70-696 Exam Guide: Scope, Retirement Checks, and a Practical Preparation Plan
Exam 70-696 was designed to validate administration of System Center Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune, with emphasis on enterprise application management, virtual applications, and software updates. Microsoft’s exam-preparation session positioned it for people experienced with System Center 2012. The first decision for a candidate today is not which study guide to buy, but whether the exam can still be scheduled and whether its historical objectives match a current certification goal. This guide helps you verify that status, interpret the documented skills, and build a focused plan without relying on unauthorized question repositories.
Should you still prepare for 70-696?
Verify the exam’s current status before investing in preparation. Microsoft’s retirement guidance says that a retired exam can no longer be taken and that candidates cannot earn the associated certification or credential after retirement. Because the supplied sources do not provide a current 70-696 appointment page or retirement date, treat availability as unconfirmed and check Microsoft’s current credential information before scheduling.
The Microsoft Q&A page contains a 2022 question from a candidate who had heard that 70-696 had expired. The response directs certification and scheduling questions to Microsoft’s dedicated support forums and Pearson VUE channels; it does not establish a replacement exam or confirm a current booking route. Use that page as a reason to verify, not as proof of a present-day exam policy.
Microsoft explains that retired credentials may remain visible on a transcript. If a certification was earned or renewed before retirement, it remains in the Active Certifications section until it expires and then moves to the Historical Certifications section. That transcript treatment is different from being able to sit the exam now.
A sensible decision sequence is: check the Microsoft retirement and credential pages, search the current Microsoft certification catalog for the exam number, confirm whether an authorized scheduling provider offers an appointment, and ask Microsoft support if the records conflict. Do not use a third-party listing, a downloadable question set, or an old blog post as evidence that an appointment is available.
What was 70-696 intended to validate?
70-696 was identified by Microsoft as “Administering System Center Configuration Manager and Intune.” Its official preparation material also described the exam as “Managing Enterprise Devices and Apps.” Taken together, the titles point to an administrator who could manage application and update operations across enterprise devices rather than merely install a client or describe product features.
The documented scope was rooted in System Center 2012 experience. Microsoft’s exam-preparation session was designed for people experienced with System Center 2012 who were considering 70-695 or 70-696. That makes the exam a historical validation of a particular management stack and operating context, not a safe substitute for a current, role-based endpoint-management credential.
The change document states that the exam updates incorporated Windows 10 scenarios, requirements, and related service-pack updates effective February 25, 2016. This matters when reading old study material: a resource that omits those additions may not reflect the documented version of the objectives, while a modern resource may describe interfaces and services that did not exist in the exam’s scope.
The official Configuration Manager documentation remains useful for understanding product concepts, but it is current product documentation rather than a promise that its present-day topics appeared in 70-696. Use it to clarify architecture and terminology, then anchor exam study in the historical objective document.
Which skills appeared in the objective document?
The objective document emphasizes application administration, virtual applications, and software updates. It names deployment types, user-device affinity, requirements, the software library, the application catalog, application upgrades, monitoring, content distribution, distribution points, content libraries, and log-file monitoring. Study these as connected administrative decisions, not as isolated vocabulary.
The objectives allocated 15–20% to deploying and managing desktop and mobile applications. That domain included deploying applications with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune, application deployment policies, software packages, the Intune company portal, deployment types, requirements, user-device affinity, the software library, and the application catalog.
The objectives allocated 10–15% to deploying and managing virtual applications. Microsoft specifically included App-V and RemoteApp. A candidate should therefore distinguish a conventional application deployment from a virtual-application delivery decision and understand why the delivery model affects packaging, targeting, user access, and troubleshooting.
The objectives allocated 15–20% to planning and implementing software updates. The named technologies and activities included third-party updates, System Center Updates Publisher, Configuration Manager, and Windows Server Update Services. Prepare to reason about the update workflow and its dependencies rather than memorizing product names without knowing their administrative role.
The supplied evidence does not provide a complete list of every domain or a complete current exam blueprint. Do not invent missing percentages, question counts, passing scores, or a claim that the three documented ranges represent the entire exam. Use the official change document as the boundary for the skills stated here.
Application administration: learn the decision chain
Build a single application-management map: define the application, select deployment types, specify requirements, configure user-device affinity where relevant, distribute content, target users or devices, and monitor the result. For each step, write down the dependency that could prevent success. This turns a list of features into an operational troubleshooting model.
Separate application metadata from application content. The software library and deployment configuration describe what should happen; content distribution and distribution points determine whether the device can obtain what it needs. When a deployment fails, ask whether the problem is targeting, applicability, content location, client state, or installation execution.
Treat the application catalog and Intune company portal as user-facing access paths, not interchangeable labels. Compare who initiates the installation, how the deployment is exposed, what policy controls availability, and what evidence confirms completion. The objective document names both areas, so your notes should show their different administrative purposes.
Application upgrades deserve their own practice pass. Create a scenario in which an older application is present, a newer deployment type is available, and the administrator must preserve the intended user experience. Trace detection, supersedence or upgrade logic as documented in the product material you are using, and record what would happen if requirements or content were wrong.
