70-332 Exam Guide: Advanced Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013
Exam 70-332 validated advanced solutions knowledge for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 and was aimed at professionals with practical SharePoint 2013 experience. It was associated with the MCSE: SharePoint path alongside Exam 70-331, Core Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013. The immediate decision for a candidate is not how to book the test: Microsoft retired the remaining MCSA, MCSD, and MCSE exams, including 70-332, on January 31, 2021. This guide therefore helps you verify the exam’s historical scope, avoid obsolete preparation assumptions, and choose a relevant current learning path.
What did Exam 70-332 validate?
Exam 70-332 was titled “Advanced Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013.” Microsoft’s exam-preparation session described it as one of the two exams required for the MCSE: SharePoint certification and positioned it for people experienced with SharePoint 2013. The available official material does not provide a current skills-measured page or domain-weight blueprint, so a precise percentage breakdown should not be inferred.
The exam belonged to the advanced side of the SharePoint Server 2013 certification path. That distinction matters when choosing study material: an introductory overview of SharePoint features would not, by itself, represent the level suggested by the exam title and its pairing with the core-solutions exam.
Microsoft’s SharePoint 2013 documentation groups the product work around planning, deployment, administration, backup and recovery, monitoring, security, upgrading, and applying updates. These are useful historical study categories, but they should be treated as a way to organize research rather than as an official 70-332 objective list. The current SharePoint Server guide still links to documentation for SharePoint Server 2013, alongside later releases. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/sharepoint-server]
Who was the exam designed for?
The intended candidate was a SharePoint 2013 professional who already understood the platform and wanted to demonstrate advanced solution knowledge. Microsoft’s official preparation session explicitly described the audience as people experienced with Microsoft SharePoint 2013, not newcomers approaching the product for the first time. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/ignite-2015/brk3911]
That audience could include administrators, consultants, architects, and technical leads whose work involved designing or operating SharePoint 2013 environments. Those job labels are practical interpretations of the product areas in the official documentation, not a published prerequisite list. The supplied sources do not state a formal prerequisite, required job tenure, or mandatory training course.
A sensible readiness test is whether you can explain why a particular SharePoint 2013 design is appropriate, identify operational risks, and trace a change from planning through deployment, protection, monitoring, and recovery. If your experience is limited to using SharePoint sites as an end user, begin with platform fundamentals before attempting advanced legacy documentation.
Is 70-332 still available to schedule?
No. Microsoft states that all remaining exams associated with MCSA, MCSD, and MCSE retired on January 31, 2021, and the supplied research identifies 70-332 as part of the MCSE: SharePoint-era exam group. Microsoft’s retirement policy says that a retired exam cannot be taken and its associated credential cannot be earned after the retirement date. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/posts/mcsa-mcsd-mcse-certifications-retire-with-continued-investment-to-role-based-certifications]
This changes the practical purpose of any 70-332 study plan. You cannot use it to reserve a current test appointment, obtain a new result, or complete the historical MCSE: SharePoint route. A page listing a provider, delivery format, exam price, language, duration, or question count for 70-332 should be treated cautiously unless Microsoft’s current information independently confirms it.
Microsoft explains that retirement is used to keep certifications and assessment experiences aligned with current skills and technologies. Existing earned certifications remain on a Microsoft transcript, but retirement prevents new candidates from taking the exam or earning the associated credential. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams]
What does retirement mean for an existing credential?
If you already passed the required exams and earned the associated certification, retirement does not erase it from your Microsoft transcript. Microsoft states that existing MCSA, MCSD, and MCSE certifications remain on the transcript after the exams retire. That historical record is different from being able to earn the certification now. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/posts/mcsa-mcsd-mcse-certifications-retire-with-continued-investment-to-role-based-certifications]
Do not confuse three separate situations: having passed 70-332, having completed the MCSE: SharePoint requirements, and having current SharePoint Server skills. A transcript can document the first or second situation, while an employer may still need evidence that you can work with a supported platform and current operational practices.
Microsoft’s retirement guidance also says that eligible certifications cannot be renewed after the retirement date. If you hold the historical credential, check your Microsoft Learn profile and current Microsoft guidance for its transcript status rather than assuming that an old exam can be renewed or reactivated. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams]
How did 70-332 fit into the SharePoint certification path?
