Okta Workflows Specialty Certification Exam Study Guide
To learn how to prepare for your Okta Certification Exam, watch our video here.
Introduction
Congratulations on beginning the process to prepare for your Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty certification.
This exam study guide is designed to help you prepare for the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty Certification Exam. It contains a detailed list of the topics covered on this exam, as well as a list of preparation resources.
Passing this exam is a requirement for earning the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty certification. This exam is based on the Okta Identity platform and includes both Discrete Option Multiple Choice (DOMC) questions and hands-on configuration tasks.
How to use this study guide
At minimum, we highly recommend that you thoroughly review each topic listed within the Exam Subject Area section of this study guide. Make sure you understand each topic. If you are not familiar with a topic, research it by using one of the corresponding preparation resources or search the Okta Help Center or Okta Product Documentation Library. Many topics are best learned through hands-on experience with the Okta service.
What does it mean to be Okta Workflows Certified?
Earners of the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty certification can architect, build, and run workflows that automate identity tasks, simplify lifecycle management, enable agile workforces (e.g., can give contractors the right access for the correct periods of time), and improve a customer's security posture. They can also monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot their flows.
Who should take the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty Exam?
Candidates for the Okta Workflows - Specialty Certification must have an active, unexpired Okta Certified Professional certification. They should also meet the following requirements at minimum:
- Two years of experience in a technical role, working in security and/or identity management
- One year of on-the-job experience working with the Okta service
- Six months of on-the-job experience working with Okta Workflows
- Successful completion of the Workflows: Foundations for Flowgrammers course or equivalent training/experience
Although roles within different organizations may vary, candidates for the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty certification are generally involved in implementing IT strategy in support of an Okta solution. Candidates for this certification may be Okta administrators, identity, access, and management (IAM) administrators, identity specialists, software developers/engineers, technical consultants, and identity architects. In addition, some identity leaders, devops engineers/programmers, and network engineers may seek this certification for career advancement.
About the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty Exam
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Number and types of questions |
This exam has two parts.
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Time allotted |
Part I: 40 minutes Part II: 140 minutes Each part is timed separately. Any time left over from one part cannot be applied to the other part. Because this is a 3 hour exam, test takers should come fully prepared to sit through the entire exam. There is no scheduled break during this exam. If you need a break, you can request one from the proctor. Please note that the exam timer will continue to run during your break and that your proctor may ask to scan your room when you return. |
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Exam Fee |
USD 250 (USD 100 for each subsequent retake) |
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Prerequisites |
Successful completion of the recommended training or self-study using the preparation resources listed in the Workflows Exam subject areas table located toward the bottom of this screen |
Exam Scheduling
Okta certification exams are administered and proctored by Meazure Learning®, formerly Examity®, a secure online proctoring service. Okta has partnered with Meazure Learning to protect the integrity of our certification exams. Online proctoring means that you can take Okta exams from almost any location at a time that is convenient for you, without requiring that you travel to a test center. Your Okta certification exam must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance of the time you plan to sit for the test in order to avoid the additional fee associated with on-demand testing. You can schedule your exam through the Okta Certification Credential Manager.
Understanding the types of items included on this exam
Part I of this exam includes Discrete Option Multiple-Choice (DOMC) items. Part II contains performance-based, hands-on use cases.
Understanding the DOMC item type
Part I of this exam consists of 30 DOMC items. DOMC is a powerful measurement tool that produces reliable test scores. It does so by removing several “contaminants” that affect test outcomes but are unrelated to the knowledge and skills being tested. The DOMC item type levels the playing field, and more fairly measures your skills by improving:
- Readability. Because you are required to read less text, the exam tends to take less time and places fewer demands on the slower reader or the non-native English speaker.
- Fairness. When savvy test takers are unsure of an answer, they look for clues by comparing options or gleaning information from other items on an exam. DOMC removes this test-taking advantage and serves as a powerful method to assess your actual knowledge.
- Security. Instead of displaying all options at the same time, options are randomly presented one at a time. For each option presented, you must make a YES or NO decision to indicate whether you think the option is correct. Answer options are presented in random order, and in most instances, you are NOT presented with all the available options associated with a DOMC item. Item exposure is limited by presenting only a subset of the available options to you. Limiting item exposure helps ensure the integrity of the exam.
Scoring of the DOMC Items
You can be assured that the DOMC item type is scored fairly and with precision.
- If you are presented with a correct option and respond YES, then that response is scored as “correct". A DOMC item can be programmed to require one or more correct responses in order to be complete and to be considered answered correctly. Typically, however, only one correct response is required.
- If you are presented with a correct option and respond NO, then that item is scored as “incorrect”.
