Keith Mayer, a Microsoft IT Evangelist and an MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer) has an awesome blog for IT pros (subscribe to it NOW before you forget). Based on his own studying and exam prep experience, he assembled a step-by-step study guide to share with those who are working on MCSE: Private Cloud. In Keith's words:

This month (July 2012), I spent a fair amount of time preparing for the new Microsoft Private Cloud Certification Exam 70-246, Monitoring and Operating a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 and I saved links to all the study resources that I used to study and pass this exam as a step-by-step Exam Study Guide for anyone else who may be interested in targeting this exam. Exam 70-246 is the final exam needed to complete the MCSE Private Cloud certification track. The complete requirements for the MCSE Private Cloud track include:

    • If you were previously certified as an MCITP on Windows Server 2008, you may be closer than you realize to achieving this certification requirement! MCITP’s were grandfathered into the MCSA program automatically when the new MCSA program was introduced earlier this year. Check your MCP Transcript at http://www.microsoft.com/mcp to confirm.
  • Successfully pass one of the following exams:
    • Exam 70-659 – TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization (valid until Jan 2013)
    • Exam 70-247 – Configuring and Deploying a Private Cloud with System Center 2012
  • Successfully pass Exam 70-246 (That’s the exam targeted by this study guide!)

TIP: An exam study guide for preparing for Exam 70-659 is also available here. If you have already achieved MCSA on Windows Server 2008, then Exam 70-659 and Exam 70-246 are the only two additional exams needed to complete the MCSE: Private Cloud certification requirements and you can leverage my free study guides for each exam to help you get ready for these tests!

About This Exam Study Guide

This exam guide presents the target exam objectives within each of the above objective domains in a checklist format to provide an easy method for exam candidates to quickly self-assess their general exam preparedness and also provide specific study resources to help candidates address knowledge gap areas prior to attempting this exam. Note that this study guide is not intended as a replacement for formal training, but rather intended as a post-training resource to help you identify how you can best prepare for certification.

Download this Exam Study Guide for FREE ... For just a Tweet!

Keith has made this Exam Study Guide available as a free downloadable resource on his blog. All you have to do is help spread the word to the IT pro community. Go to this post on his blog, click the blue rectagular button toward the bottom, post a short Tweet or Facebook share about this useful resource, and you'll automatically receive a direct link to download the study guide immediately afterwards.