Slowhand wrote: As far as I know, the 642 exams have CCNA as a prerequisite, but I would check with Cisco to see if your CCIE written qualifies as well. My former boss had a talk with someone at Cisco about that, and they let him know that he could, potentially, use the CCIE written exam in lieu of (at the time) the 640-801 exam. Double-check with Cisco, but assume you'd have to spend the $150 to knock out the 640-802 exam before obtaining CCVP status. (Not that doing the CCNA exam would be much skin off your nose, considering your CCIE training so far. )
mikej412 wrote: I'd suggest starting with the 642-642 QOS exam -- since it can also be very helpful with the QoS topics on the CCIE Lab Exam. Check the CCVP FAQ for some hardware ideas on the lower end. If you don't mind spending money (or work's money) then 2811s or 2821s and assorted expensive interfaces would be nice.