CCNA Vs MCSA

techone01

Hi friend!! I need some input from u all guys recently i completed my network + exam now i am looking for further certification currently i am working as network technician in the company.

I just want to know whether i should go for ccna certification or mcsa certification which course will have more scope basically salary wise, knowledge wise and even with job requirement in IT industry.

Jollycork

A microsoft certification is for microsoft products such as servers, workstations and microsoft Active Directory.

Cisco certifications is about computer networking, routing switching & voice.

They are not the same by a long shot.

chmorin

Jollycork wrote: »

A microsoft certification is for microsoft products such as servers, workstations and microsoft Active Directory.

Cisco certifications is about computer networking, routing switching & voice.

They are not the same by a long shot.

Yup, totally different areas of work.

Also most of us cisco people will tell you cisco is the way to go. I don't have a single microsoft certification and am now a Network Administrator for an international company, learning as much as I can as fast as I can.

So if you want to be networking, pick a network route like CCNA or Juniper. If you want to be a systems admin, I'd go Microsoft/linux.

EDIT:

If you are talking money, I don't think you will get much from these forums. We mostly pick our fields based on passion, not greed.

Slowhand

chmorin wrote: »

We mostly pick our fields based on passion, not greed.

We don't?!? Man, nobody sends me these memos anymore.

chmorin

Slowhand wrote: »

We don't?!? Man, nobody sends me these memos anymore.

I find that most of the people are on here commenting helping and getting helped because of a personal addiction to the subject mannor, not the prize at the end of the tunnel.

I can't say we all don't aim to make buckets of money though. Who doesn't?

That being said systems admins and network admins are pretty close in the price range, from what I can tell. You can branch out or specialize in both and make those buckets I mentioned earlier.

So... pick your poison!

rogue2shadow

chmorin wrote: »

I find that most of the people are on here commenting helping and getting helped because of a personal addiction to the subject mannor, not the prize at the end of the tunnel.

+1. The money is nice though but in the end, whether we admit it or not, we're in IT because we have some underlying true love of IT; otherwise we'd be doing something else.

In terms of comparison, as what was said above, the MCSA and CCNA are in two different leagues. I think you could compare the MCSE/MCITP track to the CCNA in terms of relative proficiency in each certifications specialties but the end result of comparing them is "apples and oranges".

alan2308

chmorin wrote: »

I can't say we all don't aim to make buckets of money though. Who doesn't?

Well, if you're after a buttload of cash, you should probably consider business and aspire to be a CEO.

xenodamus

Why not both?

After CCNA and Security plus, I'm MCSE bound!

Jollycork

I found that IT department managers that are actually the decision people to hire someone would rather have the CCNA/CCNP than a MCSE.

They figure networking/routing/switching is more important than doing Active Directory/Exchange/Database/Sharepoint stuff. Most of the Microsoft stuff is considered specialty areas.

But the biggest issue is that many businesses are now going to service providers [cloud proviers] for most of the Active Directory/Email/Database/Sharepoints stuff that they use to hire people to do, MCSE doesn't really give you much for jobs with the cloud providers. They want network guys who have experience with VMWare, Email servers/sharepoint servers/databases servers, not certs in them.

Cisco stuff is the only way to go....

xenodamus

Jollycork wrote: »

I found that IT department managers that are actually the decision people to hire someone would rather have the CCNA/CCNP than a MCSE.

So your department heads would rather hire a CCNP to run their Exchange server than an MCSE:M?

I'm all for Cisco, don't get me wrong. I plan on working on the CCNP after my MCSE. But I think it really just depends on the job you're applying for. To say that hiring managers in general just prefer a CCNP to MCSE sounds a little odd.

Jollycork

but they didn't hire me for that, they hired me because I had a CCNA.

and after I got hired, they asked "know anything about Active Directory & Exchange?" my reply was " Yep but I'm not certified" to wit the mgr said " ok go get certified". So I got a MCSE with Messaging.

My boss said he'd rather have someone with strong networking skills that later on, can get Microsoft skills. He's had to many Microsoft guys he's hired who didn't have any networking skills [switching and routing] and when asked to setup a managed network, [vlans, port security, routing, access lists] they couldn't do it. What good is a network admin that can't admin the network, rather only admin Microsoft servers?

Bl8ckr0uter

chmorin wrote: »

I find that most of the people are on here commenting helping and getting helped because of a personal addiction to the subject mannor, not the prize at the end of the tunnel.

**** that, I am all about a dollar like 4 quarters. Seriously I am about getting my paper so I can retire before I turn 50...

As far as the OP, I'd say you can go for both if you want and then decide on what you want to specialize in.

erpadmin

chmorin wrote: »

That being said systems admins and network admins are pretty close in the price range, from what I can tell. You can branch out or specialize in both and make those buckets I mentioned earlier.

So... pick your poison!

I also +1 as well as his other statement about the passion and not greed!

I don't have a serious Cisco background. I understand networking in a sense that's a bit deeper than what's covered in Network+ but nowhere near as technical as a CCNA (though I can tell if he dumped that or not...the technical ability with Cisco is something you just can't fake.)

I respect the network team and those who work with networks. I'm a systems/server guy through and through though. CCIEs make six figure salaries, on average! I read those CCIE blogs here and if I ever had delusions that I could "study" for the CCIE so that I too can make a six-figure salary, you would be right to say I was smoking something funny. I know we're talking about CCNA vs MCSA, but my point is that one should do something not solely because he's competent, but because he enjoys the work. Some folks are comfortable with just the routers (CCNA), and others are more comfortable with the servers/systems side of things (MCXX(X)). It's all about what you enjoy. I am sure I could pick up CCNA like a fish to water, but I personally would rather stick with servers. And vice-versa, I would imagine.

Let me just say too that Cisco definitely does a wonderful job in testing folks. Yeah, you can probably **** a CCNA, but a CCNP/CCIE....it's not happening. That's why I can respect those guys who earned them and show competence in what they do. I wish Microsoft did a better job of doing that...but I still will study for it as I've studied for everything else in life.

erpadmin

Jollycork wrote: »

What good is a network admin that can't admin the network, rather only admin Microsoft servers?

Those aren't network admins; those are are server admins. If the shop is that small, you would have to do both. But if you're in a large enough shop, those duties can (and usually are) segmented.