The SAS Global Certification program is proud to announce the release of a new credential: SAS Certified Visual Business Analyst Using SAS Visual Analytics. This credential is designed for analysts who are using SAS Visual Analytics to explore data and create insightful data visualizations. With SAS Visual Analytics now deployed in over 3,400 sites around the globe, more and more employers are seeking analysts who can make data tell a visual story.
Work on the credential began in late 2014 with a poll of a global audience to determine the important skills that should be tested. As 2015 began, a cross functional group of SAS Visual Analytics experts from across the CES division, including education, professional services, and technical support, gathered to write items for the exam. A beta version of the exam was administered in March and April to measure the performance of the test, and after statistical analysis of the beta (using SAS!), the exam was officially launched in May.
What can candidates expect when they take the exam?
Most importantly, candidates should first review the exam objectives to understand the exam content. We are moving to a new format for objectives that provides more clarity about the exam content. In addition to the 14 exam objectives (all of which will be tested), we have added 86 expanded objectives that add specific tasks that could be tested on any given form of the exam.
Candidates will notice a significant use of graphics; more than half of the questions include a screen capture from SAS Visual Analytics. And we have added new item types that provide an interactive interface to enhance the testing experience. For this type of question, candidates complete a task in a simulated SAS Visual Analytics interface. For example, a specific visualization is presented, and the candidate uses a work area to drag data items onto the correct roles that would create the visualization. Or, an interactive interface is presented, so that the candidate can set check boxes, radio buttons, and drop down lists on a Properties Panel that would generate the visualization requested in the question. The subject matter experts liked creating these questions, the candidates during the beta exam commented that they enjoyed the change from traditional multiple choice questions, and our exam developers were very pleased with the psychometric performance of these items. We plan to continue to use them on future exams and add them to existing exams during updates.
Ready to get SAS certified?
For all of you SAS Visual Analytics users out there who are up to the challenge, the exam is available now through Pearson VUE. Training options are available on our exam preparation page. Good luck with your preparations!
14 Comments
Hi, I am currently a Microsoft sales official and would like to continue my career in the field of business analysis. Please advice if the "SAS Certified Visual Business Analyst Using SAS Visual Analytics" course would be helpful for me or not?
So, to be clear, the "SAS Certified Business Analyst Using SAS Visual Analytics" isn't so much a course as it is a credential. The training associated with this credential is the "SAS Visual Analytics For SAS 9 Fast Track." There are also some free tutorials available here: http://video.sas.com/detail/videos/how-to-tutorials#category/videos/sas-visual-analytics_ that can introduce you to Visual Analytics. You may also be interested in the "SAS Certified Statistical Business Analyst" credential. You could prepare for this with the STAT 1 class (which is available for free) and SAS University Edition (also available for free). Then the second part of the preparation, once you were comfortable with STAT 1, would be to pursue the Predictive Modeling Using Logistic Regression (PMLR) course.
The SAS University Edition seem do not include the VA.
How can i find a way to practice using SAS Visual Statistics for the Exam A00-272 SAS Interactive Model Building and Exploration Using SAS Visual Statistics ? thanks.
Hi Wong,
There are a number of preparation materials available for the A00-272 exam including practice questions, a practice exam and recommended training. This information can all be found here: https://www.sas.com/en_us/certification/credentials/bi-analytics/visual-modeler.html. I always recommend that you review the Exam Content Guide in detail before deciding what tools are best for you to prep.
Good Luck with your exam!
Giving the certification for Second time ,As I could Not clear A00276 Certification in The First attempt can I Expect the Same Type of Content and any further more suggestions ? if yes do comment back
All of our exam forms are calibrated to have the same balance, so you will see the same type of content. Regarding preparation for your second attempt, refer to your exam score report. It will provide subscores by section. You can use these subscores to focus your preparation. Review the exam objectives and be sure to practice performing the tasks listed in the exam content guide with SAS Visual Analytics software.
Hi,
I am interesting in 'SAS Certified Visual Business Analyst Using SAS Visual Analytics' and my question is; there is any book about this certification? Obviously that I am not talking about the user guide...but for example a guide for preparing this certification.
Best Regards,
Gaspare
Gaspar,
At this time, there is not a specific Prep Guide for this credential.
A great (and fun) exam! I successfully achieved the SAS Certified Visual Business Analyst Using SAS Visual Analytics credential this week after completing the exam.
The exam is very good in assessing your understanding and practical use of SAS Visual Analytics 7.1, particularly the data builder, explorer and designer components.
I liked the graphical components of the exam as it simulated a SAS Visual Analytics environment that assesses your understanding well with the hand-ons interactivity.
A well designed exam and I look forward to experiencing this format in future SAS certification exams.
hii could you please help me out with the preparation
Everything you need to know can be found on our certification site. https://www.sas.com/en_us/certification/credentials/bi-analytics/visual-business-analyst.html . Another nice (and free) resource are the VA videos: http://support.sas.com/training/tutorial/index.html#s1=2
Hello,
I am a novice in SAS, currently exploring my options to up-skill myself in reporting and analytics, hence my interest in this particular launch.
What would be your advice with respect to learning to use this tool and preparing for certification? I am not sure about this but should I be proficient in SAS base programming? Also, is there a free student version were I could get a hands-on with the tool?
In addition to the above, are there prep courseware for this tool?
Thank you for being patient.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Thanks & Regards,
Siri Shetty
Siri Shetty,
There is no requirement for Base SAS programming skills for this credential.
There are courses available and we list these resources on the exam preparation page. This includes free video tutorials.
While there is no free version of VA that can be downloaded, there is a demo version available. This demo version allows you to experience the Visual Analytics Explorer and Visual Analytics Designer user interfaces. It does not include the ability to load your own data or work with Visual Data Builder.
I hope this helps and good luck with your preparations.