Exam Certification (Mar 2024)
Disclaimer: Non official content, errors and omissions excepted.
Google Workspace provides a collaborative environment for tools formally referred to as G Suite. A good helping of management is required if you are an administrator and tasked with looking after this type of environment. Fortunately those lovely folks over at Google Cloud have you covered and provide the Professional Workspace Administrator exam.
The exam has gone through a number of iterations, but in 2024 this is focused on making you all you can be. Central to the content is working though the expected knowledge for this type of role. You will hopefully learn a lot about how Workspace (I know I did) and come to appreciate some of the complexities associated with keeping an organisation safe from things like malware and phishing. A lot more content is covered so let’s get into the key elements.
Exam Topics
The exam covers the expected knowledge requirements for an administrator of Google Workspace. Specifically this includes the following high level elements:
- Managing Objects
- Configuring Services
- Troubleshooting
- Data Access and Authentication
- Supporting Business Initiatives
Fortunately this is also a case study free zone, so you can rest easy in that regard. As per other Google Cloud exams it is super useful to break product function in the following way:
- What — What does the product do?
- Why — Why would I use this product in comparison to something else?
- Where — Where would I see this used and with what other products?
- How — How do I use it?
Note: In most of the cloud provider exams, understanding “the why” use this product is super important! Understanding the characteristics of each product and the associated use case, will be highly relevant in the exam. Being able to make a choice between product A and product B is critical to doing well in the exam.
Exam Experience
Taking the exam at a facility may represent the more convenient option, as the environment is set up for you in advance. All you need to do is turn up and provide identification to verify your participation.
My exam experience is based on taking this remotely. If you choose to take a proctored exam remotely, remember to leave time for the pre-check. Realistically, you should budget an additional 15 minutes either side of the 2 hour exam.
While the remote option sounds super useful, it comes with its own challenges. Below is a quick summary of the pre-exam activities.
- Kryterion Sentinel software (Windows/Mac) installation requires administrator rights
- Install the correct version of the Browser (The site may be misleading regarding the last update)
- Kryterion system check, try and do this at least a day before to be on the safe side
- Your phone is used to provide verification of identification, so have this charged and available.
- Check the WiFi/physical network connection is strong as you will need a good connection!
- No breaks are allowed during the two hour exam
- Do take the relevant practice exam to build some confidence prior to the actual exam
- (Try and) get a good night’s sleep before the exam
- The exam is multiple choice, so rule out the wrong answers first!!
Training Material
If you have gotten this far, I haven’t put you off taking the exam.
In which case, the material I used to get ready for the exam is listed below.
Feedback on my Professional Cloud Architect post was that folks wanted links to the training material. Therefore I have created a specific Google Cloud Professional Workspace Administrator blog page for easier access (and updating for me).
Exam Extras
On successfully passing the exam, you are officially welcomed to the Cloud Certified Professionals. In previous years this included some pretty nice swag.
At the time of writing, completing the Professional Workspace Administrator exam successfully means you were eligible for swag. Swag goodies are based on your geographic region (i.e Europe, India, Everywhere else).
Exam Summary
So is the Google Cloud Certified Professional Workspace Administrator worth it in 2024?
If you work with Workspace or are thinking about migrating to Workspace, I would most definitely recommend taking this exam without hesitation. It includes a lot of helpful information including the many gotchas. For example migrating from Active Directory, handling phishing without the general pain etc.
If you are not a Workspace administrator, then maybe this exam isn’t specifically for you. There are some cool things you learn as part of revising for this exam. However at a price tag of $200 dollars to take the exam, you might feel like investing that money elsewhere?
Either way there are a number of other exams to take in this series. In no particular order:
