Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA)

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Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Online Tutorial

The Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) certification validates the ability to use Pega to design and build for reusability across multiple lines of business. It includes applying best practices, understanding application debugging and performance tuning, and addressing security/access requirements in an application. 

Why get Pega certified?
  • Pega’s low-code application development platform allows enterprises to quickly build and evolve apps to meet their customer and employee needs and drive.
  • Obtaining one or multiple Professions

Prerequisite for the exam

The only prerequisite to the exam is Senior System Architect.

Exam Details

The Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) exam is an Architect-level certification that comes with the code PEGAPCSSA85V1. Further, the exam consists of 60 questions which are in the form of multiple-choice questions. The candidate needs to score 70% marks in order to clear the PCSSA exam. Also, the candidate will be given 90 minutes to complete the exam and the exam is available in English only. 

Exam NamePega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA)
Exam CodePEGAPCSSA85V1
Exam Duration 90 minutes 
Exam Format Multiple Choice
Number of Questions  60 Questions
Exam Language English
Pass Score 70% and above

Scheduling the Exam

Now, let us understand the registration process for Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Exam.

Registration process

This exam is proctored by Pearson VUE.
Users must create a Pearson VUE account if they do not already have one and register for the exam through the Pearson VUE site.
There are two exam delivery options:

  • Take an exam at a test center, or
  • Take an exam via Online Proctored delivery

Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) FAQs

Get all your Doubts and Queries cleared by Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) FAQs.

Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) FAQs

Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Course Outline

Understanding the course outline is the next most important step. It familiarises you with the exam format and its objectives. These objectives are most often assigned a weighting value which indicates the relative importance of each objective on the exams. Objectives with higher weights cover more questions in the exam. The Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Exam Outline includes 9 topics. Therefore, it is advisable to go through the course outline thoroughly and create your study plan around these objectives to achieve the certification keeping in mind their weightage

Application Development(17%)

  • Enterprise Class Structure: Implementation and framework layers
  • Understand the rule resolution process; Adjust rule availability
  • Identify how circumstancing affects application behavior
  • Circumstance rules on a single variable or multiple variables
  • Differentiate between a queue processor and a job scheduler
  • Identify the role and elements of activities in case processing
  • Promote rule reuse with relevant records

Case Management(17%)

  • Differentiate between work groups and organizational structures
  • Configure parallel processing for casesManage concurrent case access; Locking strategies
  • Configure flow action pre- and post- processing
  • Extend service-level agreement configurations

Data and Integration(17%)

  • Configure Field Values
  • Validate data against a pattern
  • Identify use cases for Keyed Data Pages
  • Exchange data with other applications
  • Manage integration settings
  • Address integration errors in connectors

User Interface(7%)

  • Create and customize Pega Web Mashups
  • Configure Pega Web Mashup authentication

Reporting(6%)

Design reports with multiple sources; associations and joins

Performance(10%)

  • Measure System Performance; use of performance-related tools
  • Debug system performance

Security(11%)

  • Distinguish between role-based and attribute-based access controls
  • Identify the role of access control policies in securing an application
  • Organize and manage case attachments

Deployments(10%)

  • Identify the role and impacts of application versioning; Use of ruleset skimming
  • Configure and validate application rulesets
  • Branch rulesets for parallel development
  • Migrate an application; Use of product rules

Mobility(5%)

  • Differentiate between the delivery options for mobile devices
  • Design applications for mobile use; use of certificate sets

Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Preparatory Guide

Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Preparatory Guide

Now, that we have read about the Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) exam and its details, the next important step is to understand how to prepare for the exam. Preparing for any exam is not an easy task and requires consistent hard work, focus, and dedication. PCSSA exam is a step towards a bright and thriving career in the IT Industry. To clear this exam you need an intent eagerness and desire to learn. However, there are many exam resources available but you have to choose which is the best suitable for you. Our Preparatory Guide here will help you all along your journey and prepare you well for the exam.

Step-1 Review the Exam Objectives

Reviewing the exam objectives is an important step to ensure that nothing is left out. As mentioned earlier, going through the course outline is really important while preparing for any exam to make sure everything is covered. Furthermore, Familiarising yourself with the exam objectives helps in grasping concepts faster. The Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) exam covers 9 topics so it is important to go through each and every topic thoroughly and gain as much information as possible.

1. Domain 1: Application Development (20%)

2. Domain 2: Case Management (18%)

3. Domain 3: Data Modeling (2%)

4. Domain 4: User Interface (14%)

5. Domain 5: Reporting (5%)

6. Domain 6: Information Exchange (18%)

7. Domain 7: Security (3%)

8. Domain 8: Deployments (13%)

9. Domain 9: Mobility (7%)

Step-2 Discover your Learning Resources

Study Guide

The Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Study Guide will provide you complete clarity about the exam questions and how to approach them while preparing you from the scratch.

Pega Official Website 

Visiting the Pega official website is an important step while preparing for the exam like Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA). Also, the official website provides a lot of essential information and sources which is very helpful in preparing for the exam. Further, resources such as study guides, courses, sample papers, training programs, whitepapers, documentation, faqs, etc. The candidate can find all such important things on the official page. 

E-Learning

Self-study Training

Candidates preparing for the Pega Certified Business Architect exam often look for self-study training to study from. Well, the hunt is over now as Pega understands your concern and provides self-study training on their official site. Candidates opting for this preparatory option eliminates their travel costs and minimizes time away from work. 

Instructor-led Training

Besides self-study training, Pega also provides instructor-led training to foster the preparation process. Courses like instructor-led training prove to be beneficial when you are preparing for the Pega Certified Business Architect exam. These live instructor-led courses are designed, developed, and taught by Pega-certified experts to get you going – fast.

Reference books

Books are your Best Friends when it comes to studying as they provide you with new insights that the study guides may not, giving you an extra edge over others. You should always reach out for authentic and credible books written by expert authors to enhance your knowledge. You can choose any book that suits your way of preparation. Make sure the content is understandable and the book offers you a lot of practice questions and has previous test papers. You can choose multiple books and can buy them or can refer to libraries, however, you should always look for books written by credible and authentic domain experts.

Step-3 Join Online Communities

The role of community centers becomes highly important when you have your exam around the corner. It is often observed that candidates consider the community as a great option to invest their time in. Consider yourself lucky as Pega has its own community with industry experts and professionals. Pega community provides online support, release notes, forums, and more – all the help you need to make the most of our solutions and resolve issues quickly.

Step-4 Practice Tests

Practice tests are the one which ensures the candidate about their preparation. The practice tests will help the candidates to acknowledge their weak areas so that they can work on them. There are many practice tests available on the internet nowadays, so the candidate can choose which they want. Take Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Free Practice test Now!

Pega Certified Senior System Architect (PCSSA) Practice test
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