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OCS 2007 Release 2 Exam 070-638 RRS feed

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    Chaps, Failed the above exam today, not just a little miserly fail but a hulking great 164pts off passing (got 534). This was to be my last exam to secure my my MCSE. Before this i had had course ware and official MOC provided by training providers (New Horizons and Global Knowledge) but for this i was on my own. Thought with the Resource Kit book, Measureup and 5125 video training collection i'd be ok. 

    Unfortunately i realised about 2 or 3 questions in that this exam was wholey focused on OCS 2007 R2 which none of the above matreials covered despite them being MS's recommended methods. 

    Do you know of how/who/where i can contact MS for clarification of exam content. 

    I am gutted

    William 
    Tuesday, February 3, 2009 11:01 PM

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    Hey look at that. R2 is on the prep guide and the page was updated only 2 weeks ago.
    You have to note this: Even if the R2 is used in all (or almost all) questions, it doesn't mean that all content that is being tested is specific to R2. Think of it like having a question about share permissions in a Windows Server 2008 exam. Not much has changed in the way of share permissions in that version of windows, though the version is still mentioned in the exam for a multitude of reasons.

    if the update of the exam was recent, its possible that GK and other prep content was not yet updated, though I would argue that if you failed the exam, it was not because of your lack of content about R2. You likely need to spend more time with the product.

    Remember this: CERTIFICATION IS A REPRESENTATION OF YOUR REAL WORLD SKILLS! Therefore you need to have skills with the product, to succesfully certify.

    good luck!
    • Marked as answer by Ken Rosen_MS Thursday, March 5, 2009 10:36 PM
    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 8:58 PM
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    Hi William,

    As someone who both teaches and writes in the OCS space, I can certainly understand your frustration with the manner that the new version of 638 was released.  The previous version of the exam was hardly the most challenging one in MSL's arsenal.  It's not unusual that your colleagues had an easy time with the exam earlier in January.

    I am assuming that any of the R2 content that appeared on the exam was not graded, as the R2 product was launched publicly on February 2.  With that launch came the public release of many useful documents that will assist you in getting up to speed on OCS 2007 R2.  Go to the Unified Communications website and start downloading.  Also, spend some time looking at those as aspects of the product where you did not score well and be thankful that you can take advantage of the Second Shot offer.

    Best of luck to you in your continued preparation.
    MCT, MCITP Server 2008 EA & SA, Exchange 2007, Vista Ent & Cons MCTS Vista, WSS 3.0, MOSS 2007, Exchange 2007, OCS 2007, Server 2008 AD, Infrastructure & Application, SC SysMgr 2007 MCSE/A (Windows 2003, 2000), MCDST, MODL
    • Proposed as answer by Allan Jacobs Thursday, February 5, 2009 12:56 PM
    • Marked as answer by Ken Rosen_MS Thursday, March 5, 2009 10:36 PM
    Thursday, February 5, 2009 12:55 PM

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    William, it is my understanding that not all questions are in fact "graded." If you read the information before the exam (you know, the "click-over" stuff), it says just that. I would not think that 2-3 questions caused a 164 point pass/fail difference if in fact they were graded.

    How much proficiency do you have with OCS 2007?
    Michael D. Alligood,
    MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, Consumer Support Technician
    MCTS: Windows Vista - Configuration,
    MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+, Network+

    The I.T. Classroom Blog
    Start. Research. Plan. Perform. Finish. Test. Evaluate.
    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 12:21 AM
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    Don't beat yourself up too much about it, I've spoken to a few collegues who have taken this exam, and it seems that it is very, very difficult. Anectodaly, I would assume that this exam has fewer than average indivduals that are passing. A couple of things to keep in mind:

    1. As Michael said, it is unlikely you failed by 2 or 3 questions. You may be off the mark here in your study focus and I would refer you back to the Exam Prep Guide (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/70-638.mspx) which is the BEST source of information on the exam technical focus. Specifically the "Skills Measured" section. 

    2. I'm failry certain that OCS R2 is NOT included in the content covered in the exam. Product is very new (isn't the launch happening soon?) and I can't see that MS has already included it in the exam content. (And its not listed in the exam prep guide :))

    I would suggest to get some more hands on experience with OCS and give it another shot in a few weeks.

