What was HP0-S36 and when did it retire?
HP0-S36 was “Architecting HP Server Solutions,” the exam leading to HP ASE - Server Solutions Architect V8 in HP’s ExpertONE program. An HP employee posting in HP’s official certification forum on 17 March 2015 confirmed the certification would go inactive on 1 July 2015, and that candidates had to sit HP0-S36 before that date. Passing it could then be used to upgrade to HP ASE - Server Solutions Architect V2, the Gen9-era successor.
The One HP Exam With a Documented Retirement Date
Most retired HP credentials have no published retirement date. HPE, unlike some vendors, does not maintain a public list of retired exams with dates and named replacements, which makes tracing an old ExpertONE credential unusually difficult.
HP0-S36 is the exception, and only because of a forum exchange that happened to be preserved. In March 2015 a candidate asked about study material for the exam. An HP employee replied:
The HP ASE - Server Solution Architect V8 certification will go Inactive on July 1st but that doesn’t mean it isn’t relevant to your companies’ needs. It just means anyone new to the certification path won’t be able to take that certification after July 1st. You can still work towards the HP0-S36 exam if that makes sense for you but you will have to take the exam before July 1st. If you pass the HP0-S36 exam, you can use it to Upgrade to the HP ASE - Server Solutions Architect V2 certification.
That single reply establishes three things: the date, the fact that the exam remained sittable right up to it, and the existence of an upgrade route into the next version rather than a dead end.
If you passed HP0-S36 before 1 July 2015 and did not take the upgrade, your credential lapsed with the V8 certification. If you did take it, you moved to V2, which has itself since been superseded as HPE restructured after the company split.
What the Exam Covered
HP0-S36 sat at the ASE tier, the architect level of HP’s ExpertONE structure, above the ATP implementation credentials and below Master ASE.
The distinction between the tiers is worth understanding, because it defines what this credential actually claimed. The ATP-level server exam, HP0-S34, validated that you could physically install and configure rack and tower servers: racking, power distribution, cabling, driver installation, and management tool setup. HP0-S36 sat a level up and validated that you could design the solution in the first place.
That architect framing meant gathering business and technical requirements and translating them into a server solution, then justifying the choices. HP’s description of the successor certification, ASE - Server Solutions Architect V2, gives a clear picture of what the architect tier was expected to cover: planning and designing enterprise-class server solutions, and holistically architecting solutions with the right server systems for the right situations, based on knowledge of HP server line technologies, connectivity, high availability, integration, and management considerations.
The V8 exam covered the ProLiant generation of its day. Its successor moved to ProLiant Gen9 and to the HP OneView management platform.
What Replaced It
HP ASE - Server Solutions Architect V2 was the successor, and HP explicitly supported using an HP0-S36 pass as an upgrade route into it.
HP’s own datacard describes V2 as validating that you can plan and design enterprise class server solutions based on HP ProLiant Generation 9 servers and associated converged infrastructure system components like the HP OneView management platform. It also recommends that anyone taking the upgrade path first understand the fundamental Gen9 product knowledge in the HP ATP Server Solutions V2 course, noting that the upgrade exam assumes it.
The version numbering here confuses people, and reasonably so: V8 was replaced by V2. That is not a typo or a downgrade. HP renumbered the certification line when it re-based the program on a new product generation, so the version number restarted rather than continuing to climb.
HP did sometimes migrate holders automatically rather than requiring an exam. An archived ExpertONE notice records that HP ASE - Server Solutions Integrator V8 was replaced by a streamlined V8.1, with adjusted prerequisites, and that existing V8 holders were automatically granted the new V8.1 certification. That was a different certification from this one, and no equivalent automatic grant is documented for Server Solutions Architect V8. The upgrade to V2 required sitting an exam.
What This Credential Is Worth Today
As a current certification, nothing. The V8 certification went inactive on 1 July 2015 and cannot be verified as active. Its successor has also since been superseded.
As evidence of architectural experience, meaningfully more than an implementation credential. The ASE tier claimed design capability, not installation capability. Someone who passed HP0-S36 was working on server solution design: sizing, high availability, integration, and the management layer around it. That is a different and more durable skill than knowing a specific server generation’s configuration steps.