Microsoft paired 70-332 with Exam 70-331, “Core Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013,” in an official SharePoint 2013 exam-preparation session. The session described both exams as required for the MCSE: SharePoint certification. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/ignite-2015/brk3911]
The pairing suggests a useful historical sequence: establish the core platform concepts first, then study advanced solution decisions. A candidate who skipped the core layer would likely have had difficulty connecting architecture and operations to the underlying SharePoint components. However, the supplied sources do not establish the exact order in which Microsoft required candidates to sit the exams, nor do they provide a complete certification prerequisite table.
A Microsoft SharePoint certification roadmap associated instructor-led Course 20332 with preparation for Exam 70-332. That association can help locate historical training references, but it is not evidence that the course is currently delivered, current for supported SharePoint versions, or sufficient on its own. [https://download.microsoft.com/download/c/a/b/cabf5e69-4a16-417d-8979-d588f454b7d2/mcse_roadmapposter_sharepoint-v6.pdf]
Which technical areas are useful for historical study?
Organize historical preparation around the lifecycle of a SharePoint Server solution: plan the environment, deploy the farm, configure services and security, administer the platform, protect data, monitor behavior, and plan upgrades or updates. This sequence gives each topic an operational context instead of turning study into a disconnected list of product terms.
The official SharePoint Server guide includes planning and deployment resources for SharePoint Server 2013, together with administration, server management, backup and recovery, monitoring, security, upgrading, and applying updates. Use those links to build a reference map, but verify that a page is specifically applicable to SharePoint 2013 before relying on it. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/sharepoint-server]
A practical study notebook can contain one page for each decision area: requirements and topology; installation and configuration; service and application architecture; permissions and security; operations and monitoring; backup, restore, and recovery; and upgrade or migration. For every page, record the problem being solved, the relevant dependency, the administrative consequence, and the recovery or rollback consideration.
Do not turn current SharePoint Server Subscription Edition or later-version guidance into a claimed 70-332 blueprint. Microsoft’s guide covers several versions, including 2013, so version labels are essential when selecting documentation and lab exercises.
How should you prepare if you are studying SharePoint 2013 for work?
Use 70-332 as a historical reference point, not as a current certification target. Start with Microsoft’s SharePoint Server 2013 documentation, recreate the major platform decisions in a controlled lab where possible, and then translate what you learn into the supported SharePoint or Microsoft 365 role that matches your career objective. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/sharepoint-server]
Begin with a baseline assessment. Write down the SharePoint 2013 components you have configured, the tasks you have performed without assistance, and the areas you can describe only in theory. Separate knowledge gaps from environment gaps: not having access to a farm is different from not understanding how a design choice affects administration or recovery.
Next, read by scenario rather than by page order. For example, take a requirement for a multi-team collaboration environment and work through capacity assumptions, service configuration, permissions, monitoring, backup, and a change plan. Then alter one condition, such as a recovery requirement or a security boundary, and explain which decisions must change. This develops design reasoning without relying on recalled test questions.
Finally, compare your notes with current Microsoft documentation. SharePoint Server 2013 reached the end of extended support on April 12, 2023, according to Microsoft’s lifecycle page. Its material can still explain the historical exam technology, but it should not automatically be used as a recommendation for a new production deployment. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/sharepoint-server-2013]
What is a practical study roadmap?
A staged roadmap works best: confirm the historical scope, rebuild core knowledge, study advanced operational scenarios, test your explanations in a lab or design exercise, and then decide whether to redirect to a current credential. Because 70-332 is retired, the final stage is a career and technology decision rather than an exam-booking step.
Stage 1: Confirm the target
Read the official session description and record the exam name, SharePoint version, intended experience level, and historical relationship to 70-331. Mark unsupported assumptions—such as question count, scoring, or delivery method—as unknown. This prevents third-party pages from quietly becoming your supposed blueprint.
If your goal is a historical transcript entry, stop here: the exam is not available. If your goal is SharePoint expertise, continue with the learning stages and define the current platform or job role you want to support.
Stage 2: Rebuild the foundation
Review the core SharePoint 2013 concepts before advanced design work. Your notes should connect the platform’s components to deployment, administration, security, service configuration, and content protection. Use the 2013-specific links in Microsoft’s SharePoint Server documentation rather than assuming that a current-version instruction applies unchanged.
At the end of this stage, explain a basic farm design in your own words, identify its major dependencies, and describe what an administrator would need to monitor and protect. If you cannot do that, more advanced reading will be inefficient.
