How to pass C2020-702?

[macsir]

I know lots of persons here have passed this exam and I am preparing myself for it now. Could anyone share any idea to pass this exam successfully? Thanks.

[declanr]

The exam is shockingly easy and considering you have 200+ posts on here it shows you have been around TM1 long enough to know the key concepts... most people could pass without even knowing how to spell their own name so you should be fine.

The only tricky part is the amount of questions where the answers are actually all wrong (e.g. syntax in all would fail) but even then you can normally work out which one they want you to say.

[RTFM]

I know lots of persons here have passed this exam and I am preparing myself for it now. Could anyone share any idea to pass this exam successfully? Thanks.

Study hard and practice a lot

On the IBM website you can find information on the contents of the exam. You can use that as a reading list for the tM1 manuals.
On the IBM website you can also find a pdf with some example questions. If you google on something like 'ibm c2020-702 sample questions' you will find several sites offering up to 20 sample questions that can help you prepare for your exam.

[jim wood]

I agree with processing the IBM content. Some of the questions offer multiple solutions. In some cases I had done 3 out of the 4. What they are looking for is the "IBM best practice".

[macsir]

Thanks, guy. I have done what RTFM said and agree with jim.

[Alan Kirk]

I agree with processing the IBM content. Some of the questions offer multiple solutions. In some cases I had done 3 out of the 4. What they are looking for is the "IBM best practice".

So that when you get into the real world, you know which approaches to ignore, or at the very least treat with extreme scepticism.

[macsir]

Thanks, Alan. I am already in the real world of TM1 for more than 2 years. Just want to get this certificate. That's it.

[Alan Kirk]

Thanks, Alan. I am already in the real world of TM1 for more than 2 years. Just want to get this certificate. That's it.

That wasn't actually a reference to you; it could have been said as "So that when one gets into the real world... etc".

I was alluding to what Jim said about "IBM Best Practice". IBM thinks that using Performance Muddler is a "best practice". And that, in a nutshell, tells you everything that you need to know about doing things IBM's way out in the field as opposed to in their exams.

[jim wood]

Indeed Alan. If you take the 10.1 TM1 developer course originally created by IBM you'll find that perspectives gets a fleeting mention in one chapter. The rest is all PM. That said, that's not what I was referring to. The exam gives you problems to solve with possible 4 ways to do it. I remember on one question relating to TI and I had implemented 3 of the 4 options, all for very valid reasons. What this explains really is why IBM screw up so many implementations. Basically they really don't understand their own product, but you knew that already.

Jim.

PS. Let's be clear I'm talking about the consultancy arm here not the development team.

[macsir]

Will this test include lots of stuff of PM? I am not kind of familiar with that, tbh.

[Alan Kirk]

What this explains really is why IBM screw up so many implementations. Basically they really don't understand their own product, but you knew that already.

...

PS. Let's be clear I'm talking about the consultancy arm here not the development team.

Well, I'd agree with that caveat with regard to the server development team anyway, with particular reference to the residual Applix talent. (Though how they don't seem to get the importance of getting Performance Monitor (as opposed to Muddler) working again, I have no idea. That thing has been buggy since 9.1 as best I recall.)The UI teams I'd take a lot more convincing about. It takes only a casual perusal of the Enhancements sub-forum to see how many things are just plain wrong for real world use, and they just aren't doing anything about it. To give but one example, the change to the chore icons in 10.1 (going from ones which stood out like a searchlight in 9.5.2 to ones which need to be looked at closely in 10.1) suggest the hand of someone who has never had to use the tool in a real life workplace. Then there's the swing across to Muddler and Insight, both of which are theoretically beneficial but leave much to be desired practically.

Will this test include lots of stuff of PM? I am not kind of familiar with that, tbh.

That's hard to say. Looking at the test objectives:

Dimensions (12%)
Describe attributes
Describe hierarchies
Demonstrate knowledge of subsets

Cubes (12%)
Demonstrate knowledge of cubes
Describe control cubes
Describe views
Describe cube attributes

Rules (21%)
Describe rules, elements, and syntax
Demonstrate knowledge of feeders
Demonstrate knowledge of debugging large rules

Processes (21%)
Demonstrate knowledge of Turbo Integrator (TI)
Demonstrate knowledge of how to import and export data using TI
Demonstrate knowledge of executing TI processes

Security (7%)
Describe user authentication
Describe authorization

TM1 Server and Logs (11%)
Demonstrate knowledge of TM1 server
Demonstrate knowledge of Sandbox

Demonstrate knowledge of TM1 log files
Demonstrate knowledge of TM1 Top

TM1 User Interface (11%)
Demonstrate knowledge of perspective-based forms
Describe Cognos Insight
Describe development tools

Cognos BI Interoperability (5%)
Describe the IBM Cognos platform
Describe how to apply design best practices for reporting off TM1 through IBM Cognos BI

Almost all of this describes core technology with no explicit mention of Muddler at all. (Though it's worth noting that Infight is specifically mentioned under one sub-heading, and Muddler itself probably falls under the "Development tools" heading.) The main unknown is this; how many of the questions will be on the theoretical concepts of the objects (which I suspect you know reasonably well by now) and how many are on how to create and edit those objects. As Jim said, the course that he knows de-emphasised the Perspectives interface and emphasised the Muddler one despite the fact that the number of skilled, competent developers who are using Muddler in practice is probably minimal at this point. But it's always been the same in that regard; in the olden, pre-Muddler days I know that some of the tests would ask questions about how to use the Map tab in TI. However for day to day work I'd again estimate the number of competent developers who actually did that to be "minimal". Unfortunately that wasn't the point; IBM felt that that was the way that it "should" be done, and therefore that's what they tested.

Put another way, I think you would be wise to get a jar of Vallium tablets, a 44 gallon drum of single malt scotch, tape some pillows to your walls at about head height, and set aside two or three days to get yourself up to speed on Muddler before you take the test. The pass mark is only 67% and you could probably guess your way through some of the Muddler interface questions if you had to, but there's no point in giving up marks unnecessarily. And to be honest if we're serious about being TM1 developers we really should be across all of the interfaces anyway. The gods know that that fact is the only thing that gets me anywhere near Muddler these days.

[Michel Zijlema]

Will this test include lots of stuff of PM? I am not kind of familiar with that, tbh.

I recently recertified on C2020-702 to keep my IBM friends happy. The questions are on the basic concepts as outlined above in Alan's post. There is no significant focus on PM.

Michel

[macsir]

Thanks, guys. You make me so confident to pass it!

[macsir]

Now I have another problem. I have created my account on Prometric website but I can't locate any test center with words for IBM/Cognos/TM1. Thus I can't move forward to schedule a test. Does anyone have this problem in the past?

[macsir]

Just got help from another guy. The test is scheduled by Pearson VUE now.

[macsir]

[macsir]

Hi guys. I passed the exam with high score. So easy

[Alan Kirk]

Hi guys. I passed the exam with high score. So easy

Congratulations. Though I'm sure that it was hard in parts.

(Based on the sample questions that I've seen, the hardest part was probably restraining the urge to throttle whoever came up with some of the questions. Man, that would be hard.)