    Good luck!

    • Proposed as answer by David Elfassy Wednesday, February 4, 2009 5:45 AM
    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 5:44 AM
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    Microsoft does update the exams as certain thresholds are met, such as run rate or statistics, but not just because of a service pack. The exam preparation guide will state any service packs or R2 version if the exam requires it. So review the "Skills Measured" section on the preperation guide. This will let you know if the exam contains SP or R2 info. A more accurate way to put it would be that if a SP or R2 renders a service, feature, or technology obsolete; then the exams are reseeded to reflect that change.
    Michael D. Alligood,
    MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, Consumer Support Technician
    MCTS: Windows Vista - Configuration,
    MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+, Network+

    The I.T. Classroom Blog
    Start. Research. Plan. Perform. Finish. Test. Evaluate.
    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 5:54 AM
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     Michael, david, Thanks for the quick responses. My problem with this exam was that the training materials recommended by MS just did not coverthe R2 materials AT ALL. Measureup have refunded me the £40 i spent on their mock exams within a day so they seem to acknowledge that there was some issue.

     

    I kid you not when i say the exam was nearly entirely R2 focused. After my second run through i decided to count and only 3 questions didn't use the term R2...that was out of 65 in total. This isn't just sour grapes and i do appreciate i need more experience with OCS. I am working on that both in work and with my own virtual PC setup but the problem being how could i know about the R2 stuff when it isn't yet released.

     

    Point in case, i used primarily the resource kit book as my main learning aid. last week i was flapping a bit as my mock paper scores weren't the best so i invested £85 in the 5125 collection as detailed on the MS website as recommended for 070-638. these were good and included labs and to be honest it was nice to hear another voice rather than my own in my head yakking ion about OCS. But now when i check the MS website i can find an area that shows 5125 doesn't cover R2. This WASN'T mentioned at all last week.

     

    I have been in contact with our MSCE Program manager in the US. He had 15 people entered for this exam on Monday after completing the Global Knowledge 4 day course the previous week 1 passed with 701 and even he reckons he fluked it. The rest failed by around 200 pts with similar complaints. Global Knowledge were equally shocked. I know people are always looking elswhere to blame when something goes boobs skyward like this but this time i genuinely think MS have blundered with the release of this exam. I'll update you if i get any response from MS or prometric to my queries.

    Regards

    William

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 1:55 PM
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    I don't know what to tell you William. The prep guide specifically states that R2 is on the exam: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/70-638.mspx

    Michael D. Alligood,
    MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, Consumer Support Technician
    MCTS: Windows Vista - Configuration,
    MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+, Network+

    The I.T. Classroom Blog
    Start. Research. Plan. Perform. Finish. Test. Evaluate.
    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 4:58 PM
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    Michael, I doubt i am explaining my grievences particularly eloquently. If we were sitting side by side i'd better put my case.  Talking with more colleagues i hear taht others passed the OLDER version of this exam in mid Jan with no issues

     

    Anyway, like i said, i'll keep you updated on the status of my issue. Hey and when my R2 materials finally land i'll get back on the horse and pass this nasty bugger of an exam!

    Regards

    William

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 8:53 PM
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    Hey look at that. R2 is on the prep guide and the page was updated only 2 weeks ago.
    You have to note this: Even if the R2 is used in all (or almost all) questions, it doesn't mean that all content that is being tested is specific to R2. Think of it like having a question about share permissions in a Windows Server 2008 exam. Not much has changed in the way of share permissions in that version of windows, though the version is still mentioned in the exam for a multitude of reasons.

    if the update of the exam was recent, its possible that GK and other prep content was not yet updated, though I would argue that if you failed the exam, it was not because of your lack of content about R2. You likely need to spend more time with the product.

