70 - 667 Sharepoint 2010, Configuring

Miikey87

Hello All,

70 - 667 This is the next exam in my list to complete for work.

Has anyone studied towards to complete this exam, ild love to know of your resources as a MS Press book for this exam isnt out yet?

I just picked up a SAMS Teach yourself Sharepoint in 24 hours and am looking at the Sharepoint Administrative Companion.

Any recomendations going forth on this?

Cheers,

Miikey

RobertKaucher

I would go for the SAMs SharePoint 2010 Unleashed. The Pro SharePoint 2010 Administration from Wrox was very good as well. I used it when setting up several test environments here at work and we have a very complex deployment strategy due to company policy regarding SSL (groan). But I would not buy a second "introductory" book, since you already have the TYS book.

I would say those 2 books + a ton of labbing and you should be good to go. Labbing is what is really going to be most critical for this exam. It certainly was for the MOSS 2007 exams I took. Are the MS Press SPT Kits out yet? I'm looking forward to doing the Developer exams for SharePoint 2010. Not sure if I will be taking the admin exams yet... I want to, but time and money are the obstacles. Are you intending on going for the full MCITP?

Miikey87

Thanks for the book references! Ill be labing it up at home starting fairly soon prob within the next 24 hours or so and getting deep inside it all. No MS Press book yet which is a bit disappointing! I love these books not only for the exam but as a great post reference.

Eventually I'ld like to pursue the full certification for it. At the moment though I am completing it for works competency requirement. I'll like to get the SA and EA under my belt and then tidy up with the EM and Sharepoint complete certs as well.

I was going to look at purchasing the CBT nuggets for the 2007 as a good way to get into the content and then brush up on the changes. However speaking with some trainers at our cert centres they have informed me that 2010 is vastly different and i would be wasting my time. Whether that was a ploy to spend $3k and go on their course is another question.

Im looking forward to learning it all thou!

RobertKaucher

I would agree with them that using the 2007 Nuggets would not be very helpful. I mean the basic concpts still exist, but so much has changed you'd just learn more going to the MS site and looking for some SharePoint 2010 learning snacks.

This was a major version change - like jumping from Server 2003 to Server 2008 R2. A lot of the basics are still valid but so much has changed that buying MCSE training videos would be useless in prepping for the MCITP: EA.

peakbagger66

Has anyone taken this exam yet? Would love to get some guidance on study material and approach - we are looking to sit this exam in a few weeks.

Pilothouse consulting has some training videos - they map to about 85% of the exam material.
From what I understand Transcender has material that was slated for release this month too.
I also see a Sybex book specific to 70-667 on Amazon. Only a couple of reviews that are not stellar. Might pick it up anyways. Has anyone any experience with this?

Thanks!

RobertKaucher

I would not bother getting the MS Press book if the reviews are not very good unless it's something you can expense. I have not taken the exam but work with 2010 as a developer and admin.

Here is what I would suggest:
* Amazon.com: Professional SharePoint 2010 Administration (978047053333: Todd Klindt, Shane Young, Steve Caravajal: Books

And ...
* Amazon.com: Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Administrator's Companion (978073562720: Bill English, Brian Alderman, Mark Ferraz: Books

Or...
* Amazon.com: Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Unleashed (9780672333255): Michael Noel, Colin Spence: Books

I don't own the unleashed book, but I have always really liked the ones I have read (SQL Server 2005, Server 2008, etc) I suggest these as, with a good test prep software, they can help you prep for the exam but will also be very good references on your shelf after the exam. A mediocre exam guide will not do the same for you.

EDIT: I Just saw the Real World Skills book for the MCITP SharePoint Administrator. I have that for SQL Server and loved it. I'd suggest you try that as well.

peakbagger66

Thanks for the pointers, Robert. I will check them out.

The book I was referring to is a Sybex book, not MS-Press. Unfortunately the MS book won't be out until mid April which is too late for our deadlines. Our company will pay for our materials so it's no biggie if it's not up to snuff.

I heard back from Transcender and they had pushed the test simulator to March but it looks like MeasureUp has a test prep out, so that is looking good.

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I would not bother getting the MS Press book if the reviews are not very good unless it's something you can expense. I have not taken the exam but work with 2010 as a developer and admin.

