Cert Question

ITdude

Hi,

I realize this will probably be a subjective question, but here goes. I am thinking about doing a overdue MCSE upgrade, or just jumping into the CCNA and Cisco track and then hit MS later.

Any thoughts or pros and cons on doing Cisco first and then updating MS or just sticking with the Cisco track, period?

If this question has been asked many times before, I appologize. I have gotten feedback from some people that it would be more valuable to have Cisco certs, especially the higher end stuff like CCNP and CCIE(good luck).

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.....

mikeyoung

If you work on cisco gear or on networking in general, get the Cisco certs. If you work with Windows, get the MCSE cert. Both? Pick'em. If you don't do either, start with A+ and work your way up.

Good luck!

Mike

ITdude

Thanks for the info. Well, I already have MCSE but it needs to be upgraded. I would really would like to get more grounded in networking, but I also feel somewhat of a personal obligation to stay up to date with the latest and greatest from MS. However, I am in a position where I get involved with aspects of both. It just seems like everytime you upgrade with MS, the new version comes out and supercedes it. With Cisco, I suspect it is more of an incremental thing.

What an acquaintance said to me is that in the long run Cisco is a better way to go and he has both! However, as you said I guess it depends on your need as well.

Thanks...

P.S. Good luck on the results of your CISSP exam. Very impressive!

optimus

If it was my choice, go Cisco. Frankly, it gets more respect in the industry, at least from what I have seen. HIgher pay too more than likely.

Optimus

ITdude

Thanks optimus. I suspect you are right but wanted to hear it from others as well....,

2lazybutsmart

I think your choice will depend on whether your company deals with routers/switches more than it does servers/workstations, or vice versa. You need to certify in areas that are relevant to your current job. If a certification you have has expired and needs upgrading, you should upgrade it no matter what. Don't end up with so many certs that have expired. I know that has happened to so many people....and believe me, there are employers out there who've become smart enough to dig into your records and transcripts and know whether your certs have expired or not.

And as a general advice: you don't have to certify in everything; only what you do or want to do.

Unfortunately, there are some parts of the world where your best chance at a decent paying job is knowing everything you can possibly can --or claiming to know, which is often the case. You'll see people with so many certs on their resumes who literally know nothing about them because they kept on forgetting the contents of the previous exam every time they took a new one. So MCSA overrode A+, and CCNA MCSA; and so on and so forth. A waste.

I'll have to admit some people do certs as a hobby . But that's why they're called geeks, right?

2lbs.

ITdude

Thanks for some more input. Well, as I said in my position I have reason to come in contact with both routers and switches along with servers and workstations.

Technically speaking my other cert has not expired but it is not the latest or greatest from Microsoft either. Anyway, I will consider your input. I suspect in the end the way to go is do both, but I am trying to economize my time. I suspect in the long run I will be involved more with routers and switches but I cannot rule out servers and workstations either....Oh well, food for thought!

pizzafart

I have an off-the-wall theory as to why Microsoft doesn't have a cert that's similar to the CCIE.

Could it be because the systems are too unstable to offer people a confident chance at passing? When you think about it, networking equipment is a lot more predictable than a Windows server platform is. Though over-all I think that routing/switching is more conceptually challenging; it's also a skill that's more easy to gauge simply because you don't have to worry about IOS hosing up on you because a screen-saver kicked in at some weird time.

This is a theory that I only quasi-believe so comments are welcome.

Here's my question to those who know servers well. Are there Windows systems that are super-stable because the administrator is good? Just wondering. It seems that anywhere I've ever worked that those systems eventually crash. This is even true with Novell systems, in my experience anyway.

Any thoughts?

ITdude

Probably true to a certain extent. Although the new line of certifications from MS, are going to try to emulate the level of expertise you see with CCIE, including a minimum of 10 years experience in the field to be able to be in the program. This will not occur until Windows Vista etc are released....It is going to be run sort of like phd program for the highest level certification....

As far as servers versus routing and switching there may be some credence in what you say. However, since both are needed to make up a network I guess we have little choice. One can always hope that future incarnations of OSs will be more stable but who knows.....