The focus of this certification guide is exam MB2-866—Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Customization and Configuration. In this section we'll learn:
How to study for the exam
How to book your exam
What to expect at the test center
How to make best use of your time
How to answer the different types of questions
There are several ways to study for the MB2-866 exam:
Take an official instructor-led training course: Course 80294B: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Customization and Configuration is a three-day, instructor-led classroom training course available for a fee from Microsoft Learning Partners worldwide in a number of languages.
Take an official e-learning course: A subscription to e-learning Collection 80294: Customization and Configuration in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is available for a fee from Microsoft Learning in a number of languages.
Study the official courseware: If your organization has purchased a Microsoft Dynamics service plan, you can download the official courseware for Course 80294B: Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Customization and Configuration from PartnerSource or CustomerSource.
Use this certification guide: This certification guide follows the syllabus examined in the MB2-866 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Customization and Configuration exam.
The best study method will depend upon your training budget, learning style, and the available time. This certification guide is the only option available that includes practice exam questions.
Tip
Hands-on experience
Hands-on experience with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is essential, regardless of your preferred study method. Follow all the procedures covered in this guide several times in a CRM test environment. Use a 30-day trial subscription to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, if you don't have a training deployment available. You don't need to have completed a full implementation project, but some hands-on experience will greatly improve your chances of success.
Regardless of which study method you choose, the only way to book your MB2-866 exam is with Prometric—Microsoft's official certification exam provider.
Visit the Prometric website to book your exam (http://www.prometric.com/Microsoft/Dynamics.htm).
You must take your exam in-person at one of the Prometric's worldwide test centers. Candidates can use any test center, except in India, China, or Pakistan where you must provide proof that you are a legitimate resident of that country.
If you are taking an official training course with a Microsoft Learning Partner, check whether or not the course includes an exam before you book directly with Prometric.
Prometric test centers are located in a wide variety of IT training and test centers worldwide. Microsoft Learning Partners often have a test center so that you can take the exam straight after completing an instructor-led training course.
You should arrive at the test center about 30 minutes before you are scheduled to take your exam. You will be asked to present a photographic identification to the test center administrator and to sign in to a log book.
You cannot take anything into the exam room with you. This certification guide is so exciting that it can be hard to put down, but you'll have to while taking your exam!
The exam room usually has a number of workstations screened off from each other and you may be taking your MB2-866 exam along with candidates taking the same or different exams. Communicating with other candidates is not allowed.
An exam supervisor will set up the exam on your computer and may or may not remain in the exam room during your exam. Video surveillance might be installed in the exam room to ensure all candidates comply with the exam rules.
A wipe-clean notepad will be provided, but any notes you take during the exam cannot be retained after the exam.
Once the test center administrator has set up the exam on your computer, you will be able to start the exam. You have three hours to complete 75 exam questions, although some of this time will be spent reading the legal preamble regarding copyright and personal data protection.
Almost all candidates will comfortably complete the exam within the time limit. The questions in your test are taken at random from a large pool of possible questions, so no two exams will ever be exactly the same.
The passing marks are 700 points, but Prometric does not reveal the points awarded for each question.
Here are some tips to help you make the best use of your time:
Spend lots of time in reading the terms and conditions, privacy statements, and other legal preamble only if you've missed your calling to the legal profession. Otherwise, accept the statements and move on to the exam as quickly as possible.
Read each question carefully. In particular, pay attention to phrases that indicate how many answers are required—select one, choose three, or select all that apply—and whether you are expected to select true or false statements.
Answer each question as best you can in sequence. Do not skip questions by leaving them unanswered. Instead, if you are not confident in your answer, mark the question for review at the end.
After you have answered all the questions, reassess all the questions that you have marked for review.
Before finishing the exam, quickly review all your answers to ensure you have left no questions unanswered, and where appropriate you have provided the required number of answers.
Your intuition is often right. Change an answer only if you have an overwhelming feeling that your first answer was wrong.
There are two types of multiple choice questions in the exam:
Multiple choice with one correct answer (radio buttons)
Multiple choice with multiple possible answers (checkboxes)
Read the question carefully to see how many answers are required.
Consider the following example question:
You are the CRM system administrator at Contoso, responsible for managing Contoso's Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 system.
You have been asked to create several new users. The users already exist in Contoso's Active Directory.
Which of the following methods can be used to create new CRM users (select all that apply)?
New User form
Active Directory synchronization
New Multiple Users wizard
Data Import wizard using the Users template
Clone User wizard
In this question, the first paragraph simply sets some context for the question and does not require special attention.
The second paragraph sets up the question scenario and contains important information that may determine which of the possible answers is valid. In this example, we are told that the users already exist in Contoso's Active Directory, which might influence how we answer the question.
The third paragraph poses the question itself and tells us how many of the possible answers are valid. In this example, we must select all the valid possibilities for creating new users.
Let's look at the potential answers:
New User form. This answer looks correct.
Active Directory synchronization. Active Directory synchronization is a new feature of CRM Online, when purchased through the Office 365, but it cannot be used to create new users in CRM 2011. This is an example of a plausible but incorrect possible answer.
New Multiple Users wizard. This answer looks correct.
Data Import wizard using the Users template. This answer looks plausible but isn't covered in the course syllabus. This is an example of a correct answer that you would only know if you had hands-on experience with CRM 2011.
Clone User wizard. There is no Clone User wizard so this answer looks incorrect. This is another example of a plausible but incorrect answer.
So the correct answer to this question is 1, 3, and 4.
Tip
Off-syllabus questions
This question is a good example of an off-syllabus question that sometimes appears in Microsoft certification exams. The Microsoft training course syllabuses and exams are written by different groups of people and do not always cover exactly the same material. So, it is possible to encounter an exam question that wasn't included in the syllabus.
This guide covers the course syllabus and a deep understanding of all the material covered here will be sufficient to achieve a passing score, but broader hands-on experience and additional reading is recommended, if you want to achieve a perfect score.