Hey All,
As it seems to be quite the thing these days, I have decided to document my CCDE Journey here including general musings on progress where my blog will cover technical posts.
Cisco CCDE Study Blog
The blog will be updated regularly over the coming weeks and months. I have around 20 posts in draft which are based on study I've already completed but only have the notes in whiteboard format. I'm working on transferring every whiteboard session into a "readable" format offline and will publish the posts / content as they are completed.
I posted in one of the other threads around my background and CCDE progress, so to give an overview for those who didn't see that post I've copied it over.
I've been focussed on CCDE study since March / April 2015 and been working as an designer / architect as below:
- 2 years in global outsourcing / hosting company (detailed / low level design / engineering)
- 2 years in gold partner (Technical Architect / TDA - Presales HLD / project escalation for design and implementation)
- 2 years in Telco / ISP (Solution Architect designing regional / national MPLS networks with local loop unbundling)
- Current role - 5 months at a Cisco partner working across enterprise WAN, LAN, WLAN, Security, DC solution design)
Prior to that
3 years as network admin at an enterprise and 3 years in IT support / field engineering before that, so I guess I have around 9 years solid networking experience with around 7 or 8 of that being involved in design.
I will be sitting my second attempt of the CCDE Written later this month.
I had less than ideal prep for the 2 or 3 days in the lead up to my first written exam attempt (which I won't dwell on or bore you all with) and failed last week with 618 / 1000, but I think I'm comfortable with the areas I need to brush up on and also the usual time management was an issue. That was only because there was a higher than usual number of questions it also took me a while to get my head around the type and style of questions with it being my first expert level exam that I have taken.
Despite failing the first written attempt I felt OK with the subjects and just need to drill into a couple of the areas I think!
I have been using Cisco Live to study and taken up Safari Books subscription in addition to already having multiple books from previous study where I'll post a book list if and when I pass the written exam. I also invested in a 6ft x 3ft whiteboard to take notes on where I study a topic, take notes on the whiteboard, take a photo on my phone and erase / onto the next topic. First time I've used this approach but I definitely think it is a worthwhile investment for this type of exam.
From what I understand, the key to the CCDE is being able to think as an architect and making the transition from having the mind set of what the ideal solution is (which we commonly identify as engineers) vs what the customer is asking for and why would a particular technology suit their business requirements.
I hope the thread is insightful and useful to someone other than myself to vent
Cheers