    Remember this: CERTIFICATION IS A REPRESENTATION OF YOUR REAL WORLD SKILLS! Therefore you need to have skills with the product, to succesfully certify.

    good luck!
    • Marked as answer by Ken Rosen_MS Thursday, March 5, 2009 10:36 PM
    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 8:58 PM
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    David, You're entirely right but my issue is that i parted for the 5125 collection to aide my study and it hasn't at all. I'll keep chasing for a refund as to be honest i'd really rather do the exam again and know for sure i know my stuff. I'll be using this on a daily basis in work when i get going.

    Just have to wait for some R2 training materials to be released.

    Cheers

    William
    Wednesday, February 4, 2009 9:39 PM
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    Hi William,

    As someone who both teaches and writes in the OCS space, I can certainly understand your frustration with the manner that the new version of 638 was released.  The previous version of the exam was hardly the most challenging one in MSL's arsenal.  It's not unusual that your colleagues had an easy time with the exam earlier in January.

    I am assuming that any of the R2 content that appeared on the exam was not graded, as the R2 product was launched publicly on February 2.  With that launch came the public release of many useful documents that will assist you in getting up to speed on OCS 2007 R2.  Go to the Unified Communications website and start downloading.  Also, spend some time looking at those as aspects of the product where you did not score well and be thankful that you can take advantage of the Second Shot offer.

    Best of luck to you in your continued preparation.
    MCT, MCITP Server 2008 EA & SA, Exchange 2007, Vista Ent & Cons MCTS Vista, WSS 3.0, MOSS 2007, Exchange 2007, OCS 2007, Server 2008 AD, Infrastructure & Application, SC SysMgr 2007 MCSE/A (Windows 2003, 2000), MCDST, MODL
    • Proposed as answer by Allan Jacobs Thursday, February 5, 2009 12:56 PM
    • Marked as answer by Ken Rosen_MS Thursday, March 5, 2009 10:36 PM
    Thursday, February 5, 2009 12:55 PM
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    Allan, I am fortunate that my firm have partnered with Microsoft (The Innovative Communications Alliance) so we get test vouchers for free. I am going to take a couple of months before resitting this exam. Hopefully i'll have my R2 resource kit and a damn sight more experience before resitting this.

    I'd like MS to do the decent thing and refund my £85 for the 5125 collection mind or at least give me the R2 version of these for nowt....i mean afterall Bill can afford it??????

    thanks all

    William
    Thursday, February 5, 2009 4:11 PM
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    The problem is that Bill doesn't have a clue about this issue. :-)

    So let me get in touch with some of my Microsoft peeps and see what we can do. Fair?
    Michael D. Alligood,
    MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician, Consumer Support Technician
    MCTS: Windows Vista - Configuration,
    MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+, Network+

    The I.T. Classroom Blog
    Start. Research. Plan. Perform. Finish. Test. Evaluate.
    Thursday, February 5, 2009 10:17 PM
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    Michael. That's a very kind offer. Thank you very much.

    Regards

    William
    Thursday, February 5, 2009 11:40 PM
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    Gents, So the latest is Microsoft have refunded me for the collection 5125 training series. Which i though very kind as they are still adamantly sticking to the line the exam is 90% R1 and only 10% R2. This just doesn't tally with either my experience or that of my colleagues or other R2 victims i found on the web...anyway. I am not bitter, I've received my R2 resource kit book in the last few days and i have begun working through it. Microsoft are providing my company with 4 days R2 training next month so between that and playing around with my copy of the R1 Eval kit on a my home lab i should get this bugger of an exam second time round. Meanwhile, hoping to exam in Sharepoint in the next week so that will give me my MCSE sooner rather than later.

    As Allen mentioned the R1 version of the exam was not regarded as the toughest. I paraphrase but the response i got from Microsoft learning was along the lines of "ridiculously easy" 

    MS did concede that it isn't ideal that the exam changes before the training material is made available but it is a case of such is life. They also concede that there could be an issue with the branding. i.e every question refered to R2 when possibly some of them were querying plain OCS fucntionality. They plan on rebranding the Qs that refer to plain OCS functionality as such and removing the R2 nomenclature.

    Anyway thats the best i can get. Any of you good gents hear any interesting comment on this. Also does anyone know of a company like CBT Nuggets or Train Signal who provide video based training for OCS?

    Regards

    William
    Thursday, March 5, 2009 8:16 PM