Hi everyone!
This article originally began in another post which was from the Orlando version, but has now grown in to this comprehensive article that has been viewed over 100,000 times AND has over 200 Helpful ratings! This article contains both a "Quick" Delta Exam Guide and a "Full" Delta Exam Guide. I'll start things off with the quick version and then follow that with the full version.
"Quick" Delta Exam Guide
- Delta exams become required for most individuals at the end of every year, for mainline certifications holders who did not achieve their mainline certification on the latest ServiceNow release (i.e., Xanadu).
- The delta exam period for the Xanadu release is currently scheduled for January 15, 2025 through April 30, 2025.
- Delta exams usually consist of 20 or less questions.
- They are open book, non-proctored, timed (1-1.5 hour) "assessments" to see if you're familiar with the latest ServiceNow information related to that delta exams focus area.
- An annual ServiceNow certification maintenance fee of $200 (or $100 for certain tiered ServiceNow Partner organizations) is due during this delta exam period and applies to all mainline certification holders that have had their certification for a period of 1 year or longer. To reiterate, you will only owe this fee if you have had at least 1 mainline ServiceNow certification for 1 year or longer by the time the maintenance fee period begins.
- You are required to take specific delta exam(s) (regardless if you owe a maintenance fee or not) if you did not take your certification exam on the latest ServiceNow release (i.e., Xanadu).
- Login to Now Learning, click "My Certifications", and if one is listed as "At Risk", you must take the delta prior to the end of the delta exam period.
- You can attempt the delta exam up to 5 times.
- After April 30, 2025, if you not paid your annual maintenance fee (if applicable) AND you have not passed that specific delta exam, you will become uncertified and will need to take the original certification exam all over again.
- The content for delta exams are based on the release notes for the latest ServiceNow version.
- Here's my personal recommendation link which should be pre-filtered to the Xanadu release notes. This allows you to search the question in an effort to help you easily learn about that topic in an effort to then help you pass the delta exam 🙂
- Additionally, ServiceNow has created Delta Exam Study Guides you can reference.
"Full" Delta Exam Guide
Maintenance Fee
Beginning January 15th, there is an annual maintenance fee of $200 (or $100 for ServiceNow partner organizations) due for individuals who have been certified with at least 1 mainline certification for one full year or longer. At the end of next year (2025) we'll repeat this process and the annual maintenance fee will become due again.
ServiceNow will email individuals who are be required to pay the maintenance fee and have previously mentioned verbiage such as this paragraph in the email:
"Our records indicate that you have been in our certification program for one year or longer and will need to pay the $200* annual certification maintenance program fee that will open on January 15, 2025. By staying up to date with ServiceNow’s latest product release, you are more likely to accelerate the new Now Platform functionality to drive automation and increase your return on investment. The yearly maintenance fee:
- Ensures that you remain up to date with continued learning
- Saves you time and money; you are not required to repeat training or pass the Mainline Certification Exam again
- Opens access to the required delta exams to maintain your certification
Paying the fee in Now Learning
Now Learning accepts either credit card or learning credit payments for the CMP fee. Once payment is submitted, fees are non-refundable. Please refer to the following articles to guide you through the CMP payment process in Now Learning.
How to pay the certification maintenance fee with a credit card
How to pay the certification maintenance fee with learning credits
Steps to take your Xanadu delta exam after payment
- Log in to the Now Learning training platform
- Under the "My Certifications" tab, view the status of your certifications. You will need to pass delta exams for those certifications that say, "At Risk."
- Take each delta exam. Once you pass your exam(s), the certification status fields will change to "Current" within 24 hours.
If you have questions, please review the Certification Program Guide, or find answers in the Help Center.."
Delta Exam -- what is this?
In the Fall of 2018, Delta exams were introduced. Prior to the Fall of 2018, individuals who obtained ServiceNow certifications didn't really have to keep up with the latest release information. Most did on their own, but to ensure the quality of what a ServiceNow certification means and the respect behind it...it was decided to create a Delta (otherwise known as a "change") exam. These delta exams are lightweight, 20 question or less, non-proctored, open-book "exams" that are for mainline certifications. These delta exams are not for micro-certs. The delta exams are updated in November of every year and contain information related to the latest ServiceNow release.
ServiceNow isn't here to beat you down with yet another exam to cause you stress...it's meant to keep all of us up to date on the latest changes. That way, we're all on the same page and we've at least seen/read/heard about new or modified features in the latest release.
For Xanadu, the English and Non-English Delta Exam window will be from January 15th, 2025 to April 30th, 2025.
