Study References for IBM WAS Tech Sales Mastery (M04)

This post chronicles the necessary steps to prepare for IBM's WAS Technical Sales Mastery (M04) test.

Each section below represents a distinct reference for WAS documentation needed to pass the test. References to below content correspond to the M04 Test Objectives found in the previous link.

Note: preparation for this test assumes intermediate knowledge of J2EE concepts and architecture. For this reason, references have not been recorded for instruction on J2EE.

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1. Review the objectives listed on the test page. Carefully consider each of these objectives as you begin to follow the educational materials (Tutorial, Reading, and Sample Test).

2. Follow through the tutorial for WAS v6.1 found at the Virtual Innovation Center (VIC). You will need an IBM PartnerWorld login. Follow the instructions in the previous post on this forum titled "Steps towards IBM Certification".
http://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/isv/welcome/vic.html

Once you login to the VIC, go to "technical resources" and choose "WAS 6.1" in the list box, and choose the "training" radio button. From there, you will be able to go through the tutorial. Always keeping in mind the objectives from the previous step.

3. Read IBM WAS documentation. Focus on the documentation for WAS (distributed platforms).

The most important content is found in three volumes in order of their importance:

a. Administering applications and their environment (PDF)

b. Using the administrative clients (PDF)

c. Tuning Guide (PDF)

In general, it is important to at least read the first few pages of each concept that comes from the Test Objectives. I have attached the page segments needed to prepare for the exam.

Another concept briefly covered on the test, not found in any WAS documentation, comes from IBM's SOA technology, called "Service Data Objects" (SDO). Here's a short introduction to the technology. It is worth the read as it will likely come up again if you pursue other IBM certifications.
"Simplify and unify data with a Service Data Objects architecture"

4. Take the Sample Test found at the SME Zone.
Login to the VIC, and choose "SME Zone" from the menu.

Pick "WebSphere Software - Application Infrastructure" and choose "training". This will take you to a list of sample tests for certification. For this test, there were 12 sample questions.

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Study References for:
IBM M04 WAS Technical Sales Mastery Test

I. Administering applications and their environment (PDF)

Overview
19-25

Starting and Stopping
29-30

Class Loading
33-35

Deploying and administering applications
45-118

Messaging
779-789

Security
999
1015-1056
1158-1166
1208
1217
1256
1305-1308
1316
1337

Programming Extensions
1851

Performance Monitoring
2067-2071
2239-2262

Troubleshooting
2263-2298

II. Using the administrative clients (PDF)

Scripting
71-151

Managing Servers with Scripting
198-200
228-235

Enabling and Disabling Administrative Security Using Scripting
280-285

Troubleshooting with Scripting
650-665

Scripting Reference
666, 683, 704, 729, 756, 820, 834-837

Using Administrative Programs (JMX)
837-852, 865-899

Using Command Line Tools
903-904, 915-917

Using Ant to automate Tasks
949-950

III. Tuning Guide (PDF)

Obtaining advice from the advisers
17-30

Tuning the application server environment
31-32

Troubleshooting Performance
133-135