- If you are presented with an incorrect option and respond YES, then that item is scored as “incorrect”.
- If you are presented with an incorrect option, and respond NO (technically a correct response), the item is not scored until additional options are presented and responded to.
Note: Even after you respond correctly or incorrectly to an item, additional correct or incorrect options might be presented but your responses to those options will not be scored at all. This is done to prevent you from guessing the correctness or incorrectness of a response.
The DOMC item format might require that you make some adjustments to your usual test-taking approaches. The reward of such effort is the confidence that those test takers who become certified are truly competent in the areas tested on the exam and will represent excellence in the field.
To learn more about DOMC items, visit https://domc.caveon.com/home. In addition, the Okta Workflows - Specialty Practice Exam will help you become accustomed to this test format. We highly recommend that you become familiar with the format of this item type before taking any Okta certification exams.
Understanding the performance-based use cases on this exam
Part II of the exam contains information about Part II, the credentials needed to access the Okta tenant that is assigned at the beginning of the exam, and four use cases. The org credentials, and four use cases are accessible through tabs on the exam screen. Each use case consists of configuration tasks that test takers are asked to complete by building one or more Okta Workflows in their assigned Okta tenant. The tenant is an Okta Identity Engine tenant and is Workflows-enabled. This part of the exam allows test takers to demonstrate their skill with the Okta service in a natural way that mimics how Okta Workflow builders use Okta Workflows on the job.
You will be instructed to complete each use case by performing the tasks that are listed for that use case. While you may complete Use Cases 1 - 3 in any order, we recommend that you complete Use Case 4 last. Also, please perform the tasks in the Okta org that has been assigned to you. It is very important that you closely follow the directions for each use case.
Scoring of Performance-Based Use Cases
Uses cases are graded upon the submission of the exam or immediately at the end of the 120-minute time clock allotted for this part of the exam. A scoring rubric is used to grade this exam. The grading process is automated using scripts to query the system log of the Okta tenant, as well as APIs to validate specific configurations. As it is a program policy, we provide a final Pass or Fail decision only. We do not provide grades, nor do we make public the minimum amount of points an exam taker needs to pass our exams.
Submitting the Exam
At the bottom of the page is a blue button labeled "Submit Exam". After you have answered all of the items in Part I and completed all of the use cases in Part II and you are ready to submit your exam, click the Submit Exam button. When you do, you will be presented with a confirmation popup. Clicking the YES, SUBMIT NOW button will end your exam and submit it for grading.
After your exam is submitted and scored, a performance report will be displayed on the screen. The report includes a provisional exam result and information about your performance by exam section in Part I and Use Case in Part II.
All exams go through an audit process that can take up to 3 business days. A successful audit will trigger an email that will communicate your final and official exam result to you. Your official result may be communicated before the 3 business day period, but in some cases, it may take the full 3 business days.
Preparing for the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty Certification Exam
A combination of Okta training courses, self-paced learning, self-study, and on-the-job experience will prepare you to take this exam. In addition to this study guide, each certification exam has an associated standard practice exam and premier practice exam (available at cost). These resources and Okta-authorized training courses are the only approved resources for Okta exam preparation.
Exam dumps and other resources are prohibited from our list of approved resources. Using these resources to prepare for your exam can lead to invalidation of your exam scores, revoking your certification, and testing bans from our program. If you are ever in doubt about approved materials for Okta exam preparation, you can reach out to our team at certification@okta.com.
Training
Okta Education Services offers a range of classes and training materials to help you prepare for this certification exam. Although attending a training class does not guarantee success on an Okta certification exam, we strongly recommend that you take the Workflows: Foundations for Flowgrammers curriculum in preparation for this exam. This is a free, on-demand course. You can learn more about it here: https://www.okta.com/services/training/
Enter “Foundations for Flowgrammers” in the Search field to narrow your search. In the Workflows: Foundations for Flowgrammers curriculum, participants learn how to:
- Identify the key elements involved in a flow.
- Set up connections to authorize applications.
- Identify the different types of functions and the way they transform data.
- Configure the Options tab.
- Understand the role of inputs and outputs and how they are mapped between different steps in your flows.
- Identify the 3 types of Application Events: Polling, Webhook, Invocable.
- Group collections of related flows with folders.
- Monitor and troubleshoot your flows.
- Review the most common object functions: Construct, Get, Get Multiple, and Set.
- Identify the different list types: Text, Number, and Object.
- Describe Helper Flows and when they are commonly used.
- Create and edit a table.
- Review how APIs are used in flows.
- Conduct discovery before beginning to build.
- Define exception handling.
Visit https://www.okta.com/services/training/ for the complete course catalog.
Other resources
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The Okta Help Center contains a knowledge library of articles and videos, some of which are pertinent to topics covered on this exam.
