You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
DELL TECHNOLOGIESDell Zero Trust Design
The Dell Zero Trust Design certification validates your ability to architect and implement Zero Trust environments across networks, data, identity, and cloud. Designed for architects, consultants, and engineers, it covers Zero Trust tenets, pillars, and practical application. Earning it demonstrates you can build resilient, modern security postures that move beyond perimeter-based defenses.
Exam formatProctored exam
DeliveryPearson VUE
Free questions809
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What Dell Zero Trust Design proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
9domains
29objectives
189concepts
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The Dell Zero Trust Design certification validates the skills required to design and implement Zero Trust environments within an organization. It covers understanding Zero Trust tenets and pillars, developing a Zero Trust strategy, applying Zero Trust across networks, data, identity, and cloud, and monitoring and managing the implementation. The exam emphasizes practical application, including data-centric Zero Trust and Zero Trust in hybrid environments.
This certification is for professionals who design and implement security architectures, including cloud architects, solution architects, and infrastructure administrators. Earning it demonstrates your ability to move beyond traditional perimeter-based security and build a comprehensive Zero Trust strategy that aligns with business needs and modern threat landscapes.
Who it’s for
This certification is for professionals who design and implement Zero Trust architectures, including Cloud Architects, Cloud Consultants, Cloud Integration Managers, Data Protection Consultants, Implementation Specialists, Infrastructure Administrators, Pre-Sales Engineers, Solution Architects, Storage Administrators, Storage Architects, Storage Implementation Engineers, and Systems Engineers. You are responsible for building secure environments that protect data, identities, and workloads, and you need to understand how to apply Zero Trust principles across networks, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures.
Recommended experience
Dell recommends completing relevant training and gaining hands-on experience with Zero Trust concepts and Dell security solutions before taking the exam. Understanding of Zero Trust tenets and pillars; Experience designing security architectures; Familiarity with network, data, identity, and cloud security concepts; Knowledge of Dell Cyber Recovery and Vault solutions
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective Dell Technologies measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official Dell Technologies exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Introduction to Zero Trust
- Explain Zero Trust
- Discuss need and business case for Zero Trust
- Describe the significance of moving from perimeter towards Zero Trust security
- Describe Zero Trust reference architectures and maturity models
Zero Trust Tenets and Pillars
- Describe the tenets of Zero Trust
- Identify the pillars of Zero Trust
- Explain the significance of Zero Trust pillars
- Describe and evaluate the Zero Trust capabilities
- Analyze implementation of Zero Trust (Pillars) in Dell Cyber Recovery and Vault
Applying Zero Trust
- List the design consideration for user, data, devices, applications and workload, network and infrastructure
- Assess the factors impacting Zero Trust implementation in enterprise
- Develop a Zero Trust implementation roadmap
- List the steps for Zero Trust road map implementation
- Explain Zero Trust Adoption layer
- Describe progression from traditional to optimal stage/phase
- Describe Microsegementation, SDP, and Enhanced Identity Governance approaches
Zero Trust in Networks
- Design Zero Trust networks
- Apply Zero Trust in networks
Data Centric Zero Trust
- Design data centric Zero Trust
- Apply data centric Zero Trust
Identity based Zero Trust
- Design identity based Zero Trust
- Apply identity based Zero Trust
Zero Trust for the Cloud
- Design Zero Trust for the cloud
- Apply Zero Trust for the cloud
Hybrid Zero Trust
- Describe hybrid Zero Trust
- Apply hybrid Zero Trust
Monitoring and Maintenance
- Describe role of visibility and analytics
- Apply visibility and analytics
- Apply automation and orchestration
On the day
The exam itself
Everything Dell Technologies publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationDell Zero Trust Design
Exam formatProctored exam
DeliveryPearson VUE
LanguagesEnglish, French
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path Dell Technologies lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to Dell Zero Trust Design
Credential earnedDell Zero Trust Design Certification Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. Dell Technologies maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by Dell Technologies
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, Dell Technologies’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official Dell Technologies certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
What is the difference between the D-ZT-DS-23 and D-ZT-DS-01 exams?
D-ZT-DS-23 is the current version of the Zero Trust Design exam, retiring on September 10, 2026. D-ZT-DS-01 is the updated version, available starting September 11, 2026. Candidates must schedule and complete D-ZT-DS-23 before its retirement date.
Is the Zero Trust Design exam available online or only at test centers?
The exam is proctored and can be taken either at Pearson VUE testing centers or online via OnVUE.
What job roles does the Dell Zero Trust Design certification map to?
The certification targets Cloud Architects, Cloud Consultants, Cloud Integration Managers, Data Protection Consultants, Implementation Specialists, Infrastructure Administrators, Pre-Sales Engineers, Solution Architects, Storage Administrators, Storage Architects, Storage Implementation Engineers, and Systems Engineers.
Are practice tests available for the Zero Trust Design exam?
Yes, Dell offers practice tests that are unproctored web-based exams. They are available for skills certifications, though not for Achievements.
How do I schedule the Zero Trust Design exam?
You can schedule the exam through Pearson VUE, either at a testing center or online via OnVUE. You will need an exam voucher code to schedule.
What is the process for earning the Dell Zero Trust Design certification?
The journey includes identifying a training plan, completing recommended training, preparing with practice exams, obtaining an exam voucher, scheduling the exam, and then claiming your digital badge upon passing.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 809 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept Dell Technologies measures — each one written out.
9domains
29objectives
189concepts
175free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official Dell Technologies exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Introduction to Zero Trust97 questions
Explain Zero Trust7 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Discuss need and business case for Zero Trust6 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Describe the significance of moving from perimeter towards Zero Trust security4 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Describe Zero Trust reference architectures and maturity models3 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →
2Zero Trust Tenets and Pillars132 questions
Describe the tenets of Zero Trust6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Identify the pillars of Zero Trust6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Explain the significance of Zero Trust pillars7 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Describe and evaluate the Zero Trust capabilities4 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Analyze implementation of Zero Trust (Pillars) in Dell Cyber Recovery and Vault6 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →
3Applying Zero Trust205 questions
List the design consideration for user, data, devices, applications and workload, network and infrastructure6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Assess the factors impacting Zero Trust implementation in enterprise6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Develop a Zero Trust implementation roadmap6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →List the steps for Zero Trust road map implementation6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Explain Zero Trust Adoption layer7 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Describe progression from traditional to optimal stage/phase6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Describe Microsegementation, SDP, and Enhanced Identity Governance approaches8 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →
4Zero Trust in Networks63 questions
5Data Centric Zero Trust55 questions
6Identity based Zero Trust61 questions
7Zero Trust for the Cloud47 questions
8Hybrid Zero Trust67 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Explain Zero Trust7 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
32 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
809 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
809questions
175pages
29objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Introduction to Zero Trust97 questions
2Zero Trust Tenets and Pillars132 questions
3Applying Zero Trust205 questions
4Zero Trust in Networks63 questions
5Data Centric Zero Trust55 questions
6Identity based Zero Trust61 questions
7Zero Trust for the Cloud47 questions
8Hybrid Zero Trust67 questions
9Monitoring and Maintenance82 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
189concepts
809free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from Dell Technologies
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
3official links
189concepts mapped
The source
Dell Technologies’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official Dell Technologies outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 29 objectives, 189 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When Dell Technologies changes the outline, this page changes with it.
29objectives on the outline→189concepts written→809free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.