- How do I know if I need to take the delta exam? You are required to take the delta exam if you obtained a respective mainline certification (system administrator, application developer, implementation specialist, etc.) prior to this release. Remember, this delta exam is about the changes introduced with Xanadu. So if you took your certification exam AFTER the Xanadu certification window has opened, your recent exam already contained Xanadu related information so, you're all caught up. However, if you had your mainline certification prior to Xanadu being released OR the Xanadu examination window hadn't begun, you must take the delta exam for Xanadu. Another way to verify if you need to take the delta exam is to login to your Webassessor account: ServiceNow Webassessor and click "My certifications" at the top of the screen. Here, you'll see a list of your certifications which will have a status of either: Current, At Risk, Expired, or Never Attained. If your certification says "At Risk", then you need to take the delta exam.
- Ok, so I need to take the delta...now what? You'll need to login through your Now Learning account, which is a separate portal from this ServiceNow Community. Once logged in to your Now Learning Account, click on "My Certifications" and you'll see a list of all your certs. You'll see a status there as well saying Current, At Risk, etc. For the certifications At Risk, there'll be a link to click that will take you to the instructions page for that particular delta exam. Here's an example of the process you may go through after logging in to your Now Learning Account to verify that you need to take a delta exam, how to access that delta exam, and then enrolling and subsequently taking the exam:
- How difficult are these delta exams? Honestly...they're not meant to be extremely difficult. The goal of all this is to keep you up to date with latest information regarding recent changes and modifications. These assessments are open book, not proctored, 1 to 1.5-hour time limit, and consist of 20 or less questions. Most of the time the delta exams won't take you the full allotted time given.
Do you have any tips or advice for me?
I do! I'm so glad you asked! All you need to do is review the Xanadu Release Notes. Once you've done that, simply launch a delta exam and as an additional resource I'd recommend you have open, here's a personal link I use. You can have any resource open that you'd like while taking this exam. For the personal link I included above, it should be pre-filtered to the Xanadu release notes already. From there, if you need help during your exam, use this link and simply search for the information.
Additionally, ServiceNow has created Delta Exam Study Guides, which are new knowledge articles focused on each mainline certification that contains recommended topics and information you should be familiar with for that respective focus area. I'd highly suggest bookmarking/saving the link as it appears that these knowledge articles will be updated each delta exam cycle instead of brand new articles being created each time.
I'll also link to the ServiceNow Credentialing Program Guide . A lot of this content came from that, but also from my own personal experience and knowledge I have about these delta exams. Please refer to the attachment below if you have any other questions or want to see it officially from ServiceNow.
Can you fail? If so...what happens?
I know none of us want to fail the delta exam, but here's some information in case you do. If you fail your delta exam, you can retake the delta 4 additional times (so a total of 5 times overall). If you fail the delta exam a 5th time, you become uncertified for that specific mainline certification and you will be required to pay for and take that proctored mainline certification exam all over again. Remember, you must pass your delta exam on or before April 30th, 2025 or your certification will become expired.
Please don't be the one who waits until the last minute. A lot of people push the delta exam off until the very end (see some of the comments posted below). Get it over with as soon as you can!
Something's wrong with my Now Learning Account...HELP!
If you need assistance with your Now Learning Account (i.e., your certification isn't showing At Risk and for some reason you think it should, your Now Learning Account is reporting that your certifications are At Risk and you are unable to search Now Learning, find your respective Delta exam for your mainline(s) certification and successfully enroll to then take the exam...), please check out some of the comments below as this similar scenario may have been covered and resolved below or login to your Now Learning Account and then locate the "Help Center" menu at the top of the screen and choose "Create a Case" from the menu on the right:
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quick version and then follow that with the full version.
"Quick" Delta Exam Guide
- Delta exams become required for most individuals at the end of every year, for mainline certifications holders who did not achieve their mainline certification on the latest ServiceNow release (i.e., Xanadu).
- The delta exam period for the Xanadu release is currently scheduled for January 15, 2025 through April 30, 2025.
- Delta exams usually consist of 20 or less questions.
- They are open book, non-proctored, timed (1-1.5 hour) "assessments" to see if you're familiar with the latest ServiceNow information related to that delta exams focus area.
- An annual ServiceNow certification maintenance fee of $200 (or $100 for certain tiered ServiceNow Partner organizations) is due during this delta exam period and applies to all mainline certification holders that have had their certification for a period of 1 year or longer. To reiterate, you will only owe this fee if you have had at least 1 mainline ServiceNow certification for 1 year or longer by the time the maintenance fee period begins.
- You are required to take specific delta exam(s) (regardless if you owe a maintenance fee or not) if you did not take your certification exam on the latest ServiceNow release (i.e., Xanadu).
