Apptio for All

Hi TBM Heroes,

I put together a little list of items that I hope will be helpful for anyone who might be hesitating to take their RTBMA exam.  Maybe you're not sure what to expect, maybe you are a little test shy?  My advice is just give it a try.  You can attempt it more than once and if you don't pass on the first try, you're the only one who knows, and you'll have a better sense of what topics you need to review.  

Below are some ideas I have to help you prepare.  This isn't an exhaustive list of the topics covered in the exam but it will give you an idea of what you need to know in order to correctly answer the exam questions.  

Good Luck!

Preparation tips:

1. Review the self-paced courses in Introduction to Apptio Value to ensure you can answer questions about Apptio, TBM, IT Operations, IT Finance, etc. 
2. Make sure you understand basic terminology for example:
   • Metrics (model & calculated)
   • Drivers (unit drivers and allocations)
   • Object Identifiers
   • Data Relationship
   • ATUM
   • TBM
   • OpEx/CapEx
3. You should also have an understanding of the following:
   
   • date partitions
   • how time sensitive data can be brought into Apptio
   • basic formulas (Lookup, If statements)
   • how the model is built (raw data>transform that data>map to master data sets>model>reports)
   • high level understanding of role based reports (CTRU course)
   • basic report creation
   • What is datalink and why would you use it
4. Ensure you're comfortable moving around in the environment. You should know where to:
   • load data
   • transform data
   • Map data to master data sets
   • add a model step
   • create reports
   • set date partitions
   • create formulas
   • find metrics for reports 
   • set up users and roles
   • navigate reports
   • deactivate user
   • reset passwords
5. You should be comfortable with the following activities:
   • Using the Performance Component
   • Loading monthly data
   • Basic troubleshooting
     • values not flowing through model
     • reports not showing correct data
     • reviewing data dimensions reports
   • Create an effective identifier
   • Build basic reports in TBM Studio
   • Build basic SSR reports
   • Find OOTB reports using AVE