Virtual applications: avoid treating App-V as ordinary packaging
App-V and RemoteApp were explicitly included under virtual applications, so study the delivery model as well as the management task. Ask how the application is made available, which users or devices receive it, what infrastructure supplies it, and which logs or console views help isolate a failure.
A common mistake is to memorize App-V terminology while ignoring the administrative boundary between packaging, publishing, targeting, and client delivery. Create a comparison sheet for App-V, RemoteApp, and a conventional managed application. Keep the comparison limited to behavior supported by your reference documentation; do not import features from later platforms without labeling them as outside the historical scope.
Software updates: study planning before troubleshooting
Begin software-update preparation with the planning workflow: identify update sources, determine how updates are synchronized and evaluated, define classifications or products as appropriate to the documented environment, and decide how deployments are targeted and monitored. Then connect that plan to third-party updates, System Center Updates Publisher, Configuration Manager, and WSUS.
Do not study updates as a catalogue of buttons. Draw the relationships among WSUS, Configuration Manager, update metadata, content, client policy, deployment deadlines, and reporting. For a troubleshooting exercise, identify the first observation that would distinguish a synchronization problem from a content problem, a policy problem, or a client installation problem.
Third-party updates require a separate note because their publishing and trust considerations differ from those of Microsoft updates. Use the official objective wording to ensure the topic is covered, then consult the product documentation available for the historical environment. Avoid assuming that a current update-management workflow is identical to the one represented by this exam.
Monitoring is part of the skill, not an optional final step. For each update scenario, define the expected state, the console or log evidence you would inspect, and the corrective action that follows. This approach is more reliable than memorizing an answer associated with a single symptom.
How should an experienced administrator prepare?
Use a lab-and-notes method rather than passive reading. Start with the objective document, turn each named capability into a task, perform or simulate the task in a documented environment, and record the dependency, expected result, and failure evidence. The official Ignite preparation session also emphasizes reviewing exam topics and test-taking techniques, but it does not replace hands-on understanding.
If you already administer Configuration Manager, begin with a gap assessment instead of rereading familiar material. Mark each objective as confident, partly understood, or unknown. Give priority to topics that cross boundaries—such as application targeting plus content distribution, or update planning plus client monitoring—because those combinations expose shallow knowledge quickly.
If your background is mainly Intune, do not assume that modern Intune familiarity covers the System Center 2012 material. Conversely, a Configuration Manager administrator should not skip the mobile-application and company-portal objectives. The exam’s stated scope connects both products, so your preparation should deliberately cover the handoff between them.
Use current Configuration Manager documentation carefully. Microsoft’s documentation includes application management, software updates, log files, distribution points, and historical System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager content. Select material that matches the historical objective and label newer features in your notes so they do not silently replace the exam’s older assumptions.
A useful note format has four columns: objective, administrative action, evidence of success, and likely failure cause. Add a fifth column for terminology that changed over time. This format helps you answer scenario questions by reasoning from symptoms and requirements instead of recalling a memorized phrase.
A four-stage study sequence
Stage one is scope control. Read the official change document and extract only the named skills. Confirm the exam’s availability separately. Do not begin with random practice questions because they can introduce unsupported topics, obsolete terminology, or claims about exam structure that the supplied sources do not verify.
Stage two is product reconstruction. Review the relevant Configuration Manager and Intune concepts, then sketch the flow from administrator action to client result. For applications, include packaging or application definition, requirements, targeting, content, delivery, installation, upgrade, and monitoring. For updates, include source, synchronization, deployment, client evaluation, installation, and reporting.
Stage three is scenario practice. Write short cases such as an application visible to the wrong device group, content unavailable from a distribution point, a requirement preventing installation, or an update deployment that has not reached the client. For each case, identify the most informative next check before proposing a fix.
Stage four is verification. Revisit every uncertain objective, perform the task again without notes, and explain why each configuration choice is appropriate. A good readiness signal is not recognition of a familiar answer; it is the ability to describe dependencies, expected evidence, and a safe corrective sequence.
What should a practical roadmap look like?
A practical roadmap should move from eligibility and scope to core administration, then to cross-product scenarios and final verification. Keep the sequence flexible around your experience, but do not skip the status check: a strong study plan cannot make a retired exam bookable or turn historical objectives into a current certification.
First, establish the decision baseline. Open Microsoft’s retirement guidance, the credential information, the objective change document, and the Configuration Manager documentation. Record what is confirmed, what is historical, and what still needs an official answer. If scheduling is not confirmed, investigate a current replacement credential instead of assuming that 70-696 is the correct destination.
Next, study application administration. Work through deployment types, requirements, user-device affinity, application policies, software packages, the software library, application catalog, company portal, content distribution, distribution points, application upgrades, monitoring, and log-file monitoring. Produce one end-to-end diagram and one troubleshooting checklist.
