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EXAM BLUEPRINT

PRPC Certified Lead System Architect

 Copyright 2011 Pegasystems Inc., Cambridge, MA

All rights reserved.
This document describes products and services of Pegasystems Inc. It may contain trade secrets and proprietary information. The document and product are protected by copyright and distributed under licenses restricting their use, copying, distribution, or transmittal in any form without prior written authorization of Pegasystems Inc. This document is current as of the date of publication only. Changes in the document may be made from time to time at the discretion of Pegasystems. This document remains the property of Pegasystems and must be returned to it upon request. This document does not imply any commitment to offer or deliver the products or services provided. This document may include references to Pegasystems product features that have not been licensed by your company. If you have questions about whether a particular capability is included in your installation, please consult your Pegasystems service consultant. PegaRULES, Process Commander, SmartBPM and the Pegasystems logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pegasystems Inc. All other product names, logos and symbols may be registered trademarks of their respective owners. Although Pegasystems Inc. strives for accuracy in its publications, any publication may contain inaccuracies or typographical errors. This document or Help System could contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically added to the information herein. Pegasystems Inc. may make improvements and/or changes in the information described herein at any time. This document is the property of: Pegasystems Inc. 101 Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142-1590 Phone: (617) 374-9600 Fax: (617) 374-9620 www.pega.com PegaRULES Process Commander Document: Certified Lead System Architect Exam Blueprint Updated: May 12, 2011

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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 CLSA Multiple Choice Question Format............................................................................ 3 CLSA Application Development and Design Build ............................................................ 3 Application Design Document Guidelines .............................................................................. 3 Exam Test Competencies ............................................................................................................ 4 Exam Grading ............................................................................................................................... 4 CLSA Multiple Choice Question Format............................................................................ 4 CLSA Application Development and Design ..................................................................... 4 Test Competencies and Topics .................................................................................................... 5

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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 Passed CSSA Exam Description Candidates must be Certified Senior System Architects. Prior to Starting the CLSA Program

Tools Along Your Path to CLSA Certification 3 to 6 months field experience minimum CLSA Immersion e-Learning or Instructor-Led 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 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.

Exam Components CLSA Multiple Choice Exam A 50-question multiple response exam that must be completed in 85 minutes. The first 5 minutes are spent in review and acceptance of a standard non-disclosure agreement (NDA). If you wish to review the NDA in detail please go to http://www.pega.com/sites/default/files/docs/services/nda.pdf You must pass the CLSA Multiple Choice Exam to proceed onto the CLSA Application Build. CLSA Application Build 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 and responses to the design only questions based on your scenario and both must be submitted with your deployed application build.

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: CLSA Multiple Choice Exam: 50 multiple choice questions in 85 minutes CLSA Application Build: 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 and responses to the design-only questions must also be submitted with your application. You must pass the CLSA Multiple Choice exam before you can take the CLSA Application Build. The passing score for each component is 70%.

CLSA 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.

CLSA Application Development and Design Build

This part of the exam tests your ability to build an application based on a given scenario, to document your design, and to respond to design questions related to your application scenario. 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

The table below lists the test competencies and the extent to which they are represented as an estimated percentage of test items on the CLSA Multiple Choice exam. Test Competencies BPM BRE Security Reporting User Interface Application Deployment Services and Connectors General PRPC Architecture Implementation and Performance Tools Rule Resolution and Achieving Reusability Total % of Exam 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 100%

Exam Grading
Below is information that explains how each component of the exam is graded.

CLSA Multiple Choice Question Format

To begin this exam you must register for the CLSA Multiple Choice Exam at any authorized Pearson VUE test center located worldwide. This exam is then graded immediately after ending your exam appointment at Pearson VUE. Upon leaving the testing center you will be given a printed score report detailing your performance on each of the exam test competencies.

CLSA Application Development and Design

To begin this exam you must confirm readiness by providing a date to begin. This is done by sending email to Immersion@pega.com You will receive your Application Scenario, on the date requested and you will then have 7 consecutive days to create and deploy an application based on the given scenario, respond to design only questions, and to provide a completed design document. Once your work is completed, you send notification of deployment and your completed design document to Immersion@pega.com Your application build is then graded by qualified Pega CLSAs . The grading focuses on best practices, key design decisions (including the design only requirements) and the design and implementation of each requirement. It may take up to three weeks for you to receive your final CLSA Application Build exam score.

Test Competencies and Topics

BPM Understand when and how to use key BPM functionality including: Flow shapes SLAs Services Routing Resume flow Advanced routing Get Next Work Case management Work relationships

Correspondence generation Best practices Understand routing routines and how they affect performance Engine API

BRE Understand when to use all Rule-Declare types (pages, triggers, on-change) Understand the difference between declarative verses procedural programming Understand the differences between BPM and BRE applications Understand rule execution and rule management techniques Java API

Security 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 security Know different ways of integrating PRPC with external security in a corporate setting

Reporting Understand the differences between internal Pega reporting and business intelligence reporting Understand the types of reporting that Pega does well versus reporting that should be handled outside of Pega Identify and describe the various report types When and how to use the reporting features available, including joins, thresholds, images and Smart Info User Interface Understand UI best practices and guardrails Understand challenges and solutions for UI requirements that push limits of OOTB features Understand the differences between screen flows vs. regular flows and discuss how they drive the presentation to the end user Use and configure client side features within PRPC JavaScript API

Application Deployment Understand what to include in a Product rule Know when to use a Product rule vs. a Product patch Understand when and why you lock a work object Know how to deploy in a multi-node environment Know how and when to use the Product Migration wizard

Services and Connectors Identify and describe components of services and connectors Understand the steps involved in building a service connection via the wizard Understand service authentication Understand how stateless and stateful service and connector pooling affect performance Know how services are deployed

General PRPC Architecture Understand the PRPC BLOB architecture and its benefits and pitfalls Know the hierarchical structure of the clipboard and the visible and non-visible pages on the clipboard Know the Java EE architecture and how PRPC fits into it Understand how to use all the various rule types in PRPC Know how the PegaRULES database is structured Understand the data mapping between the application, the clipboard, the PegaRULES database, and external sources Implementation and Performance Tools 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 Understand how to monitor the performance of an application (JVM Size, CPU Utilization, PAL, Memory, Garbage Collection, DB Stats, Logfiles, etc.) Identify key performance alerts provided by the system and understand how to resolve the underlying issue Rule Resolution and Achieving Reusability Evaluate a class structure Identify reusable components Guide the client in determining reusable components Understand the difference between rule reuse and specialization Understand rule reusability and how it relates to rule resolution Know how to create reusable rules Identify and explain the common characteristics of rule specialization Understand how implementing rule reuse and specialization impacts a project and fully describe the benefits to a client