Nortel vs Cisco!!!

mjones

Two guys I work with argue daily about what cert is better, Nortel or Cisco. I personallly do not know anything about Nortel, should I? I am taking Network+ exam soon and I have narrowed down my list to two possible future certs (MCTS or Cisco CCENT). Should I even consider Nortel???

scheistermeister

Cisco.

GT-Rob

If you would like to work with it, then sure.


I am going to assume these guys are nortel certified. Most people will be biased towards what they choose (like the college vs non-college topics). Just like you won't find many CCIEs that say Nortel is the way to go.

Slowhand

I can honestly say that spending your time getting certified on Cisco is going to be your best bet. As you work your way up through CCNA, CCNP, (etc.,) CCIE, you can also learn how other manufacturers' equipment works. In this case, working a little bit with Nortel equipment, while retaining your expertise with Cisco products, is going to do your career a service. Cisco has a couple of things going for them that's in your favor: they have name-recognition, Cisco often is the "big player" in pushing out new standards and protocols for industry use, and Cisco devices are often the example that others build theirs from. (Think Dell, for example, the CLI on their PowerConnect switches is eerily similar to the Cisco IOS.)

Spend the time and become a Cisco aficionado, by way of the certs, and learn about the Nortel equipment as you go. Being Cisco certified, and knowing other technologies like Nortel, Foundry, etc., is going to set you apart from all the other CCNAs/CCNPs/CCIEs gunning for your job. The same is true for any specialty: a Microsoft guru that knows Unix/Linux is going to get more recognition than someone with "just" an MCSE or MCITP cert. Knowing the server-end and networking is going to help you immensely as well. MCTS or CCENT. . . I'd say do both, go further, and then decide what you like doing more, once you have a solid foundation on each side of the house.

CGN_Spec

CISCO!

malcybood

mjones wrote:

Two guys I work with argue daily about what cert is better, Nortel or Cisco. I personallly do not know anything about Nortel, should I? I am taking Network+ exam soon and I have narrowed down my list to two possible future certs (MCTS or Cisco CCENT). Should I even consider Nortel???

I'm Nortel and Cisco certified and plan to do more certification in both technologies, as I support both on a daily basis - Cisco WAN, Nortel LAN/VoIP.

I don't think either certification is "better" than the other, but to be honest Nortel certification is not as widely recognised by hiring companies unless they are Nortel partner companies and even then they may or may not require certification as they can train you up through the channel anyway if you have experience supporting the kit.

I wouldn't have pursued Nortel certification if I didn't work with the technology or at least have exposure to it.

Cisco is your best bet for getting started in the field and building up some experience and it is more widely adopted, however I would never say to someone stick purely with Cisco and forget the other major players i.e. Nortel, Avaya, Mitel or even 3Com certification as they all operate on the same standards at the end of the day and it is only beneficial to know how different manufacturers inter-operate with each other.

Here's a couple of Nortel certification threads that can hopefully help you out

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37202

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34618

ironlung

CISCO without a doubt.

Turgon

Go for Cisco first. However the networking world has many flavours. A taste of something else will be good for you! Provides balance!

Kasor

Cisco got a better system and from U.S...

wat08

Nortel's new attack ad on Cisco:

http://www.youtube.com/nortelvids



Too bad Nortel is a sinking ship partnering with M$ in a last ditch effort to compete with Cisco and Juniper...