Over the past couple weeks, I’ve outlined my overall goal: earning my VCAP certification and documenting the entire journey along the way.
I’ve talked about the path, the licensing changes, my frustrations, and why I still believe strongly in supporting and being part of the VMUG community.
But now, the planning phase is over.
It’s time to get to work 🙂
After signing up for VMUG Advantage, I logged into the Broadcom Support Portal and navigated to the Learning Portal. From there, I enrolled in the official VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 Administrator recommended training courses and reviewed the full certification blueprint.
This blueprint isn’t just a list of exam objectives, it’s a roadmap.
My goal with this post is simple:
Document my study plan, align it directly to the blueprint, and create a roadmap others can follow along with.
The VMware Cloud Foundation Administrator Blueprint
The blueprint focuses on two primary areas:
Foundation infrastructure knowledge
Deploying, managing, and operating VMware Cloud Foundation
It includes the following sections:
Section 1 – IT Architectures, Technologies, Standards
(No testable objectives)
Section 2 – VMware Cloud Foundation Fundamentals
- Private Cloud Vision
- Compute Fundamentals
- Storage Fundamentals
- Network Fundamentals
Section 3 – Plan and Design VMware Cloud Foundation
(No testable objectives)
Section 4 – Deploy, Configure, and Operate VMware Cloud Foundation
- Deploy and Configure
- Manage
- Operations
- Consume and Automate
This blueprint ensures administrators understand the full lifecycle of VMware Cloud Foundation.
The Four Recommended Courses (Blueprint-Aligned)
Broadcom provides four core courses that align directly with the blueprint. I’ve organized them into two tiers based on learning progression.
Tier 1 – Infrastructure Foundation Layer
These courses build the core infrastructure and architecture foundation.
Course 1: VMware Cloud Foundation Fundamentals for Implement [V9]
Duration: 9 hours, 17 minutes
This course provides the architectural foundation of VMware Cloud Foundation.
Key topics:
Private Cloud architecture
Compute fundamentals
Storage fundamentals
Network fundamentals
VCF architecture overview
Blueprint coverage:
Section 2.1 – Private Cloud Vision
Section 2.2 – Compute Fundamentals
Section 2.3 – Storage Fundamentals
Section 2.4 – Network Fundamentals
Goal: Understand how VMware Cloud Foundation integrates compute, storage, and networking.
Course 2: VMware vSphere Foundation: Build, Manage and Operate [V9]
Duration: 18 hours, 54 minutes
This course teaches the infrastructure layer that VMware Cloud Foundation runs on.
Key topics:
ESXi deployment and configuration
vCenter deployment and management
Cluster configuration
Virtual machine lifecycle
vSAN storage deployment
Networking configuration
Lifecycle management
Blueprint coverage:
Section 2.2 – Compute Fundamentals
Section 2.3 – Storage Fundamentals
Section 2.4 – Network Fundamentals
Section 4.1 – Deployment preparation
Section 4.2 – Lifecycle management
Goal: Learn how to deploy and manage the infrastructure layer VCF depends on.
Tier 2 – VMware Cloud Foundation Platform Layer
These courses focus on deploying and operating VMware Cloud Foundation itself.
Course 3: VMware Cloud Foundation: Build, Manage and Secure [V9]
Duration: 23 hours, 19 minutes
This course teaches how to deploy and configure VMware Cloud Foundation.
Key topics:
VCF architecture
SDDC Manager deployment
Workload domain deployment
Networking and storage configuration
Identity management
Certificate management
Lifecycle management
Security and compliance
Blueprint coverage:
Section 4.1 – Deploy and Configure
Section 4.2 – Manage
Section 4.3 – Security and compliance
Goal: Learn how to deploy and secure VMware Cloud Foundation.
Course 4: VMware Cloud Foundation: Automate and Operate [V9]
Duration: 55 hours, 32 minutes
This course focuses on operating VMware Cloud Foundation as a private cloud platform.
Key topics:
Automation architecture
Identity and organization management
Content libraries
Operations monitoring
Dashboards and alerting
Health diagnostics
Automation and governance
Blueprint coverage:
Section 4.3 – Operations
Section 4.4 – Consume and Automate
Goal: Learn how to operate VMware Cloud Foundation at scale.
Total Training Time Commitment
Total video training time: approximately 107 hours
This represents structured learning only.
At this stage, I don’t yet know exactly which labs are required or recommended, so I’m not assigning a fixed lab time estimate.
Instead, my approach will be:
Watch each course fully
Take detailed notes
Identify labs aligned to each lesson
Perform hands-on deployment wherever possible
My Hands-On Strategy
While VMware Hands-On Labs are an excellent resource — especially for those without access to hardware — my goal is to go further.
If possible, I plan to deploy VMware Cloud Foundation using my own personal lab hardware.
Watching a deployment is helpful.
Performing the deployment yourself is where real understanding begins.
Repetition is what builds confidence.
My goal is not just to pass the exam — but to truly understand the platform.
My Study Commitment
To stay on track, I’m committing to:
20 hours per week of study time.
At this pace, I expect to complete the video training in approximately 5–6 weeks, with hands-on labs continuing in parallel.
Zero to VCAP Progress Tracker
I’ll be updating this tracker as I progress.
| Course | Duration | Status | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
| VCF Fundamentals for Implement | 9h 17m | In Progress | 0% |
| vSphere Foundation Build, Manage and Operate | 18h 54m | Not Started | 0% |
| VCF Build, Manage and Secure | 23h 19m | Not Started | 0% |
| VCF Automate and Operate | 55h 32m | Not Started | 0% |
Overall Certification Path Progress
| Milestone | Status |
|---|---|
| VMUG Advantage Signup | Complete |
| Blueprint Review | Complete |
| Training Enrollment | Complete |
| Tier 1 Training | In Progress |
| Tier 2 Training | Not Started |
| Hands-On Lab Deployment | Planned |
| VCF Administrator Certification | Planned |
| VCAP Certification | Goal |
Where I Am Right Now
I’m currently starting with VMware Cloud Foundation Fundamentals for Implement.
This is the foundation everything else builds on.
From here, I’ll move through each course sequentially, building knowledge layer by layer.
Infrastructure → Deployment → Operations → Automation
The Journey Begins
This is the start of the real work.
I’ll continue documenting each phase, including lessons learned, lab deployments, and challenges along the way.
If you’re pursuing VMware Cloud Foundation certification — or just want to learn the platform — I hope this roadmap helps.
We’re just getting started.
Zero to VCAP continues.