CMNA (Meraki) training / certification - Anyone taken it recently?

I saw an ancient thread from beginning of '14 that stated that you basically need to just show up, and run through the labs with the group to get certified and get your free gear, and wondering if this is still the case?

I was selected among many coworkers to get a seat at an all day CMNA training session, it turns out I get 3 pieces of meraki equipment as well, I'm kind of amazed I get all this for free for working at a Cisco partner.

Is it really that easy? Funny thing is some other coworkers who claim to hold multiple CCNP's per their email title did not get a seat in the class, so I would bet my bottom dollar they do not even hold a CCNA, I found that funny that the CMNA kind of smoked them out

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rowelld

It doesn't look as difficult as the CCNA but it is limited to Cisco and Meraki partners.

colemic

It used to be you only had to attend a one-hour webinar to get a free AP, don't know if that's still the case or not. The one I got was more suited to a SMB than home (didn't have a port for my Blu-ray player) so I wound up selling mine. Worked great though, and the mdm portion is totally free, no device needed, and a godsend for someone who just needs to manage a handful of iPads/iPhones, for example.

joelsfood

They do still have the free AP webinar deal, for those who are qualified. I attended one yesterday.

ande0255

Unfortunately it doesn't look like the webinars include free gear anymore that I can see on the partner website, only the 1-day in person technical training, I'm kind of surprised they give you 3 free pieces of gear to go along with the training.

I've worked with Meraki's in my position quite a bit so I'm familiar with the interface, so hopefully with enough notes I'll breeze through the labs.

mweaver84

I watched a 1 hour webinar they did last week and they sending me out a free AP.

https://meraki.cisco.com/freeap

Iristheangel

I've been to the CMNA training. Its pretty easy stuff. It doesn't get into the nuts and bolts like the Meraki Masters training that certain partners get (week long training in their Corp office in SF) but it's still nice. I don't think there is any prerequisites for the CMNA training except working at a partner, having open seats in the class and having a pulse so I'm sure your co-workers with multiple CCNPs probably do have those certs.

And yes, the free AP for attending the webinar is still valid. I think they even stopped sending Z1s out which is nicer

ande0255

It didn't say on the page anywhere that they send free gear for the webinar, that is pretty sweet. And the one coworker with multiple CCNP's in his email title doesn't actually have even a CCNA, he actually told me he lies about certs in interviews cause noone ever verifies that he holds them.

Does the week long training give you a different certification status? And does the CMNA expire or re-certify any NA level cisco certs that you know of?

I appreciate the responses, I see these merakis popping up everywhere in customer networks, feel privileged to be able to attend the training.

Iristheangel

Naw, No certification but it's a much deeper dive into the Meraki product line. We got to speak with the BU for each product (EMM, MX, MR, MS), got roadmap information, got to play with lab beta code for features that aren't even in production yet, and got to speak with some of the Meraki TAC guys and were educated about their troubleshooting process and licensing so we could take that into the real world and educate our customers. It's about 20-30 hours of pure labbing as well with all these cool features and products.

It's a HUGGGEEE difference from the CMNA. Most people finish the CMNA in less than 4 hours. You're basically given a packet of things to do and sat in front of the Meraki stack and told to go through the packet. If you don't know how to do something, there's the knowledge base page to go through is you get stuck but it's easy stuff and zero troubleshooting.

Edit: I found a blog from another guy who went through the training: http://blog.prorouting.com/2014/10/meraki-masters-program.html
Looks like his was only for three days and he considers himself a "CMNP." My experience was a 5 day training and I guess they called it a "CMNP." Funny. I went in September of last year and was joking the whole time that I was getting a "CMNP" by being there :P Guess someone took that to heart and decided to call it that for the next class

joelsfood

FWIW, I just got off the phone with my assigned Meraki rep, and free AP from the webinar should be here in 7-10 days via UPS. So that offer is definitely still an option.

SMBgurus

I keep seeing questions about partner organizations and offerings and is it this easy, etc... I can answer all the questions that have come up as I handle all vendor relations/procurement and spent a lifetime qualify for these programs and learning the nightmares attached to them. Just ask or create a separate forum or if you want access to the resources, discounts, free software licenses hardware lab discounts nearly 80% off internal use only or various other benefits let me know as I really don't understand why there isn't a collaboration of consultants and organizations out there pooling resources to utilize the benefits especially at the higher levels. Example I get over 450k in VMWare licenses annually with support, checkpoint will pay all training and certs up front if I have one more CCSE associated in which I can bring them to partner conferences for free, last one was 890$ fully covered. Cisco labs and VMware training labs are very helpful if you don't have in house data center to play with. i really would love to get a few bright or highly certified resources together give a key to my kingdom of resources and share it just to take the load off of maintaining the requirements annually as a SMB consulting firm w/ a specialized market and region. Plus if 2 support guys jump on, most program I'm able to get back in the MSP and support deals with them from past companies I had/sold and want to offer again, but it'll allow for call center support on their behalf and yes you are paid as well which that's a big opportunity and price differentiation

joelsfood

Looks like they're sending out MR18s now for the free AP

ninjaturtle

joelsfood wrote: »

Looks like they're sending out MR18s now for the free AP

That's awesome!! I was so stoked for my free one, I purchased another. I have a pair of MR12s configured as a point-to-point to drop in my 2nd ISP, which is AT&T. I didn't want to run cable, and this was a quick solution to drop the external IP on my ASA. Meraki is awesome!! Now I want a pair of MR18s or higher for that matter, just cause!

citinerd

I just attended the CMNA training in Pittsburgh PA and even breezing through the labs we were there for about 6-7 hours. There was a Cisco-Meraki Engineer there to go over the interfaces and discuss some of the features prior to jumping into the labs. He was mainly there to assist if you needed him during the labs. The Cisco-Meraki sales rep for the area was also present and very knowledgeable on the product and configuration.

All this and of course the free gear is on its way!!!

websponge

For those in the UK, I attended the CMNA in Heathrow last month, 1 day course at Cisco, very very good! breakfast and lunch provided. Completed the lab and my free kit arrived within 2 weeks

oh and a pen, bottle opener and a Meraki polo shirt.

I recommend this 1 day course, Meraki products are fantastic!