CCNP 2010 updates

netteaser

http://content.ll-0.com/cisco_netacademy/CCNP-FAQ-23Sep09.pdf?i=100109125824

The exams are listed below, new exams appear in bold type:
•642-901 BSCI; replaced by 642-902 ROUTE
•642-812 BCMSN; replaced by 642-813 SWITCH
•642-832 TSHOOT
•642-825 ISCW; no replacement
•642-845 ONT; no replacement
•642-892 Composite; no replacement

dynamik

Interesting. So the current path is still valid for about 15 months. I wonder when new resources will start to surface for the new exams...

Bl8ckr0uter

Interesting. I think this is cool. I already have the CBT nuggets for the current exam series so hopefully some good material will come out for the tshoot exam. Nice way to save time/money.

Morty3

Whoa, a troubleshoot-exam! That is great

Lil lame I just ordered the Cisco CCNP official certiciation library... Well, it is still going to be useful, of course!

ColbyG

Nice. I just came to post this too.

trackit

"The four existing CCNP certification exams will be available to the general public through June 30, 2010"

just got my CCNA and started studying for CCNP, damn i have to hurry up

Any info on what actually will be different on route and switch exams? i mean, routing protocols havent changed much in recent years afaik...

dynamik

Oh, yikes! The end of 2010 is just for net academy students. Maybe I'll try to do BSCI and BCMSN by then and then do the troubleshooting later in the year...

suffah

This is pretty interesting. It's nice that they are keeping BSCI and BCMSN valid even after the transition.

Cyanic

Nice! Now you can do it in just three tests (once the new ones are released). I wonder if this means they will be increasing the cost of the tests?

I was contemplating doing ONT before BSCI. This news makes that a definite no.

ColbyG

I'm not crazy about them removing ONT and ISCW. Unless they put some of that material in the other exams, they're going to end up with very narrowly focused CCNPs.

Cyanic

I doubt there is less material in the new curriculim. The old BCMSN (642-811) had a lot of QoS material that was moved to ONT. It only seems logical they would put it back.

This is what I think they could be doing:

BSCI (troubleshoting) > TSHOOT
BCMSN (troubleshoting) > TSHOOT
ONT (troubleshoting) > TSHOOT
ISCW (troubleshoting) > TSHOOT

BSCI > ROUTE
ISCW > ROUTE

BCMSN > SWITCH
ONT > SWITCH

networker050184

ColbyNA wrote: »

I'm not crazy about them removing ONT and ISCW. Unless they put some of that material in the other exams, they're going to end up with very narrowly focused CCNPs.

I agree. I think the CCNP was very well rounded (even though I HATED the wireless crap). If they take out a lot of the security and QoS stuff the CCNP starts to really drop in value as a real world certification IMO. I guess we will see when the exam objectives come out, but so far I'm thinking this is a bad move. I do like the TSHOOT exam though.

captobvious

Nice post, I was going down this road but not ready to do the exams that quickly. I'll wait for the updated materials while still looking for an entry level networking job.

ColbyG

networker050184 wrote: »

I agree. I think the CCNP was very well rounded (even though I HATED the wireless crap). If they take out a lot of the security and QoS stuff the CCNP starts to really drop in value as a real world certification IMO. I guess we will see when the exam objectives come out, but so far I'm thinking this is a bad move. I do like the TSHOOT exam though.

Yea, the addition of a troubleshooting exam is great.

If they do move the material to other exams I would be ok with it. Though, somethings just don't have a logical place, like where do you put VPNs, ROUTE or SWITCH or what? QoS also, unless they do L2 QoS on SWITCH and L3 QoS on ROUTE. I'm interested to see the blueprints.

Paul Boz

The troubleshooting exam sounds interesting. That might be a viable option for me renewing my Cisco stuff down the road.

Bl8ckr0uter

I wonder what is going to be the best course of action for people wanting to get the ccnp track start.

thomas130

I was going to start my ccnp studies in just over a month but since there are changing all the exams etc there does'nt seem much point now.

dynamik

thomas130 wrote: »

I was going to start my ccnp studies in just over a month but since there are changing all the exams etc there does'nt seem much point now.

BSCI and/or BCMSN would be safe exams to work on, as long as you can finish by the cut-off date.

trackit

yeah i agree, it would be interesting to see actual objectives for new exams, i guess we have to wait for cisco's official announcment which should arrive soon. But i already just started working on BCSI and i have no intentions to stop. Routing protocols havent changed in recent years so its pretty safe to study OSPF, EIGRP, BGP etc.

besides, i think that even after the cut-off date BCSI and BCMSN will be valid for counting towards new CCNP (for some time). im pretty confident i can pass BCSI and BCMSN before july 2010 so i might do BCSI, BCMSN and TSHOOT to get CCNP. will see... cisco's official announcment should answer all those questions.

thomas130

My only concern right at this moment does this mean the CCNP is dumb down. So if you want to learn about wireless, qos and secuirty you need to get them ceritification and ccnp will just focused on switching and routing.