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The Okta Content Library offers searchable white papers with a rich body of information to explore before your exam.
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Join the Okta Community to review questions, discussions, ideas, and blogs for additional exam preparation.
Workflows Exam subject areas
Part I subject areas
The following table lists the topics that are covered in Part I of this exam. These topics are grouped into topic areas, and topic areas roll up into exam sections. Use this list as an outline to guide your study and validate your readiness for Part I of this exam.
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Exam Section |
Percentage of Exam Related to Section |
Workflows Overview |
27% |
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Understand Workflows capabilities |
Preparation resources: |
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Understand types of flows (e.g., App Event, API Endpoint, Scheduled, Delegated, Helper) and their purpose |
Preparation resources: |
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Understand different workflow cards (e.g., Event, Action, Function) and their purpose |
Preparation resources: |
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Understand important Workflow elements (e.g., triggering events, connectors, inputs, outputs, mapping, notes) |
Preparation resources: |
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Understand the difference between flows that are exposed as a webhook versus flows that are exposed as a public service |
Preparation resources: |
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Understand concepts related to execution limits (e.g., flow throttling, data streaming, low-latency flows, flow limits) |
Preparation resources: |
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Understand what JSON is and how it works |
Preparation resources: |
Architecting Flows |
7% |
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Determine what tasks you are trying to accomplish |
Preparation resources: |
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Plan your flow including the apps, data, transformations and fields you will use, and when and how you will run the flow |
Preparation resources: |
Building Flows |
43% |
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Authenticate your Okta account with Okta Workflows OAuth |
Preparation resources: |
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Establish connections with the applications needed for your flow by completing the required fields for that connection |
Preparation resources: |
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Identify the triggering event and add it to your flow (include delegate a flow to another admin) |
Preparation resources: |
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Add actions and functions to your flow |
Preparation resources: |
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Customize cards by editing properties, selecting/deselecting fields, renaming inputs and outputs, and modifying the schedule settings |
Preparation resources: |
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Set up data streaming on an action card to search for or list records |
Preparation resources: |
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Use Boolean logic and operators to evaluate and interact with your data |
Preparation resources: |
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Use Number and Text functions to manipulate inputs in your flow |
Preparation resources: |
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Set explicit error handling using If-Error for the cards in a flow |
Preparation resources: |
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Work with helper flows as subroutines with a return value and as a processor for a streaming card |
Preparation resources: |
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Store and retrieve data with tables |
Preparation resources: |
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Work with objects and lists |
Preparation resources: |
Running and Maintaining Flows |
13% |
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Activate a flow |
Preparation resources: |
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Invoke a flow with an API endpoint |
Preparation resources: |
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Save data and review data with Execution History |
Preparation resources: |
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Understand system limitations in Workflows (e.g., numbers of table rows, API rate limits, webhooks, low-latency flows). |
Preparation resources: |
Troubleshooting Flows |
10% |
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Repair an invalid flow by evaluating required inputs, field mappings, data type mismatches, incorrectly named variables, and error handling |
Preparation resources: |
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Understand how to address common error messages (e.g., array index out of bounds, cache error, invalid type conversion, method timeout exceeded, API errors) |
Preparation resources: |
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Use HTTP error codes and error messages to troubleshoot a flow |
Preparation resources: |
Part II subject areas
The following table lists the use cases and tasks that are assessed in this exam. Information about each task in the exam is provided in the reference links.
Use Case |
Percentage of Exam Related to Use Case |
Use Case 1: Create Groups |
26% |
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Configuration tasks:
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Preparation resources: |
Use Case 2: Update Profile Attributes |
31% |
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Configuration tasks:
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Preparation resources: |
Use Case 3: Use API Endpoints to Create Users |
20% |
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Configuration tasks:
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Preparation resources: |
Use Case 4: Create a Report |
23% |
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Configuration tasks:
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Preparation resources: |
Okta Workflows Specialty Practice Exam
Know what to expect on the day of the exam. Take the Okta Workflows Specialty Practice Exam to familiarize yourself with the format of the DOMC item type. Click the button below to check it out.
Okta Workflows - Specialty Practice Exam
Take the Okta Workflows - Specialty Premier Practice Exam to evaluate your readiness for the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty Certification Exam. This Premier Practice Exam measures many of the same topic areas and configuration tasks that are measured in the Workflows certification exam. This exam is in development and should be available on or before May 31, 2024.
Subject matter experts for the Okta Certified Workflows - Specialty Exams
Okta certification exams are designed and built by subject matter experts who have extensive real world-experiences implementing and administering the Okta service and products.
Here is the list of subject matter experts who made significant contributions in designing and building this exam:
Colin Daly
