Blackberry BCP-220

DJohnsonRose

Is there any free revision material for this certification? I would love to get this to give more confidence to the people at work when dealing with Blackberry issues. Is there any self study which can be done for the Blackberry Enterprise Server?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

ptilsen

My only advice is to stay away. I can understand the desire to know more for your current day job, but I don't think studying a dead platform is ever wise. BB6 and BB7 devices along with the current and previous incarnations of BES will all but disappear from the face of the planet within the next two years. BB10 should be out within five months, and those few organizations that haven't started moving away from BlackBerry will have to move to BB10. Both the server-side and device-side will be different.

Even outside of that, back when BB looked like it might still be the #1 smartphone, it still wasn't really necessary to certify, in my opinion. You'll just want to read up on whatever version of BES you're working with. Even there, I've found that supporting BES is more about supporting the phones themselves. BES itself pretty much never has any problems once it's setup and working. Everything is phone side, and even those are usually security-wipe-and-resync, call the carrier, or replace the device.

Your time, in my opinion, would be better spent studying more common server-side or network-side technologies that will get your further in your career.

MAC_Addy

If I had a BlackBerry I'd bin it. Waste of time and money, to be honest.

DJohnsonRose

Thank you for the reply.


I am aware of how bad blackberry's are and the bad reputation they have but my company currently use blackberry's and a bes. I've spent 2 years prior to getting my iPhone, working with blackberry's and I think it would be a shame for all the knowledge and experience to go to waste (my money being wasted was bad enough lol) so I would like to get the BCP-220 it's only £50 for me to take the exam. Is there any revision material? What phones do you see replacing blackberry's in a corporate network? I'd like to stay ahead so if we implement new technology I already competent and certified.


thanks for the help guys

ptilsen

Like I said, I see BB10 replacing BB6 and BB7. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion will be the only product you need. BES is already a dead product. If your org wants to stick with BB it will go to Fusion. Only the companies too poor/stingy to switch will still have BES at all in two years. Fusion is a different product, and the knowledge of BES will not help. Similarly, BB10 is totally different than BB6 and BB7, and any knowledge or certification of those will go to waste. That being said, most orgs have switched to iOS or Android or both. I actually see iOS as being the dominant corporate platform, followed by BYOD/pick-your-own-device, followed by BB, followed by Android-only.

I spent a year and a half supporting BBs and BES and then another two as a consultant occasionally dealing with BES and BB. I really do not feel I'm missing something by not getting a BB certification. The knowledge is already a waste of space in my brain because I will never use any of it again. You won't be using it in a year or so. These aren't like legacy servers that get stuck in production forever. In 2014, you will be more likely to find Netware and Groupwise in an organization than BES and and BB7. The phones will get replaced and BES will be long gone.

BCP-220 in particular is for supporting BBs in a BIS environment. That's just silly. You don't support a BIS environment, do you? Even if you do, that seems like a waste. BCP-221 would make more sense, since it's about BES. I would say getting a copy of Mobile Fusion now to look over would be a better use of your time.

At the end of the day I doubt you're going to find anyone here who can recommend specific materials. I've never even met anyone who had BB certifications. Even back in the day, people didn't certify. When I Googled BCP-220, the first results were a bunch of **** sites. I doubt you'll find many legitimate testing materials that are altogether that good.

antielvis

To answer the question (as someone who is Blackberry Certified -- or was). The only way I know to study for these exams is with the Element K Courseware/books. I had both my handheld and BES certifications as I did a great deal of work with the platform. The exams aren't overly difficult FYI.

In the case of learning to manage a BES, you will need some knowledge of Exchange (or Domino Server).

You might try to find a used book online (maybe eBay). I'm not sure if I'd take the exam, just learn the ins and outs of the BES and the handheld. Learning this is like getting a Novell CNA certification. You have to ask if it's worth it.