Bl8ckr0uter

You know why they are doing this imo:
Money

They want a routing/switching cert, A wireless cert, A voice cert, A security cert, and a transport cert. Overlap=less books purchased= less money. They want more money.
To me it is kind of like what MS did with the SA/EA/EMA tracks for the MCITP. They split it up "job" roles so that they could make more money. Ultimately a lot of people (wanting to be the best at their jobs) did both tracks.
I think in the not to distant future to be a good CC*P level networker, you will have to have several concentrations of certs: CCNP, CCSP, CCIP, CCVP CCNP:W CCDP, or some combo of these certs to be at a Pro level. Now when I say combo of these certs I mean more or less combo of the knowledge from these certs (if this makes sense).
I was thinking about this last night and ultimately this doesn't change a whole lot for me nor should it change much for those who are going for the CCNP.

I already have the cpt nuggets for the current/old CCNP and the question for me is can I get the ISCW and ONT done before June. I had planned on starting studying for the ISCW and CCNA:S at the end of this month but now I am thinking that BSCI + CCNA:S will be in my future.

mikej412

knwminus wrote: »

You know why they are doing this imo:
Money

Really? I thought the "techies" finally won over the "marketers."

The "old CCNP" had Routing, Switching, WAN, and Troubleshooting.

If they were about the money, they would have taken my suggestion and just added the QoS, MPLS, CVOICE, and SRND exams to the BSCI & BCMSN exams back then (and kept the CIT exam).

Instead it seemed the "marketers" decided the current CCNP should teach a smattering of everything the marketers wanted to sell -- while only teaching a CCNP enough to run the network and call in 3rd party vendors for Voice, Wireless, and Firewalls/Security.

Oh -- and I think they should make the CCNA:Security a prerequisite for the "new CCNP." And QoS should be a prerequisite for ALL Cisco Professional Certifications.

networker050184

mikej412 wrote: »

And QoS should be a prerequisite for ALL Cisco Professional Certifications.

Ain't that the truth! One of the most misunderstood concepts of networking no matter what level of knowledge or certification. I've been studying QoS (on and off) since I finished my CCNP and I'm still confused by a lot of things. I just never feel 100% ready for that exam because I just can't seem to master every subject. Once I get something like shaping 100% I forget all the inter workings of WRED. Me and QoS are in a vicious cycle right now

Cyanic

I thought Cisco made money from hardware and maintenance. They could not possibly be making nearly as much of their certifications, could they?

dynamik

Cyanic wrote: »

I thought Cisco made money from hardware and maintenance. They could not possibly be making nearly as much of their certifications, could they?

I agree. The development and maintenance cost of those certification programs must be insane. Their ROI is having a large pool of qualified individuals to support their products.

ColbyG

networker050184 wrote: »

Ain't that the truth! One of the most misunderstood concepts of networking no matter what level of knowledge or certification. I've been studying QoS (on and off) since I finished my CCNP and I'm still confused by a lot of things. I just never feel 100% ready for that exam because I just can't seem to master every subject. Once I get something like shaping 100% I forget all the inter workings of WRED. Me and QoS are in a vicious cycle right now

I QoS.

Bl8ckr0uter

Cyanic wrote: »

I thought Cisco made money from hardware and maintenance. They could not possibly be making nearly as much of their certifications, could they?

True but if they werent concerned with making money off of there certs then they all would be free (CCIE included, along with all the books, and salad and breadsticks you want).

Certifications are another way for them to get money imo.

ColbyG

knwminus wrote: »

True but if they werent concerned with making money off of there certs then they all would be free (CCIE included, along with all the books, and salad and breadsticks you want).

Certifications are another way for them to get money imo.

You're nuts. You think the books, training, testing, etc, etc is free for them?!?

mikej412

knwminus wrote: »

True but if they werent concerned with making money off of there certs then they all would be free (CCIE included, along with all the books, and salad and breadsticks you want).

Not sure how you get from covering the cost of the proctor salaries, the hardware racks, the space, power, air conditioning, test creation and beta testing (for the CCIE), and the rest for the stuff including marketing & management wonks for the "normal certs."

Do you work for free? Do you have a spare 40 hours a week, PCs, internet connection, electricity, air conditioning, staff, and security to run a "free Vue testing site" at your home?

Right now you're pretty much FREE to not bother with any certifications if you don't think they have any value to your chosen career.

Bl8ckr0uter

mikej412 wrote: »

Not sure how you get from covering the cost of the proctor salaries, the hardware racks, the space, power, air conditioning, test creation and beta testing (for the CCIE), and the rest for the stuff including marketing & management wonks for the "normal certs."

Do you work for free? Do you have a spare 40 hours a week, PCs, internet connection, electricity, air conditioning, staff, and security to run a "free Vue testing site" at your home?

Right now you're pretty much FREE to not bother with any certifications if you don't think they have any value to your chosen career.

You guys are missing my point. I do think that cisco certs are worth the time and dedication that people put them and I think cisco certs are worth the actual cost of the exams. I have no issue with the cost or anything of the sort. What I do think is that they werent concerned with making any money off of their certs they could do it all pro bono, IF THEY WANTED TO.

Ultimately I think that they have enough capital to cover the cost IMO. That is all Im saying. I have no beef with cisco or with there certifications. Hell I dont even have mine yet.

ColbyNA wrote: »

You're nuts. You think the books, training, testing, etc, etc is free for them?!?

No and this is exactly my point. They have to be concerned with making money from these certs in the short term and in the long term. Because it is not pro bono.

dynamik

No offense, but I really don't think you're aware of how much is involved with running programs of that magnitude. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually losing money on the whole ordeal. Like I said, the real benefit to them is having people that can support their equipment. Who cares if Juniper has better equipment for less money if all you have is people like Aldur supporting them?