Is the CCE-V Worth It?

Virtual client computing is hardly a new technology, and when it comes to delivering virtual machines and applications to end users the world over, Citrix is one of the leaders in the market. Citrix technologies and services make it possible for IT teams to take control of virtual machines and their security and applications while also providing end users access to their desktops from any network, anywhere.

The CCE-V is a certification that Citrix offers as a way of demonstrating expert-level knowledge in designing virtualization solutions that take all of a business's requirements and considerations into account. The CCE-V is a tough exam that challenges even the most seasoned virtualization engineers. Is the CCE-V worth it for you and your career? Read on to learn about it and decide for yourself if you should invest the time and money to earn the Citrix cert.

What Is the CCE-V?

The Citrix Certified Expert – Virtualization, or CCE-V for short, is a Citrix certification that covers designing Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops solutions. Citrix maintains 11 certifications, but only three of them are considered their core certs: the associate (CCA-V), professional (CCP-V) and expert-level (CCE-V) certs in virtualization. While the other certifications relate to individual use cases of specific pieces of Citrix tech, the CCA-V, CCP-V, and CCE-V all cover optimizing Citrix's flagship software: Virtual Apps and Desktops.

Like many technology vendors who offer certifications, a Citrix cert doesn't necessarily apply to broad virtualization techniques and configuration. Rather, the CCE-V covers solutions and approaches unique to the Citrix ecosystem. In other words, earning the CCE-V doesn't quite mean you're an expert in all virtualization, but it does mean you have expert-level control of Virtual Apps and Desktops.

In companies and enterprises that rely on Citrix for delivering virtual desktops, applications, network tools and security to their end users, someone with their CCE-V is an extremely valuable asset. Someone with their CCE-V is usually in charge of planning new virtualization opportunities, then directing technicians through installing and configuring them.

What Does the CCE-V Exam Test?

The CCE-V exam is 1Y0-403, "Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 Assessment, Design and Advanced Configurations". You'll have 120 minutes to answer the 61 questions on the exam. The CCE-V exam, 1Y0-403, has nine exam objectives:

• Methodology and Assessment

• User Layer

• Access Layer

• Resource Layer – Images

• Resource Layer – Applications and Personalization

• Control Layer

• Hardware/Compute Layer

• High Availability and Multiple Location Environments

• Disaster Recovery

Sections 7 and 8 are the most important two sections on the 1Y0-403, making up 40% of the testable material together – which makes sense, considering the exam focuses on planning and designing enterprise implementations of virtual desktops and apps.

How Much Does the CCE-V Exam Cost?

The CCE-V exam, 1Y0-403, costs $300 to attempt. But before you can attempt it, you need to already hold the CCP-V certification, which also costs $300. And before you can attempt that, you need to already hold the CCA-V, and that one costs $200. So although the CCE-V exam only costs $300, the total costs along the way could be more than $800.

There are also Citrix-provided courses and online training that can be mandatory before you can sit for the exam, and those vary in cost. Last, you may want to take a non-Citrix course to fully prepare for the certification exam, and you should include the cost of those into your consideration.

What Experience Do You Need for the CCE-V?

A hard prerequisite for the CCE-V is the CCP-V, Citrix's professional-level certification. Before you attempt the CCE-V, you should have several months of experience with what the CCP-V covers: managing and supporting complex environments based on Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops with provisioning services.

You should also go into the CCE-V exam already comfortable with most of Citrix's products and services, like Virtual Apps 7, Virtual Desktops 7, Gateway Service, Hypervisor 8, Workspace Environment Management, Provisioning 7, among others. There are third-party technologies you should know how to use before attempting the 1Y0-403, regardless of what you and your company use. You should know how tools and services like Microsoft AD, Windows Server 2019, SQL Server, DHCP, and DNS interact with Citrix tech.

The CCE-V test will challenge your knowledge of network systems and what the Citrix best practices for analysis and design of them are. Exam 1Y0-403 covers installing and configuring Citrix tech, then administering and maintaining an app and desktop virtualization environment. You'll need to know how to back up, update and monitor apps and desktops in that environment. And you should understand cloud concepts related to private, public and hybrid clouds, as well as storage concepts generally.

Who Should Take the CCE-V?

IT professionals who have a hand in all the information gathering and required analyzing that goes into choosing virtualization solutions should take the CCE-V. Sometimes that's a permanent position in an IT team and other times it's a consultant brought in to work out the right solution for a given company. Either way, if you work at the planning and analyzing level, you should consider the CCE-V.

CCE-V for Network Engineers

The CCE-V might not be worth it for network engineers who work mostly with in-the-moment problems and are constantly dealing with the obstacles that are directly in front of them. On the other hand, if you're a network engineer and you're in a position to make slower decisions about virtualization implementations after a process of requirement gathering, the CCE-V could be worth it for you. Earning the CCE-V could teach you the ways to approach and think about the many tools and options you have within the environment.

For network engineers who are more focused on solving immediate problems with only the solutions on-hand, the CCP-V is probably a better certification. There are also eight other Citrix certifications that deal with specialized implementations of specific technologies that could be more worth it than CCE-V.

CCE-V for Solutions Architects

Yes, the CCE-V is definitely worth it for a solutions architect. Before going into it, you'll need senior-level expertise with the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops suite of applications and technologies. But the CCE-V is how you prove your skill in designing and implementing the ideal virtual environment for a unique team, company or enterprise network.

The CCE-V is all about learning a company or network's needs and determining the right virtualization solutions accordingly. The CCE-V is especially worth it for solutions architects whose positions give them the time to perform requirement surveys and plan entirely new virtualization implementations.

CCE-V for a Virtualization Consultant

Yes, the CCE-V is worth it for a virtualization consultant – it was basically made with them in mind. For people whose job is to come into a new network or company and plan out new virtualization implementations, there's hardly a better cert to prove yourself worthy than the CCE-V.

A network or virtualization consultant with their CCE-V proves a number of different things. First, they're saying that they understand thoroughly what Citrix is capable of (and what it's not). Second, the CCE-V is proof that you now understand how to gather the requirements of the company you're supporting and include those requirements in the solution you recommend. Last, it demonstrates your familiarity with other companies' successes and failures, and knowing how to incorporate those lessons into your plans.

Is the CCE-V Worth It?

The CCE-V is a challenging and expensive undertaking, but if you know your career is headed into Citrix-powered virtualization, the CCE-V is definitely worth it. For technicians who work on individual problems on a daily basis, it might not be worth it. But for IT professionals who plan and implement large-scale virtualization environments, the CCE-V is worth it.

Using CCE-V to Learn Skills

Citrix doesn't offer a certification higher than the CCE-V. That means that in terms of assessing, designing and completing advanced configurations for a practical Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environment, there's no more complete test of your knowledge than the 1Y0-403. For IT professionals who want to manage and lead virtualization teams, using the CCE-V to learn skills is a good way to make sure you don't leave anything out.

The CCE-V exam covers all the advanced topics of Citrix virtualization, so if you're midway through your career and want to set yourself up for success, you can check every box by taking an online course that prepares you for the 1Y0-403.

Using CCE-V to Validate Skills

Certifications exist so that the skills and experience someone has can be documented and proven. If you've been working with Citrix tech for a long time, the CCE-V can quantify all that experience. An expert-level certification is always impressive, but it can carry even more weight if your company or network already relies on the vendor. So if you've taught yourself Citrix, or you've taken classes in managing virtualization tech, earn the CCE-V so you can validate those skills.