I recently completed the ALM exam. This was my first Microsoft exam and I was apprehensive about doing it. I passed (Yay!) and decided to follow Niel’s example and write down what I think would help preparing for and completing it successfully.
I think the starting point and source of ALM is the Agile Manifesto and principles behind it. This is at the heart of ALM and this exam, and can be referred to with almost every question.
The next valuable resource is the scrum guide. A substantial part of the exam is about scrum in TFS so know and understand it. Reading “Professional Scrum Development with Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2012” by Richard Hundhausen. This is a fabulous resource on scrum with TFS and would get most developers excited about the prospect of working in a high functioning scrum team.
Then last, but not least go to Microsoft Virtual Academy and work through their Applying ALM with Visual Studio. Watch the videos and do the questions at the end.
Use TFS! Set up a few projects, play with it and familiarise yourself with the templates.
When you sit for the exam make sure you read the questions properly. There are several that you can pass by process of elimination. Watch out for small clues like backlog item vs. requirement vs. stories.
Good luck with your exam!
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