labs!
  
  
• new lab content including Continous Data Protection Replication
  
  
• the training is built around a fictional customer Case example, similar to what's already the case with the VMCA training
  
  
• integrated short tests at the end of topics should make sure that delegates can self-check whether they were able to takeaway the key knowledge items
• even more than before Veeam will point out the necessarity of prior VBR knowledge* plus while this is a certification classroom training it still means some self study efforts needed to successfully pass the exam**
  
  * refer to the new, work in progress and therefore yet not available Veeam Backup & Replication fundamentals training (4h, online, self-paced)
  ** refer to the also not yet available Exam Guide
  
  

Proven.
The delegate's certificate for participation is - as it always has been - the obligation of the Academy officially running the training class. That might be a different company than the one where the delegate purchased the training from.
When missing the certificate one should best contact the seat selling company but not the trainer (especially if that guy should be an external freelancer :).

Examinated.
Judging from prior experiences the new VMCE v12 exam can be expected to be available at Pearson VUE (onsite testcenter or online - if available) roughly one month after the training itself is available - so October 1st 2023 is currently a good guess for the exam registration (https://home.pearsonvue.com/veeam ⧉) and time slots availability. Delegates should not try to immediately stand the exam right after the end of the 3 days training - at least because it normally takes about one week time until participation of the class is reported to all relevant systems.

Flip the coin or roll the dice?
Like before probably all training module will have some impact onto the exam questions.
But there are some news - at least regarding the scoring:
while in past all multiple-choice questions were weighted equally now with the new VMCE v12 exam instead of the prior 70% hurdle now (similar to VMware) a minimum amount of scoring points must be achived PLUS the questions are weighted differently by their demand.
In addition it is planned to have more answering options available than before.

Missed.
The re-take policy should stay unchanged (see Veeam Training FAQs ⧉):

• waiting period for the second try: 24 hours
• waiting period for 3rd and 4th (I believe also for the 5th) trial: 14 days
• waiting period afer the 5th try: 12 months (you can request shortening of that period at the Veeam VMCE-team: vmce@veeam.com)
• For the 6th to 9th trial (officially no periods mmentioned - therefore I guess same like with the 2nd to 4th trial)
• Afterwards again 12 month waiting period with possible exemption on request

Old training, new exam?
Following is just a personal guessing without any warranty based on former approaches of Veeam:
probably one does NOT need to attend the new class for being eligible to go for the new exam when having attended the VMCE v11 class within 12 months period before the new training being available.

To be sure we need to wait for the official statement for that from Veem - btw. any questions regarding training and exam can be directed to the following contacts depending on your location:

• EMEA: VMCE.Support.EMEA@veeam.com
• NA: VMCE.Support.NA@veeam.com
• LATAM: VMCE.Support.LATAM@veeam.com
• APJ: VMCE.Support.APJ@veeam.com

Written: 20230829 by Claus Pfleger (based on the original blog in German)
Edited:

• 20230908: some changes after the first live v12 training