Should I go for CCIE R/S or CCIE Security?

Hello everyone,

I am very interested of obtaining a CCIE but I am not sure of which track I should follow.
As far as experience goes, I have worked as a network engineer for 6 years, I currently have a CCNP R/S and I got all the material I need to study for the CCIE R/S.

I do however feel that I would like to expand my knowledge into another domain and Security is the one that interesting me the most.

Would it be stupid of me to change tracks (this means I'll have to start from CCNA Security) and is it more wise to stick to R/S?
I have no real experience in security but I have always worked with ASAs in every job i have.

Its a coinflip decision for me but I really need your advice so I dont find 6 months down the road that I made the wrong decision.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments

koz24

Hi,

Jus to throw it out there but you don't technically need to start from CCNA Security into 4 CCNP Security exams. You still have to learn it all anyway but you don't need to do the 5 exams if CCIE Security is the end goal.

How's your budget for it? Because there is this Zero-to-Hero Security course through Micronics Training that has gotten a lot of great reviews from people on the site. Iristheangel has/had a thread dedicated to it. Check it out!

midsummer

koz24 wrote: »

Hi,

Jus to throw it out there but you don't technically need to start from CCNA Security into 4 CCNP Security exams. You still have to learn it all anyway but you don't need to do the 5 exams if CCIE Security is the end goal.

How's your budget for it? Because there is this Zero-to-Hero Security course through Micronics Training that has gotten a lot of great reviews from people on the site. Iristheangel has/had a thread dedicated to it. Check it out!

Thanks,

Yes I know I dont need to do the CCNA or CCNP exams, but it would feel good to at least do the CCNA and so then if my CCNP is about to expire during my CCIE studies - I can just go ahead and write any of the CCNP Security exams to refresh it..

My budget shouldn't be a problem since I got a company backing me up.. It looks like the Micronics course is mainly a bootcamp - which wont be relevant for me for a while anyways.

koz24

It's not a bootcamp, it's a 16 week long course. Check out this thread

Micronics Zero to Hero Security Course

Edit: Well I guess it depends on what your definition of bootcamp is.

EANx

CCNP before the IE should work well for people who do well with intermediate goals or feel the ramp-up would work well for them. I'm that type of person. If I went straight into the IE I would be all over the place but by focusing on the NP first, it establishes the baseline but it also identifies the problems that have crept into my study-habits over the years and I can fix them now rather than later. I also feel that one reason why so many people drop out of studying is not seeing progress. If you do an NP course every two months then written 4-6 months later then lab 8 months after that, you see the progress you're making and it's independently validated.

midsummer

koz24 wrote: »

It's not a bootcamp, it's a 16 week long course. Check out this thread

Micronics Zero to Hero Security Course

Edit: Well I guess it depends on what your definition of bootcamp is.

Very interesting stuff indeed...
My fingers are itching to press the buy-button

However I need to make a decision first... I am not sure that it is wise to change tracks when I've invested my entire career (to this point) in R/S.
I am also not sure how competitive a CCIE Security is compared to a CCIE R/S where I live...
Sure, its easier to find a R/S-engineer but I dont know how much demand there is for Security certified engineers either...

chrisone

Honestly, both are highly regarded certifications. You cannot go wrong with R/S as its a safety net because mastering the "core" technologies help you branch out into other fields. Jobs will always require a high level of R/S. When it comes to R/S technologies the buck stops here. There is really nothing else left in regards to studying R/S technologies.

CCIE security will always be an in demand job as well. Information security is critical to most companies and there seems to be a shortage of security engineers. However, if your role is security, you will need to study more than just ccie security. You will need to study and have other security related certs such as penetration testing and enterprise level organizational information security certifications. Security topics reaches out far more than just what is on the CCIE security. CCIE security is just focused on cisco technologies from a hardware perspective.

Hope this helps, you can't go wrong with any CCIE.