0 to CCNP realistic time frame?

OctalDump

So, there's a local collegey Cisco academy thing near me. They do CCNP R&S + CCNA Sec + CCNA Collab + CCNA Wireless fulltime in 18 weeks. They assume a decent IT background, though as well as CCNA Route and Switch. They also offer the CCNA R&S part time over 12 months.

That course is quite good, though, because you will get lots of hands on with actual equipment so you aren't just a "paper" CCNP.

I think that the courses work out at about 40 hours per unit, but the CCNA is twice as long because it assumes you are starting from scratch. Which would mean 7 weeks is the fastest you could do it this way - in theory.

ImYourOnlyDJ

Well first I would like to point out that if you have a desktop support position then you aren't exactly starting from 0 . You are far better off and have a lot more knowledge than someone without any IT experience. Next nobody can really tell you how long and how much effort it will take. Back in college I used to study 1 - 2 hours per bio test and got mostly A's and the person sitting next to me would spend 8+ hours studying and get B's and C's. My point here is it all depends on how fast you learn, how well you can retain information, and how long you study. I would say someone with two years of desktop support could take anywhere from one to three years to land their CCNP (based on my CCNP training so far and study material).