White Paper EXAM BLUEPRINT PRPC Certified Lead System Architect Version 6.2
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White Paper Contents About the Certified Lead System Architect Exam... 1 Path to the Lead System Architect Certification... 1 About the Exam Blueprint... 2 Prerequisites... 2 Required... 2 Recommended... 2 Exam Format... 2 Part 1 Multiple Choice Question Format... 3 Part 2 Application Development and Design... 3 Application Design Document Guidelines... 3 Exam Test Competencies... 3 Exam Grading... 4 Part 1 Multiple Choice Question Format... 4 Part 2 Application Development and Design... 4 Test Competencies and Topics... 5
White Paper About the Certified Lead System Architect Exam A certified Lead System Architect (CLSA): Leads complex design projects Builds PRPC-based applications Has expert knowledge of the PRPC architecture, security model, and service interfaces Has expert PRPC knowledge based on in-depth experience and successful projects Manages the overall key design areas of the project Has strong technical leadership and expert consultative skills Ensures that systems are built for change, are reusable, and are maintainable The certification exam measures the competencies described later in this document. Path to the Lead System Architect Certification Segment Description Prior to Starting the CLSA Program Passed CSSA Exam Tools Along Your Path to CLSA Certification 3 to 6 months field experience minimum Candidates must be Certified Senior System Architects. This experience should include being a technical lead on at least one project, experience working on multiple projects across multiple roles, and proven technical ability CLSA Immersion or Self-study Exam Components CLSA Multiple Choice Exam CLSA Application Build Candidates gain the necessary knowledge by either attending the four-week Instructor-Led training course or by participating in the elearning program (6-month subscription). These programs focus on the competencies required to become a certified lead system architect. Students enhance their knowledge through, group discussions, application building, hands-on exercises and knowledge checks. A 50 question multiple response exam that must be completed in 90 minutes. You have 7 consecutive days to create and deploy an application based on a given scenario. You are also required to provide a complete design document. 1
About the Exam Blueprint The purpose of the exam blueprint is to provide you with information and a roadmap of the exam content to help you better prepare for the exam. The blueprint includes: The prerequisites that must be met for you to take this exam A list of the exam test competencies and their percentage of the exam content A description of the each component of the exam A short description of the test topics within a competency Prerequisites Required You must be a PRPC Certified Senior System Architect (CSSA) Recommended Three to six months of field experience minimum Have been the Technical lead on at least one project Had at least one project go through a Design Review Experience on multiple projects across multiple roles Proven technical ability with strong leadership skills and solid technical customer relationship building skills Experience with the SmartBPM Methodology and DCO (Certified Methodology Black Belt preferable) Exam Format LSA Certification is achieved by your success in passing two components: Part I: 50 multiple choice questions in 90 minutes Part II: Application Build You must pass Part I before you can take Part II. Part II consists of building an application based on a given scenario. You have 7 days to complete and deploy your application to a PRPC cloud instance that is provided to you. A design document must also be submitted with the application. The passing score for each component is 70%. 2
Part 1 Multiple Choice Question Format The examinee selects from one or more response options to answer a question. A response is considered correct when it accurately completes the statement or answers the question. Distracters or incorrect answers are plausible response options that examinees with incomplete knowledge are likely to choose. Test item formats used in this examination are: Multiple Choice Select one option that best answers the question or completes a statement. Multiple Responses Select more than one option that best answers the question or completes a statement. The text states how many options are correct, such as Choose two. Sample Directions Read the statement or question. From the response options, select the option(s) that represent the most correct or best answer(s) given the information provided. True/False Read the statement or question. Select either true or false as the answer. Part 2 Application Development and Design This part of the exam tests your ability to build an application based on a given scenario and to document your design. As you build your application it is key to remember the following: Do not over engineer your application -- keep it simple Test your application, make sure it works Document your application following the Application Design Document Guidelines Application Design Document Guidelines Below are guidelines you can use to document your design. Your document should describe the following key components: Introduction Application Overview Key Design Decisions Design Only Features Features / Requirements Not Implemented Preflight Warnings Deployment and Testing A design document template will be provided to you when you receive your application scenario. Exam Test Competencies 3
The table below lists the test competencies and the extent to which they are represented as an estimated percentage of test items on the short answer portion of the exam. Test Competencies % of Exam Application Development Lifecycle 8% Business Rules 10% Case Management 10% Data Model 6% Design and Implementation 12% Integration 8% Internal Architecture 6% Reporting 6% Security 8% Situation Layer Cake 6% System Operations / Performance 10% User Experience 10% Total 100% Exam Grading Below is information that explains how each component of the exam is graded. Part 1 Multiple Choice Question Format This component is graded automatically by Pearson VUE. Your score report is given to you immediately after submitting your exam. Part 2 Application Development and Design Once you receive your Application Scenario, you have 7 consecutive days to create and deploy an application based on a given scenario and provide a design document. When the Immersion team receives your design document and notification that you have deployed your application, your application build is put into the grading queue and is graded by qualified Pega staff using a Rubric. The grading focuses on best practices, key design decisions (including the design only requirements) and the design and implementation of each requirement. When the Immersion team receives your scores from all the graders you are notified of your results. It can take up to three weeks for you to receive your grades. 4
Test Competencies and Topics Case Management Understand when and how to use key BPM functionalities including (but not limited to): Case Specialization Social BPM Ad-how Work aand Process Business Events Policy Override Case-based Reasoning Correspondence generation Process API Best practices Business Rules Understand how change tracking, functions and expressions work together Understand the Goal Seek pattern Understand when to build and how to implement a custom rule Understand rule delegation Reporting Deep understanding of topics including (but not limited to): - Legacy Reporting rules - Charting - Reporting APIs - PRPC Reporting strategy - Report Customization and Administration System Operations & Performance Use the tools available for measuring performance and assessing quality Identify which tools are appropriate for certain situations Diagnose problems associated with performance and describe how to optimize the system for performance Identify key performance alerts provided by the system and understand how to resolve the underlying issue User Experience Understand the PRPC UI Architecture 5
Understand Controls and HTML Properties Use key UI features such as Tabs and Accordions, Trees and Tree Grids Understand how to style a PRPC application Understand when and how to use Specialty Components Understand UI best practices and usability guardrails Security Understand how design principles ensure a safe and secure PRPC application Understand key security Best Practices and how PRPC guardrails promote a secure system Understand the PRPC Authentication and Authorization model Know the different authentication types that can be configured in PRPC Understand the difference between internal and external authorization Understand the use of Authentication policies Data Model Understand polymorphism in PRPC Understand when to use and how to implement Reference Properties Understand high level patterns used to integrate PRPC with a System of Record (SOR) Situation Layer Cake Evaluate a class structure Identify reusable components Identify and explain the common characteristics of rule specialization Understand how implementing rule reuse and specialization impacts a project Understand dynamic referencing techniques and the benefits of extensible frameworks Understand the impact of using Solution frameworks 6
Integration Identify and describe components of services and connectors Understand how to integrate PRPC with other systems using: - JMS - Java Understand the inbound email service design and configuration Manage Enterprise Content using CMIS Connectors Understand PRPC asynchronous integration models Understand how to implement Integration Error Handling and debug integration issues Internal Architecture Know the Java EE architecture and how PRPC fits into it Understand Rule Assembly and Execution Understand topics such as - Locking Architecture - Asynchronous processing - Distributed transactions Understand when to use and how to configure advanced agents Engine API Application Development Lifecycle Topics include but not limited to - Parallel development - Release Management - Application Migration - Refactoring - Upgrades Understand how to safely upgrade flows in Production Understand how to avoid common mistakes during Construction phase 7