Here is what I would suggest:
* Amazon.com: Professional SharePoint 2010 Administration (978047053333: Todd Klindt, Shane Young, Steve Caravajal: Books

And ...
* Amazon.com: Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Administrator's Companion (978073562720: Bill English, Brian Alderman, Mark Ferraz: Books

Or...
* Amazon.com: Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Unleashed (9780672333255): Michael Noel, Colin Spence: Books

I don't own the unleashed book, but I have always really liked the ones I have read (SQL Server 2005, Server 2008, etc) I suggest these as, with a good test prep software, they can help you prep for the exam but will also be very good references on your shelf after the exam. A mediocre exam guide will not do the same for you.

EDIT: I Just saw the Real World Skills book for the MCITP SharePoint Administrator. I have that for SQL Server and loved it. I'd suggest you try that as well.

peakbagger66

Well, sat the 70-667 today and passed.

I used the Sybex book -
MCTS Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Configuration Study Guide: Exam 70-667 by James Pyles

I found it to be really useful in that it mapped to the exam very well and the labs were well detailed. There were ALOT of labs, which I really liked. However I found the prose to be a bit on the dry side. It might just be me. I also liked the questions at the end of each section. These were perfect for driving home concepts.

I also used Amazon.com: Professional SharePoint 2010 Administration (978047053333: Todd Klindt, Shane Young, Steve Caravajal: Books

The explanations in this book were very good and understandable. If I wasn't in such a rush, I probably could have relied solely on this book. However, I needed material that mapped to the exam so this was used as a supplemental.

Also had the "Administrator's Companion" detailed in the above post but did not use it at all (not much time - only had 17 days to study!!)

Also made available was the official Microsoft e-learning course which surprisingly did not appeal to me at all. I abandoned it after the second module. Had many problems connecting to the online virtual labs and the text was laid out in a way which did not mesh well with the way I like to imbibe textual information. I think if you have a general understanding of the concepts, it might be more useful. I might go back to it and run through it again after my Exchange exam.

For testing simulation, I had Measureup. Other than braindumps, they were the only ones I could find. They were pretty good. Reading through the questions and understanding the wrongs as well as the rights helped immensely come exam time.

RobertKaucher

Glad you passed. What do you think of it on the easy scale?

bertieb

Congrats on the pass and thanks for posting the books you used - the Sharepoint 2010 Admin exams are on my radar for the first half of this year

peakbagger66

RobertKaucher wrote: »

Glad you passed. What do you think of it on the easy scale?

I'd give it a 7 - with 10 being the most difficult.

Most of the questions were pretty easy. There were enough questions that were 'easy' so that you could pass. However, there were a few questions which I could only guess at. Thankfully those were far and few between

mss1

Hi,

I am scheduled to give this exam on March 7, 2011. I have been using Sybex by James Pyle all this while as a preparation resource. Will only this book be good enough to pass or do I have to buy other preparation materials like Practise test software, for instance MeasureUp, **********, etc? Thanks,

peakbagger66

mss1 wrote: »

Hi,

I am scheduled to give this exam on March 7, 2011. I have been using Sybex by James Pyle all this while as a preparation resource. Will only this book be good enough to pass or do I have to buy other preparation materials like Practise test software, for instance MeasureUp, **********, etc? Thanks,

I don't believe so. The MeasureUp was critical too. The professional sharepoint admin book I mentioned helped fill in weak areas which were revealed by the Measureups.

So...my workflow went something like this for each exam objective: 1) Sybex, followed by 2) Measure Up questions that were related to that section, then, depending on how well I did on the Measureup, 3) Sharepoint Professional Administration and sometimes technet to fill the gaps. Then, back to 1) Sybex for the next exam objective.
Of course, I can't stress the importance of labbing it up .

*EDIT* I neglected to mention another very important resource: The Microsoft Sharepoint Advanceed IT Professional training video series! http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff420396


Good luck!

RobertKaucher

mss1 wrote: »

Hi,

I am scheduled to give this exam on March 7, 2011. I have been using Sybex by James Pyle all this while as a preparation resource. Will only this book be good enough to pass or do I have to buy other preparation materials like Practise test software, for instance MeasureUp, **********, etc? Thanks,

Be aware that whatever resource you mentioned that is blocked is likely a braindump. Dumping can get you stripped of your certs and is not tollerated on this site.

mss1

Thanks for the information, really appreciate it.

And I apologize, I was not aware if that was something unacceptable.

RobertKaucher

mss1 wrote: »

Thanks for the information, really appreciate it.

And I apologize, I was not aware if that was something unacceptable.

Not a problem. I didn't even know what it was until I started reading posts on TechExams. Just be careful!