A common question - what's "sufficient" for passing the exams

One of the most common questions that I'm asked is what Surya from Applabs asked me today: "I am going to attend 11i Supply chain management certification consultant exam for non beta version in the month of Dec 2006. I have enrolled for 11i Order management course from Oracle Univ. But I need to gather materials on (i) Essential for implementors and (ii) 11i inventory fundamental. I can arrange the training student copy for both the subjects. Tell me whether this would be sufficient for passing the exams? Please share me if you have some study materials relevant to SCM 11i certification".

Based on beta exam experiences, the student guides do indeed address a large percentage of the content. However, if one goes by the trend of the beta exam questions, there would be quite a few questions with multiple options to select for the correct answer. These are tricky questions that can be often correctly answered by a seasoned implementer or experienced user. The big question is which learning methods to adopt ? Will the chosen method be sufficient to pass with flying colors, any color ?

OAUG Insight Magazine publishes quote from this blog's author

Please find below an excerpt from an article in OAUG Insight Fall 2006 issue:

The Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) Technology Committee and Board of Directors are pleased to announce the OAUG Community Forum – a new,Web-based discussion forum on the OAUG Web site at http://oaug.org/community/default.aspx. This discussion arena enables OAUG members to participate in conversations with other members around the world on a multitude of Oracle-related topics.
Initially, the OAUG Community Forum will contain two discussion areas: User Topics and Technical Topics.User Topics is the place to post and discuss end-user issues pertaining to the growing Oracle family of applications and Technical Topics is for issues surrounding application implementation and administration. As topics become especially popular, or trends change, the OAUG will add new subtopics or modify existing topic areas.
The OAUG Technology Committee monitors the OAUG Community Forum to ensure that it meets user needs.“OAUG is committed to its mission of providing education and information-sharing opportunities for ourmembership,” said Patricia Dues, president of the OAUG. “The OAUG Community Forum enables our members from across the globe to come together and share their Oracle Applications experiences.”
“The OAUG Community Forum is a great platform to share experiences and information within a threaded conversation, which provides a complete perspective to all members,” notes Mohan Dutt, OAUG member and OAUG Contracts SIG chair. “One of my posted topics has been quite popular, with more than 350 viewings and 17 replies.I posted the topic before our 11i10 upgrade project went live. One of the posts actually pointed to the correct sequence of a patch to apply. If we had not done that, our application data might have been corrupted! Where else inthe world would one find such awesome help from the best global users and implementers?”

Beta exams are a race against time

The OCP beta exams for E-Business Suite are indeed a race against time.
Here are some examples of the number of questions required to be answered in 180 minutes:
1Z1-221: Oracle Inventory Management 11i - 201
1Z1-223: Oracle Order Management 11i - 188 (in 210 minutes)
1Z1-211: Oracle General Ledger 11i Fundamentals - 189
1Z1-212: Oracle Payables 11i Fundamentals - 155
1Z1-213: Oracle Receivables 11i - 204 (in 210 minutes)
1Z1-231: Implement Oracle Workflow 11i - 193
1Z1-232: Oracle 11i System Administration - 103
One expects that the commercial release of the exams would have half the number of questions.

Oracle Openworld Dailies features a presentation by this blog's author

URL: http://www.oracle.com/technology/events/oracle-openworld-2006/oow_wednesday.html#oks

Please find below the Oracle Openworld 2006 Dailies article on the blog author's presentation:

Off to See the Wizard of OKS: Tips and Tricks for Oracle Service Contracts
By Katheryn Potterf
Everyone's heard of the Wizard of Oz. But who is the wizard of OKS? You—once you've mastered a few simple tricks.
Oracle insiders use the term "OKS," the three-letter product designation to refer to Oracle Service Contracts. That's the word, anyway, from Mohan Dutt, reigning wizard of OKS and business analyst at Hyperion Solutions, an Oracle Advantage Partner that specializes in business performance management.
Dutt's session "The Wizard of OKS: Tips and Tricks for Oracle E-Business Suite 11I.10 Oracle Service Contracts" will enlighten you on the various ways to take advantage of the application's new features as part of your implementation or upgrade. But you don't have to be a technical guru to get something out of this session—business users, too, will benefit.
Oracle Service Contracts has plenty of built-in wizardry, which greatly simplifies contract management and provides a centralized repository for entitlement information. With this application, you can rapidly create, manage, and update service agreements, warranties, and extended warranties on sales of goods or services. And, you can provide service based on real-time entitlement data.
Dutt will divulge a full spectrum of implementation, upgrade, and navigation tips. For example, you'll learn how to search for contracts based on sales order number. You'll discover how to set up the system for automatic contract renewal, so that the system automatically sends out the quote and bills the customer. You'll find out how to use Oracle XML Publisher to create contract documents and quote letters. Plus, you'll see how easy it is to use a related application called Oracle Advanced Pricing, bill customers in advance, and separate contracts into groups for easy work allocation.
Click your heels three times and head over to Dutt's session "The Wizard of OKS: Tips and Tricks for Oracle E-Business Suite 11i.10 Oracle Service Contracts," held Thursday at 2 p.m. in Moscone West, Room 2012. Dutt also encourages you to join the Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) Special Interest Group for Oracle Service Contracts; for more details, go to www.contractsig.oaug.org.

A FREE OCP Test Opportunity Availed!

Am attending the Oracle Openworld 2006 Conference in San Francisco. Oracle was offering a FREE OCP test opportunity for the 1Z0-200: Oracle 11i E-Business Essentials exam. I jumped on this opportunity and wrote the test with success. The test duration was 90 minutes with 64 questions. The passing grade is only 55% and this should make every test taker at ease. Questions ranged from organization structure (SOB, Legal Entity, OU etc), about menus and responsiblities, daily business intelligence, system administration and others. There was an unusually high number of questions on workflows. For the exam prep I had attend the ‘EBusiness Suite Essentials For Implementors’ online course on Oracle University Knowledge Center (OUKC) . Its a 280 minutes online course based on the same content as the exam. Hope this information is helpful to others who are preparing for the exam.

Instructor Led Training

Instructor Led Training classes at Oracle University Locations or authorized training centers provide the most comprehensive and interactive learning channel available. The courses usually cover the basics of the chosen module or application area and are often known by the analogous name like 11i Oracle Receivables Fundamentals for Accounts Receivable module, 11i/2.6 Implement Oracle Workflow Ed 3 for Workflow application and so on. These courses are usually 3 to 5 days duration. The student guide provided with the courses have excellent content with hands-on exercises that can be practised on the Vision instance. The best of the Oracle University instructors share their implementation/end-user experiences and the classes are both interesting and engrossing. For those who don't have hands-on experience on the specific module or application area, this is the best education method to opt for. Oracle has launched a "100% Student Satisfaction program" that would hopefully ensure and sustain the superior quality. These courses typically cost USD 600-1000 per day and unless your organization sponsors you, the high fees make individuals opt for the other learning methods that I shall continue to discuss throughout the week.

What are the sources of the OCP exam study materials ?

There are several sources for OCP exam study materials that I shall discuss in detail over the next few days. The sources are classified as follows:

• Instructor-led training at Oracle Education centers or education centers authorized by Oracle (one can of course attend training classes in non-authorized centers but the study content may not be in synch with the exam content)
• For those with a busy schedule or staying at distant locations from the education centers, the next option would be to review the training material available on CD-ROMs. CD-ROMs with the course material is available from Oracle Education and several self-paced learning providers.
• CD-ROMs may not be an economic option for many parts of the world as it is priced relatively high in US dollars. A better option would be to sign-up for self-paced online learning. Some portals have the CD-ROMs are available as online learning courses. The best portal for this is of course Oracle University Knowledge Center with over 1700 courses online!
• Handbooks, Certification preparation and Oracle University Press books form the next option for those who cannot available of the first three sources mentioned. In many countries, these books are available as Economy Priced Edition or non-hardcover editions that are affordable.
• For those who like the online version of the books, the online book library is an option to consider. There are several libraries who provide access to hundred of books for a low annual subscription. Membership of some industry associations also provides free access to these libraries.
• User guides and implementation guides are the foundation of learning any module. While a cover-to-cover study of the guides would take weeks or months, it should serve as a reference for core concepts that are not discussed in depth elsewhere.
• Oracle Metalink is a treasure house of information and since most Oracle practioners access it daily and are aware of the benefits, one need to say more about its usefulness. From the OCP exam study viewpoint, there are golden knowledge nuggets hidden out there that I'll discuss in the forthcoming editions.
• Peer study groups would have been an excellent option but not practical. The closest one can come to forming such groups are the listserver communities and discussion forums. One can post questions and obtain feedback and answers.