- Login to Now Learning, click "My Certifications", and if one is listed as "At Risk", you must take the delta prior to the end of the delta exam period.
- You can attempt the delta exam up to 5 times.
- After April 30, 2025, if you not paid your annual maintenance fee (if applicable) AND you have not passed that specific delta exam, you will become uncertified and will need to take the original certification exam all over again.
- The content for delta exams are based on the release notes for the latest ServiceNow version.
- Here's my personal recommendation link which should be pre-filtered to the Xanadu release notes. This allows you to search the question in an effort to help you easily learn about that topic in an effort to then help you pass the delta exam 🙂
- Additionally, ServiceNow has created Delta Exam Study Guides you can reference.
"Full" Delta Exam Guide
Maintenance Fee
Beginning January 15th, there is an annual maintenance fee of $200 (or $100 for certain tiered ServiceNow partner organizations) due for individuals who have been certified with at least 1 mainline certification for one full year or longer. At the end of next year (2025) we'll repeat this process and the annual maintenance fee will become due again.
ServiceNow will email individuals who are be required to pay the maintenance fee and have previously mentioned verbiage such as this paragraph in the email:
"Our records indicate that you have been in our certification program for one year or longer and will need to pay the $200* annual certification maintenance program fee that will open on January 15, 2025. By staying up to date with ServiceNow’s latest product release, you are more likely to accelerate the new Now Platform functionality to drive automation and increase your return on investment. The yearly maintenance fee:
- Ensures that you remain up to date with continued learning
- Saves you time and money; you are not required to repeat training or pass the Mainline Certification Exam again
- Opens access to the required delta exams to maintain your certification
Paying the fee in Now Learning
Now Learning accepts either credit card or learning credit payments for the CMP fee. Once payment is submitted, fees are non-refundable. Please refer to the following articles to guide you through the CMP payment process in Now Learning.
How to pay the certification maintenance fee with a credit card
How to pay the certification maintenance fee with learning credits
Steps to take your Xanadu delta exam after payment
- Log in to the Now Learning training platform
- Under the "My Certifications" tab, view the status of your certifications. You will need to pass delta exams for those certifications that say, "At Risk."
- Take each delta exam. Once you pass your exam(s), the certification status fields will change to "Current" within 24 hours.
If you have questions, please review the Certification Program Guide, or find answers in the Help Center.."
Delta Exam -- what is this?
In the Fall of 2018, Delta exams were introduced. Prior to the Fall of 2018, individuals who obtained ServiceNow certifications didn't really have to keep up with the latest release information. Most did on their own, but to ensure the quality of what a ServiceNow certification means and the respect behind it...it was decided to create a Delta (otherwise known as a "change") exam. These delta exams are lightweight, 20 question or less, non-proctored, open-book "exams" that are for mainline certifications. These delta exams are not for micro-certs. The delta exams are updated in November of every year and contain information related to the latest ServiceNow release.
ServiceNow isn't here to beat you down with yet another exam to cause you stress...it's meant to keep all of us up to date on the latest changes. That way, we're all on the same page and we've at least seen/read/heard about new or modified features in the latest release.
For Xanadu, the English and Non-English Delta Exam window will be from January 15th, 2025 to April 30th, 2025.
- How do I know if I need to take the delta exam? You are required to take the delta exam if you obtained a respective mainline certification (system administrator, application developer, implementation specialist, etc.) prior to this release. Remember, this delta exam is about the changes introduced with Xanadu. So if you took your certification exam AFTER the Xanadu certification window has opened, your recent exam already contained Xanadu related information so, you're all caught up. However, if you had your mainline certification prior to Xanadu being released OR the Xanadu examination window hadn't begun, you must take the delta exam for Xanadu. Another way to verify if you need to take the delta exam is to login to your Webassessor account: ServiceNow Webassessor and click "My certifications" at the top of the screen. Here, you'll see a list of your certifications which will have a status of either: Current, At Risk, Expired, or Never Attained. If your certification says "At Risk", then you need to take the delta exam.
- Ok, so I need to take the delta...now what? You'll need to login through your Now Learning account, which is a separate portal from this ServiceNow Community. Once logged in to your Now Learning Account, click on "My Certifications" and you'll see a list of all your certs. You'll see a status there as well saying Current, At Risk, etc. For the certifications At Risk, there'll be a link to click that will take you to the instructions page for that particular delta exam. Here's an example of the process you may go through after logging in to your Now Learning Account to verify that you need to take a delta exam, how to access that delta exam, and then enrolling and subsequently taking the exam:
- How difficult are these delta exams? Honestly...they're not meant to be extremely difficult. The goal of all this is to keep you up to date with latest information regarding recent changes and modifications. These assessments are open book, not proctored, 1 to 1.5-hour time limit, and consist of 20 or less questions. Most of the time the delta exams won't take you the full allotted time given.
