If you mostly have VMware support and operations experience but want to jump ship into design like me, here are some tips on how to get up to speed with design. Studying for the VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 - Datacenter Design (VCAP5-DCD) is a great starting point and prepares you for the infrastructure designer/architect mindset.
Since VMware last updated the
official VCAP5-DCD blueprint back in March 2014 (ver. 3.0), some things have changed and a number of links in the blueprint take you to marketing pages instead of the white papers, etc. Here is an outline of the VCAP5-DCD topics covered in the official VMware exam blueprint but with updated and direct resources.
Also, make sure to check out some of the resources conveniently compiled at the bottom of this page and highly recommended by many of the existing VCAP5-DCD certification holders. These include books, exam experiences, and study notes.