Then study virtual applications. Compare App-V and RemoteApp with conventional application delivery, focusing on the management decisions named by the objective document. Keep the comparison historically disciplined. The purpose is to understand the exam’s stated skill area, not to create an inventory of every later Microsoft endpoint feature.
After that, study software updates. Cover third-party updates, System Center Updates Publisher, Configuration Manager, and WSUS, then trace how an update moves from planning through deployment and client reporting. Practice explaining what evidence would confirm each stage.
Finish with mixed scenarios. Combine application targeting, content availability, user or device requirements, monitoring, and update deployment in the same exercise. Review mistakes by objective rather than by question source. Finally, recheck official availability and credential implications immediately before making any scheduling or replacement-certification decision.
A sensible weekly rhythm
For each study session, reserve one block for reading, one for configuration or diagramming, and one for recall without notes. End by writing the next unresolved question. This rhythm prevents the common pattern of consuming documentation without proving that you can apply it.
At the end of a study cycle, use a coverage matrix rather than a percentage score from an unofficial question bank. A matrix shows which objective areas you can perform, explain, and troubleshoot. It also avoids treating fabricated or leaked material as a trustworthy measure of readiness.
Which mistakes reduce preparation quality?
The biggest mistake is preparing for an exam whose availability has not been confirmed. Other damaging habits include studying only one product, confusing current documentation with historical objectives, memorizing isolated terms, and using unauthorized question dumps. Replace each habit with an evidence-based check tied to the documented skills.
Do not infer a replacement exam from a similar title. The supplied Q&A discusses a candidate seeking an equivalent exam code, but the response does not name one. Microsoft’s transition-exam article explains the general retirement model for certain 70-xxx exams; it does not establish a 70-696 replacement. Find a current official mapping before changing goals.
Do not treat all Configuration Manager documentation as equally relevant. The current documentation includes modern cloud-attached management and other capabilities, while the objective change document describes a historical exam updated for Windows 10 scenarios and related service-pack updates effective February 25, 2016. Mark later concepts as context unless an authoritative current blueprint places them in your target exam.
Do not memorize log names or console locations without understanding the question they answer. In a real administrative workflow, a log is useful because it provides evidence about a particular stage. Your notes should connect each diagnostic artifact to a hypothesis, not simply list artifacts for recall.
Do not use exam dumps, leaked questions, or claims that memorization guarantees a pass. Such material is not an authorized representation of the live assessment and can teach obsolete or misleading behavior. Practice with documented scenarios, configuration exercises, and your own explanations instead.
Do not overstate what the blueprint proves. The available facts support three objective ranges and several named topics, but not a complete weighting table, exam duration, question count, score requirement, language list, or delivery format. Leave those details out unless Microsoft’s current official exam page supplies them.
What delivery details are actually evidenced?
The supplied official sources do not establish a current exam duration, question count, passing score, languages, price, delivery method, prerequisite, or appointment availability for 70-696. Do not rely on old catalogue entries or third-party pages for these details. Confirm any scheduling information directly through Microsoft’s current certification support and authorized scheduling route.
The Microsoft Ignite session is preparation content, not an appointment or exam-delivery specification. It was led by a Microsoft Certified Trainer and discussed certification mechanics, topic coverage, resources, and test-taking techniques, but the source does not provide a current delivery policy for 70-696.
Retirement guidance is the decisive operational reference. Microsoft states that candidates cannot take a retired exam or earn its associated certification or credential after the retirement date. If the exam is unavailable, preserve the historical objectives as a skills reference only and redirect your effort toward a current official credential that matches your role.
What should you do next?
Your next action is a status-and-scope check, not a purchase. Confirm whether Microsoft still lists 70-696 for scheduling, compare the historical objectives with your actual work, and decide whether the goal is a legacy transcript item or current endpoint-management recognition. Only then should you commit to a study environment and a preparation calendar.
Use the official links below in this order: retirement guidance for availability implications, the 70-696 objective-change document for historical scope, the Configuration Manager documentation for technical clarification, and the Ignite session for contextual preparation advice. Use the Q&A only to understand why candidates have encountered uncertainty and where Microsoft directs support questions.
If the exam is available to you through an official channel, prepare against the documented areas and maintain a clear boundary between verified objectives and modern product knowledge. If it is not available, do not attempt to schedule through an unofficial intermediary. Ask Microsoft support for the current certification path and retain your study notes as transferable administration knowledge.
A final readiness review should answer five questions: Can you explain what 70-696 was intended to validate? Can you trace an application from definition to monitored result? Can you distinguish virtual-application administration from ordinary deployment? Can you reason through the software-update chain? Can you verify the credential’s current status from an official source? If any answer is no, address that gap before making the next certification decision.
Conclusion
70-696 is best understood as a historical System Center Configuration Manager and Intune administration exam centered on enterprise applications, virtual applications, and software updates. Its documented objectives can still support disciplined technical study, especially for administrators maintaining older environments. The practical certification decision is separate: confirm official availability and any current replacement path before scheduling. Prepare from Microsoft’s objective evidence, test your reasoning with controlled scenarios, and treat unofficial question repositories as unreliable rather than as shortcuts.