Do you have any tips or advice for me?
I do! I'm so glad you asked! All you need to do is review the Xanadu Release Notes. Once you've done that, simply launch a delta exam and as an additional resource I'd recommend you have open, here's a personal link I use. You can have any resource open that you'd like while taking this exam. For the personal link I included above, it should be pre-filtered to the Xanadu release notes already. From there, if you need help during your exam, use this link and simply search for the information.
Additionally, ServiceNow has created Delta Exam Study Guides, which are new knowledge articles focused on each mainline certification that contains recommended topics and information you should be familiar with for that respective focus area. I'd highly suggest bookmarking/saving the link as it appears that these knowledge articles will be updated each delta exam cycle instead of brand new articles being created each time.
I'll also link to the ServiceNow Credentialing Program Guide . A lot of this content came from that, but also from my own personal experience and knowledge I have about these delta exams. Please refer to the attachment below if you have any other questions or want to see it officially from ServiceNow.
Can you fail? If so...what happens?
I know none of us want to fail the delta exam, but here's some information in case you do. If you fail your delta exam, you can retake the delta 4 additional times (so a total of 5 times overall). If you fail the delta exam a 5th time, you become uncertified for that specific mainline certification and you will be required to pay for and take that proctored mainline certification exam all over again. Remember, you must pass your delta exam on or before April 30th, 2025 or your certification will become expired.
Please don't be the one who waits until the last minute. A lot of people push the delta exam off until the very end (see some of the comments posted below). Get it over with as soon as you can!
Something's wrong with my Now Learning Account...HELP!
If you need assistance with your Now Learning Account (i.e., your certification isn't showing At Risk and for some reason you think it should, your Now Learning Account is reporting that your certifications are At Risk and you are unable to search Now Learning, find your respective Delta exam for your mainline(s) certification and successfully enroll to then take the exam...), please check out some of the comments below as this similar scenario may have been covered and resolved below or login to your Now Learning Account and then locate the "Help Center" menu at the top of the screen and choose "Create a Case" from the menu on the right:
---
Additionally, here's a YouTube video I created that covers ServiceNow Certification Maintenance:
So there you go, I think I've covered this pretty well. If you have any additional questions, feel free to drop a comment below. If this guide helped you, whether it was the quick version or the detailed version, please BOOKMARK this article, mark "Helpful", and pass it along to someone else! I'll keep this article updated for future releases. If I've missed something, definitely let me know so I can update this to help everyone.
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best!
Hi
You are correct. It's 1 hour.
I believe it was changed to 1 hour from 30 minutes as it's only up to 10 questions and has been 6-8 questions for the last 2 deltas. Perhaps they just gave more time. I assume I said 30 minutes in my article in a few places, haha, so I'll circle back through that and change it.
Thanks for the notice 🙂
Edit: I've made those 2 adjustments. Thanks again!
Hi
Thank you very much for your guidance.
Apologies. I forgot to respond to this chain. Below are some highlights:
- 5th May 2021: After completing the Quebec Delta CIS - PPM, I tried to register for CIS - PPM Mainline in Webassessor. But unfortunately, I wasn't able to do so. So, I raised a case in now learning.
- 5th May 2021: I raised a case mentioning the issues and kept waited. Parallelly, I checked the Webassessor to register for the CIS - PPM exam.
- 9th May 2021: All of a sudden, the link for registering CIS - PPM appeared. I was able to register.
- 12th May 2021: I gave the CIS - PPM certification exam and I cleared the same.
- 13th May 2021: I got a response from the NowLearning team stating that it's a bug and they will check.
- 14th May 2021: NowLearning team fixed the bug and removed the Quebec Delta - CIS - PPM.
Below is the complete conversation.
Regards,
Maloy
Sure Allen, but after the submission and the scores it went back through to asking for the second attempt. it seems strange and it also gave me the time for 24 hours for the second attempt. This is what it says now. I have opened a case with servicenow seeking clarification. I have taken sometime off to clear this and now again stuck with issues.
Hello Allen,
Hope you are fine. I have a question, when I am trying to enroll for the delta exam it is giving me this error. However when I check my learning website, I have a certification expiry alerts along with maintenance fees, I am confused with this, do I need to pay the fees first and then would be eligible for the completion of the delta exam, OR paying the maintenance fees would help me to cover for the rest of the delta exams. Can you please help clarify ?
REgards
Nilanjan
