If you are a ServiceNow Enthusiast like me, you would have already heard about the Certified Technical Architect and Certified Master Architect programs but if you haven’t, please read the below to understand the value of these certifications and who should do them –

What is a Master Architect and why go for CMA?

The Master Architect is a trusted technical advisor and a valued partner on the digital transformation journey with ServiceNow. They are skilled in guiding customers with technology strategy and governance as well as actual solution design and architecture. Their best-practices guidance supports customers across technical planning and execution activities—from building the right technology strategy and implementation plan to designing the platform governance process and operating model

Certification recognizes and documents your experience, knowledge, and education. As an individual, getting certified extends your knowledge and skills and enhances your professional credibility

• Strengthen the ability to solve complex business requirements with the ServiceNow platform
• Deepen your expertise in cross-platform disciplines
• Master presenting technical architecture solutions to the C-Suite​
• Be seen as a ServiceNow thought leader through developing blogs, whitepapers, and speaking opportunities

Source and more details

What is a Technical Architect and why go for this program?

The Technical Architect is responsible for analyzing and translating business information and technical requirements into architectural blueprints, proposing solutions to achieve complex business objectives.

Elevate your technical skills and gain mastery of the presentation of solutions to different levels of management and develop thought leadership through a cohort experience:

• Better understanding of how ServiceNow can be the ‘Platform of Platforms’
• In-depth understanding of technical or platform governance processes
• Deeper knowledge of how to integrate and orchestrate multiple systems and platforms
• Strengthen the ability to solve complex business requirements with ServiceNow capabilities
• Opportunities to boost expertise in cross-platform disciplines

Source and more details

A little bit about the CTA program

It’s a 3-month program, costs $6000 (as of when I am writing this article) and to qualify for the program you need to hold the following certification along with a minimum of 3 years of platform experience and should be completed before you enroll for the program –

1. Certified ServiceNow Admin
2. Certified Application Developer
3. Two mainline CIS certifications – e.g., GRC, HRSD, Discovery, Event Management

Now to my personal experience, finally

It was very exciting when I saw an email from Goran and NowLearning mentioning I am selected to be on the program and am about to start the journey. The first thing we were placed in a group that had 5 other aspirants and they become my family/friends/colleagues whatever you call them for the next 13 weeks. Do think of a unique team name before you go into your first session!

The program/course is basically a self-learning course with a weekly presentation with ServiceNow trainers. During the course, a fictional case study is broken down into 13 smaller case studies wherein each week the case study refers to features or importance of skills including integrations, self-service, governance, agile, go-live, OCM etc. Each week, my time commitment was at least 10-12 hours and increased while preparing for the final board review.

During each week, you get three topics, a quiz, and a smaller case study based on a fictional customer, and you prepare a 10-minute presentation. This weekly presentation is presented by an individual during the Friday sessions where all your cohort members will be present, but before that, you need to upload it before Thursday so you receive feedback from other groups and if possible, you can amend the feedback in your presentation and then present it on Friday in front of the cohort and training mentors.

The Friday sessions are very informative as all the members will present their views on the topic for the week, and share their customer experiences for the topics which increase your understanding of the platform aspects based on others' experiences. Each week be prepared to learn because there is a lot of information shared by other cohort members or the trainers.

Each week your team’s presentation is judged based on various metrics like – Presentation skills, completion within the timeframe, technical knowledge, referencing customer requirements/outcomes, body language, etc, and you are presented with a score by all reviewers and the trainer. These scores do not make any impact on your final pass/fail outcome but are important as they give you a realistic idea of how your final presentation will be scored.

Our team was unique (mostly all are) because we had 6 members from different parts of the world and with diverse backgrounds/experiences, having knowledge in various modules. Each week we used to connect every evening and brainstorm ideas on what and how to present. We also did set up a slack channel to keep discussing ideas offline too. Because of this connection, and idea-sharing we always had a united front to defend our presentations during Friday sessions.

To make it short, coming to the final presentation – you are given two weeks to prepare for your final presentation post the 13th session where you present a fictional case study to the enterprise architect of the company (impersonated by a CMAs!) and you discuss various aspects of the case study. The final board exam is actually a real-life experience simulator, so you know as a CTA how you need to present to a customer executive.

Ending it – the overall experience will be amazing. You will have a good network of technical architects, you would have learned some amazing presentation skills, and A LOT OF NEW TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE PLATFORM WHICH YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE LEARNT IF YOU WEREN’T IN THE PROGRAM

Happy to take if there are any specific questions in the comments, but I will leave the rest for you to witness yourself. Good luck to you if you are planning for it.

Edit Post:

We also did live sessions on CTA and the CMA programs bringing in experiences from alumni and answering live questions, links to both sessions are available below -

CTA Program Demystified: https://www.youtube.com/live/diCZhPtQXvI

CMA Program Demystified: https://www.youtube.com/live/EeEZrikYTNk

Thanks -Harneet Sital (ServiceNow Certified Technical Architect)
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