How I Passed the Mobile Solutions Architecture Designer Exam

​Sometimes the stars align in Salesforce certification land. That perfect moment when you’re studying for an exam and prepping for a project related to that exam all at the same time. It happened to me during  my first certification of 2019.

​If you’ve been following along on my #JourneyToCTA, you know that I spent the majority of 2018 earning both my Application Architect and System Architect certifications. You can read about how I became a Certified System Architect here.

​As you’d expect, I was a bit burnt out going into 2019. After such a rigorous study schedule with specific deadlines, I was having a really hard time wrapping my head around how to get started studying for the CTA board. I knew it would be a long ramp up (6 months plus) and the long time frame and enormous amount of content was completely overwhelming me.
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Luckily, I realized that I could leverage the Mobile Architecture Designer exam as a nice bridge between the domain certs and my CTA prep. Plus, I would be able to apply my study to my upcoming project in the real world. Win, win.

Now on to the real reason  you’re here. How I studied for the exam and my take aways after passing on my first attempt!
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About The Exam

​​As most people would recommend, the first stop for studying should be the exam guide.  According to the guide, here is how the exam is weighted.
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Mobile Strategy and Design: 83%

• Describe the design considerations, trade-offs, and risks for mobile solutions and recommend the appropriate mobile platform: HTML5, Native (iOS/Android/Windows Mobile), Hybrid solutions, or Salesforce Mobile App.
• Given a scenario, develop the most appropriate Mobile Architecture (HTML5, Native, Hybrid, or Salesforce).
• Describe the risks and organizational considerations associated with the choice of a Mobile Architecture (HTML5, Native, Hybrid, or Salesforce).
• Articulate the key capabilities of the Mobile SDK, including authentication/authorization (including SSO), offline storage, use cases, and sync capabilities.
• Describe how the push notification capability of Salesforce can be used to support specific customer scenarios.
• Given a customer scenario, define the most appropriate Salesforce App solution.
• Describe how the offline capability of the Salesforce App may be leveraged to support a specific customer scenario.
• Given a scenario, describe how Lightning components may be used in a mobile solution.
• Identify scenarios where JavaScript remoting can address specific performance problems.
• Describe where Visualforce optimizations such as minimizations of view state and lazy loading can enhance mobile application performance.
• Describe the appropriate platform components that may be used in connected devices/wearables solution architecture.

​Mobile Security: 17%

• Articulate how to secure a mobile application and its data, including offline data encryption.

Unlike most Salesforce certification exams, the scope of the content on this one is rather narrow. You might think that makes this exam an easy one to pass. However, there are a lot of non-Salesforce specific concepts, so if you’re like me and don’t come from a computer science or technical background, it might take some time to get all the new jargon in order. But if you’re also like me (a nerd at heart) you’ll find the new technical terms fun to learn!

Resources I Used To Study

• Trailhead Trailmix: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/users/strailhead/trailmixes/architect-mobile-solutions-architecture 
• Pluralsight Course: https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/play-by-play-salesforce-app-how-to-mobilize
• This Quizlet set: https://quizlet.com/356925421/mobile-solutions-architecture-designer-flash-cards/  *
• Any Trailhead module that involved working with the MobileSDK. The more hands on the better. But beware, some of these modules can be frustrating because the builds of AndroidStudio and XCode have changed (hey, tech moves fast).

* Remember to always use quizlet at your own peril. It is community driven content so not all the answers may be correct. However, I found this particular set to be pretty good. 

​What you Need To Know to Pass

• When to use a Native vs. Hybrid vs. HTML5 app vs. the plain ol’ SF1 app. This is the crux of the entire test.
• What authentication options are available with each? TIP: Remember that HTML 5 web apps can't handle session management, so your users will need to start a new session (aka enter in their login credentials) each time they visit the app. 
• How is cost and time to market effected by each of the app types? TIP: SF1 app is the fastest/cheapest, followed by HTML 5, hybrid, then native.
• What SF1 app and mobile SDK are available on different devices. I had skimmed over this section in the trailmix, but I wish I had read it a bit more carefully. This leads me to one complaint about both the study materials and the exam. I didn’t think that I should waste my time studying about what is available on blackberry....but I was suprised to see blackberry referenced in the exam. Both the exam and study materials are in DESPERATE need of a refresh.
• What offline features are available and how to access them using SmartSync, SmartStore and Soups. TIP: HTML 5 web apps to do not offer offline support.
• Which capabilities are available with Service Cloud Snap-Ins for Mobile SDK.
• What options are available in the Connected App settings. Know these like the back of your hand. TIP: you can set pin protection and refresh token timeouts!
• Beware! Content from some of the other domain exams popped up. Make sure you know the difference between apex action region vs. function and how you can use external callouts from a custom mobile app. I didn’t expect to be tested on those topics with this exam, but a few questions definitely brought me back to my Integration Designer and PDII days.

General Thoughts

Coming off the Identity & Access Designer Exam I grasped the concepts of authentication and authorization and using IdP vs SP initiated SAML flows, but studying for the Mobile Architecture Designer exam while working on a custom mobile app project is how I finally understood the application of these concepts. 

​I heard through the grapevine this Spring that Salesforce is thinking about retiring the Mobile Solutions Architecture Designer exam. I think that would be a huge mistake. Coming off the Identity & Access Designer Exam I grasped the theoretical aspect of authentication and authorization and using IdP vs SP initiated SAML flows, but studying for the Mobile Architecture Designer exam while working on a custom mobile app project is how I finally understood the application of these concepts. 

​​In general, I thought it was a really great exam to study for. I learned a TON. That said said, many of  the study materials are quite out of date. I truly hope that Salesforce invests in refreshing the content instead of completely scrapping this cert. If you come from a developer background, you’ll likely find this an easier exam to pass, but you do not need to be a developer to be successful on this one.

Good luck!