Cisco's career certifications program was launched in 1999 and
has quickly become popular among IT professionals. It differs
from the older CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert)
program in that these certifications were created with an overall
training path in mind – they are geared to help you become
a Cisco expert, not just certify that you already are one.
The career certifications come at two levels – associate
and professional. The associate level designations are CCNA
(Cisco Certified Network Associate) and CCDA (Cisco Certified
Design Associate). The professional level includes CCNP (Cisco
Certified Networking Professional) and CCDP (Cisco Certified
Design Professional). The designations with the D in them
are part of the engineering & design path, while those
with the N are related to installation & support. You
are intended to earn these designations in progression –
CCNA then CCNP, or CCDA then CCDP. (Check out CCPreps' CCNA
and CCNP
boot camps.)
To make things a little more confusing, all but the CCDA
offer two tracks – Routing & Switching, which is
the main track, and WAN Switching. Thus you can become a CCNA,
or a CCNA – Wan Switching.
The N Program
The CCNA is the most popular associate designation, and requires
passing one exam. According to Cisco, a CCNA can install,
configure, and operate LAN, WAN and dial access services for
small networks. Having earned this designation myself, I can
tell you that you'll need to have a solid understanding of
networking architecture, have a good grip on TCP/IP including
being able to subnet an network and use subnet masks, show
familiarity with Cisco router commands, and demonstrate comprehension
of the various types of routing protocols and how they work.
The next step up the installation and support track is the
CCNP. This increments the expertise required to skills needed
for running a large (100 nodes or more) network, using a much
large array of protocols. Earning this designation is substantially
tougher. You'll have to hold the CCNA plus pass four additional
exams covering such topics as switching, remote access, and
troubleshooting. There is a fast track which combines three
of the exams into one killer testing session, but it's not
for the faint of heart.
The D Program
The Engineering & Design path starts off with the CCDA.
This designation basically follows that of the CCNA, but with
a design slant. You'll need to display the expertise to design
a small network, not just run it. Again, this requires passing
one exam.
The CCDP designation is intended to demonstrate an ability
to design larger, more complex networks. To qualify for this
one, you have to hold the CCDA and the CCNA, plus pass four
more exams, covering routing, switching, remote access, and
design. Once again, the highly ambitious can take a combo-exam
that wraps three of the four into one longer exam.
Special Skills
You can jump back and forth between these paths if you wish.
Some people earn the CCNA, then CCDA, then CCNP, then CCDP,
for example. Along the way you might decide to detour into
Cisco's newest certification program: Cisco Qualified Specialist.
The CQS program is intended to indicate special expertise
in particular area (at the moment you can choose from Cable,
Security, or SNA/IP). It used to be that you could add a specialty
once you earned your CCNP or CCDP, but Cisco recently redesigned
this part of their offering so now the only required prerequisite
is a CCNA. The specialist designations vary in the number
of additional exams necessary. Some require just one, while
others require up to four.
Whichever certification(s) you choose, it's important to
understand up front that this is an ongoing commitment. Cisco
career certifications have to be renewed every three years,
with the exception of the specialist designations, which must
be renewed every two years. Renewal basically requires passing
one additional exam.
Exams for these certifications vary in price, but typically
cost $100-$200 in the U.S. (a bit more elsewhere). Exams
are administered through Prometric
and VUE
testing networks, both of which have testing centers worldwide.
The Cisco career certification program provides a path of
learning that didn't previously exist for IT professionals
in the internetworking area. These certifications are valuable
in their own right, and they can also be used as a ladder
of knowledge you can climb in pursuit of Cisco's highest designation,
the CCIE. More on that in the next part of this series on
Cisco certification.
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