How many questions are asked in the beta exams?

The beta exams seem to offer the whole question bank for the candidates to answer. In terms of the number of questions, its a race against time. With a "either you know it or don't" approach, one can perhaps complete the exam in time. However, due to the large number of questions, one would indeed need infinite patience to review their answers. In the absence of any prep tests available either online or on CD, it is quite a challenging task to prepare for the exams with a stop watch.

For Test# 1Z1-212: Oracle Payables 11i Fundamentals, there were 155 questions to be answered in three hours while for Test# 1Z1-231: Implement Oracle Workflow 11i, the mountain of questions were even higher - 189!

Are there any pre-requisites for the certification tracks?

Well, certainly the biggest pre-requisite is knowledge about the module/track one is writing the exam. Knowledge is built both through studying the user guides and manuals as well as real world experience one has gathered either as an end user, implementer or business analyst.

Oracle's view of the pre-requisite is to have each candidate attend one instructor-led in Class or instructor-led online course from the approved list of University courses and submit the Oracle E-Business Suite Hands-On Requirement Form.

The good news is that the hands-on requirement is waived for now if the following conditions are met:
Pass all exams required within your selected E-Business 11i track
Meet all E-Business 11i exam requirements on or before May 31, 2007
Submit the E-Business Hands-on Requirement Waiver Form

Free Testing at OpenWorld 2006!

Oracle 11i E-Business Suite Fundamentals exam. This special offer is available only at Oracle OpenWorld 2006. Due to the limited number of exam appointments, advanced reservations are necessary. Reservations can be made at the onsite at the Oracle Testing Center in Moscone South Room 252 beginning at 9:30 AM on Monday, October 23rd. There are eight available testing sessions from October 23rd to 26th (2 sessions per day)

The following beta exams are being offered now for the various tracks (the test numbers would change from Z1 to Z0 once the tests are in production release):

Oracle 11i Financials Certified Professional Consultant Track:
Test# 1Z1-211: Oracle General Ledger 11i Fundamentals
Test# 1Z1-212: Oracle Payables 11i Fundamentals
Test# 1Z1-213: Oracle Receivables 11i Fundamentals

Oracle 11i Supply Chain Certified Professional Consultant Track:
Test# 1Z1-221: Oracle Inventory Management 11i Fundamentals
Test# 1Z1-222: Oracle Purchasing 11i Fundamentals
Test# 1Z1-223: Oracle Order Management 11i Fundamentals

Oracle 11i Applications Technology Certified Professional Administrator:
Test# 1Z1-231: Implement Oracle Workflow 11i
Test# 1Z1-232: Oracle 11i System Administration
Test# 1Z1-233: Oracle 11i Install, Patch and Maintain Applications

The application certification requires the successful completion of a series of rigorous online and proctored exams that include real world scenario based questions (this is indeed true as the beta test questions focus on implementation scenarios and not merely straight out of manual questions)

Please note that the E-Business OCP Beta Exams are available now!
Complete the beta exams for only $50 USD (against $195 USD when released)

The three certification paths offered are as follows:
Oracle 11i Financials Certified Professional Consultant
Oracle 11i Supply Chain Certified Professional Consultant
Oracle 11i Applications Technology Certified Professional Administrator