Stage 3: Work through operational scenarios
Choose scenarios that force trade-offs: a change to service configuration, a permissions requirement, a backup and restore need, a performance symptom, or an upgrade constraint. For each one, document the proposed action, expected impact, validation step, and recovery plan. This is a practical recommendation, not a reproduced Microsoft exam objective list.
Use diagrams and decision tables sparingly but deliberately. A diagram should show dependencies or traffic flow; a decision table should show why one option fits the requirement better than another. Avoid copying configuration steps without understanding what would make the step unsafe or incomplete.
Stage 4: Validate understanding
Validate by producing an implementation plan, an operations runbook, and a failure-recovery explanation without consulting notes. Ask a colleague to challenge your assumptions with changed requirements. Review your answer against Microsoft documentation and label any conclusion that depends on SharePoint 2013 rather than current versions.
Do not use leaked questions, exam dumps, or memorization claims as a substitute for competence. They cannot restore a retired exam pathway, and memorized answers do not demonstrate that you can operate a SharePoint environment responsibly.
Stage 5: Redirect the credential plan
Use Microsoft’s role-based mapping as historical context for the transition away from 70-xxx exams. Microsoft’s July 2019 mapping associated both 70-331 and 70-332 with the Teamwork Administrator path requiring MS-300 and MS-301 at that time. That mapping is not a guarantee that those exams or that certification path remains current today, so confirm the present option directly in Microsoft Learn. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/posts/mapping-microsoft-70-xxx-exams-to-new-role-based-certifications]
Choose a current target by the work you want to perform, not by trying to reproduce an obsolete exam number. Check the live Microsoft certification catalog for current requirements, technology coverage, availability, and delivery information before purchasing training or scheduling anything.
Which preparation mistakes should you avoid?
The most damaging mistake is treating 70-332 as a live exam. Its retirement means that a study site may describe a historical objective while offering no valid route to a new Microsoft result. Verify status first, then decide whether the material supports a work skill or a current credential.
A second mistake is using version-neutral SharePoint language. SharePoint Server 2013 is the technology associated with this exam, and Microsoft records that it reached the end of extended support on April 12, 2023. Tag notes by version and distinguish legacy administration from current platform guidance. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/sharepoint-server-2013]
A third mistake is treating a course association as a guarantee. Course 20332 was associated with 70-332 in Microsoft’s roadmap, but the supplied evidence does not establish present availability, instructor quality, course completeness, or a current exam relationship. Use it as a historical reference and validate every resource before relying on it.
Also avoid spending study time on unsupported precision. The supplied official research does not establish a 70-332 score, question count, exam duration, language list, delivery format, or blueprint percentages. A responsible guide should leave those details unfilled rather than manufacture certainty.
What should you do next?
First, decide whether you need a historical record or current SharePoint capability. If you need the historical exam, no scheduling action is available because 70-332 retired. If you need practical skills, select a supported technology and use the legacy exam topics only where they clarify fundamentals or help interpret an existing SharePoint 2013 environment.
Second, open Microsoft’s retirement guidance and the SharePoint Server documentation. Confirm the exam status, review the version-specific links, and create a short list of skills relevant to your intended role. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams] [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/sharepoint-server]
Third, build one scenario-based study project. Document requirements, design choices, security implications, operational checks, backup and recovery considerations, and upgrade or migration concerns. Have someone review the reasoning, not merely the terminology.
Finally, check the current Microsoft certification catalog before committing money or time. The older transition and mapping announcements explain why the 70-xxx path changed, but they do not replace live program pages. Treat any third-party page that promises a current 70-332 appointment or a guaranteed pass as a warning sign.
Conclusion
Exam 70-332 is now a historical SharePoint Server 2013 exam, not a schedulable Microsoft certification option. Its value today is mainly contextual: it identifies advanced SharePoint 2013 knowledge and shows how the older MCSE: SharePoint path was structured. Use official Microsoft documentation to study the legacy platform carefully, avoid unsupported claims about exam mechanics, and redirect certification effort toward a current role and supported technology.
Official sources
- Exam and assessment lab retirement | Microsoft Learn
- learn.microsoft.com
- learn.microsoft.com
- SharePoint Server 2013 - Microsoft Lifecycle | Microsoft Learn
- Mapping Microsoft 70-xxx Exams to New Role-based Certifications
- Exam Prep Session for Exam 70-331 and Exam 70-332: SharePoint Server ...
- MCSA, MCSD, MCSE certifications retire; with continued investment to ...
- MCSE_RoadmapPoster_SharePoint-V6 - download.microsoft.com
