Found a lead on release date for OCGs

Vask3n

On a whim I decided to do an Amazon search for any SISAS material as that is the exam I'm working on and came across the pre-orders for SENSS and SIMOS. It looks like the release date is Janurary 2015 for the time being which I find hard to wrap my head around considering that there's no other written material available for this new track.

SIMOS
http://www.amazon.com/Security-SIMOS-300-209-Official-Certification/dp/158714428X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0DAN6Z7R31X3832XAZH6

SENSS
Amazon.com: CCNP Security SENSS 300-206 Official Cert Guide (Certification Guide) (9781587144271): Brandon Anastasoff, Mark Bernard: Books

In any case I've been doing the IPExpert video series on the course for the time being, and I know CBT Nuggets is releasing some videos for the track as well.

I was fortunate to have started a new security analyst gig after finishing FIREWALL and VPN which has been a great experience. I would encourage anyone doing this track to keep going because this material is super relevant, especially with the new security track, I just wish there was some written material on it already.

Iristheangel

Very nice I was going to take the CCNP Security this year but with the certification change and my change of employers, I'll probably go for my CCIE DC before I ever get near the CCNP Security

Vask3n

Best of luck with the studies and work, I may start looking at some other exams for the time being just due to the lack of official exam material.

SteveO86

Dang that's a a ways away.

I would be weary about that until some announcement comes from Cisco Press, earlier this year/end of last year Amazon was offering a Second Edition version of Cisco UCS Unified Computing Book. That book promptly disappeared after a few weeks never to be seen again (so far anyway).. So this would not be the first time Amazon offered something for pre-order too early.

viper75

Hey Guys,

I'm halfway done with the NP:Sec. I need SISAS and SITCS to finish this track. However, we all know the new books are nowhere to be found. Do you think if I study the old books for IPS and SECURE along with trying to find material on the additions to the new exams, I might have a chance at finishing the NP:Sec track without the OCGs?

What do you guys think? Currently I started working on my NP:R\S, but I rather finish Security first. What is everyone else doing stuck in the same situation I am in?

Thanks my fellow Engineers!

Vask3n

Hey Viper,

In the interest of giving you an accurate answer let me try to explain why I think it would not be a good idea to use the old books.

I am in a similar position in that I finished 2 out of 4 exams (Firewall and VPN) and was starting to study SECURE when the replacement exams came out.

The analog to SECURE in the new track is SISAS as I'm sure you know. However, even though SISAS is replacing SECURE, the two exams are totally different in many ways. SECURE was all about hardening routers and switches, implementing IOS-IPS, and even covered things like DMVPN, GET VPN, and a myriad of other stuff, some of which is also in SISAS, like 802.1x and EAP.

However, SISAS is basically an exam on very in-depth 802.1x- it's very much focused on just this, not general IOS hardening and VPN setup. It's 100% 802.1x/ISE through and through and in my opinion it's a hugely real-world exam. If you were to use the old study material for it (the SECURE book) I would use it specifically for the 802.1x material, EAP types, and RADIUS info, but take a look at the exam topics for SISAS and compare them to SECURE for yourself and you will see that even though SISAS is a replacement for SECURE they are vastly different.

RouteMyPacket

Vask3n is correct, it's not worth studying SECURE to pass the new equivalent exam. The new exams are much better than the old ones, they look real world and SISAS would be fun IMO.

viper75

So what do you guys suggest one does? Do we just have to go all around the Internet, trying to piece together the study material to match the exams blue print?

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OfWolfAndMan

I think this may be an excellent help for a start to SISAS. Seems to cover most of the exam objectives from Cisco's website.

Cisco ISE for BYOD and Secure Unified Access:Amazon:Books