What transferred: the architectural reasoning. Requirements gathering, sizing for workload and growth, designing for availability, and thinking about manageability as a first-class concern rather than an afterthought are all still exactly what server and infrastructure architects do.
What did not: the product specifics. ProLiant generations moved on repeatedly. HP Insight Control and the older management stack gave way to OneView, and the whole enterprise server line moved to Hewlett Packard Enterprise when the company split on 1 November 2015, four months after this certification went inactive.
How to list it. Name it properly and date it: “HP ASE - Server Solutions Architect V8 (exam HP0-S36), 2014, retired.” If you took the upgrade, list the V2 credential instead, since that is the later achievement. In most cases the stronger presentation is an experience bullet describing the server architecture work itself, with the credential as supporting evidence rather than the headline.
Where an HP Server Architecture Background Leads Now
HPE runs current ASE and Master ASE tracks organised around present-day portfolios, including compute solutions and edge-to-cloud architecture. The naming continuity is real, but there is no documented conversion or credit from a V8-era credential into any current HPE certification.
The more useful question is what your infrastructure work looks like now. If you remained in HPE server environments, the current compute-focused tracks are the natural continuation, and HPE’s certification catalogue is the place to verify current codes and requirements, since its pages are generated dynamically and change.
If your work moved toward cloud or hybrid infrastructure, the architectural half of what HP0-S36 tested is the part worth carrying forward. Capacity planning, availability design, and integration thinking apply directly to cloud architecture work, where the constraint moved from choosing chassis and interconnects to choosing instance families, availability zones, and managed service boundaries. The design discipline is the same; the components changed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still take HP0-S36? No. The certification it led to went inactive on 1 July 2015, and the exam was withdrawn at that point.
What certification did HP0-S36 lead to? HP ASE - Server Solutions Architect V8.
What replaced it? HP ASE - Server Solutions Architect V2, based on ProLiant Gen9 servers and the HP OneView management platform. HP supported using an HP0-S36 pass as an upgrade route into V2.
Why is V2 the successor to V8? HP renumbered the certification line when it re-based the program on a new product generation, so the version number restarted rather than continuing upward. It is not a downgrade.
How is HP0-S36 different from HP0-S34? HP0-S34, Implementing HP Rack and Tower Server Solutions, was an ATP-tier implementation exam covering physical installation and configuration. HP0-S36 was an ASE-tier architect exam covering solution design.
Is there a current HPE equivalent? HPE runs ASE and Master ASE compute tracks today, but no conversion or credit exists from the retired V8 credential. Verify current requirements directly with HPE.
References
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Community. HP 0 - S36 study material, reply by an HP employee, 17 March 2015. Archived August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160809074624/http://community.hpe.com:80/t5/My-Learning-Certification/HP-0-S36-study-material/td-p/6717416 (Primary source for the 1 July 2015 inactive date, the requirement to sit the exam before that date, and the upgrade route to Server Solutions Architect V2)
HP. ExpertONE Certification Datacard: HP ASE - Server Solutions Architect V2. Archived September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150920101502/http://h10120.www1.hp.com/ExpertOne/datacard/Certification/ASE-ServSolArchV2 (Primary source for the successor certification’s scope, its ProLiant Gen9 and HP OneView basis, and the recommendation to complete ATP Server Solutions V2 material before the upgrade)
HP. ExpertONE Certification Datacard: HP ASE - Server Solutions V8. Archived 2015. (Primary source naming exam HP0-S36 as Architecting HP Server Solutions within the V8 certification requirements)
HP. ASE Server Integrator Certification Change. HP ExpertONE, archived April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150406233944/http://h10120.www1.hp.com/expertone/ASE-ServerIntCertChanges.html (Primary source for HP’s practice of automatically granting upgraded certifications in some version transitions)
Hewlett Packard Enterprise. HPE Certification and Learning. https://certification-learning.hpe.com/ (Current ASE and Master ASE tracks)