Cisco Professional Level Certs

sieffsieff Member Posts: 276
in General Certification
Does it make sense to continue acquiring the different flavors of the CCNP certs (Security, Wireless, SP) "OR" to go for the CCIE? For example I was tempted to go for the CCDP, but I'm debating the same energy required for another professional level cert could be used to prepare for a CCIE cert. At what point do you stop going for professional level certs and go all in for an expert level cert in one technology?
"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept were toiling upward in the night." from the poem: The Ladder of St. Augustine, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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  • Forsaken_GAForsaken_GA Member Posts: 4,024
    sieff wrote: »
    Does it make sense to continue acquiring the different flavors of the CCNP certs (Security, Wireless, SP) "OR" to go for the CCIE? For example I was tempted to go for the CCDP, but I'm debating the same energy required for another professional level cert could be used to prepare for a CCIE cert. At what point do you stop going for professional level certs and go all in for an expert level cert in one technology?

    It's really up to you. My end game is the CCIE Routing and Switching cert. So I pursued the CCNP, took a little time out for CCDP (wish I hadn't, it's essentially resume filler, and more suited to a sales engineer than a network engineer) and then moved on to CCIP. I took the CCIP specifically because it covers BGP, MPLS, and QoS, which are all topics covered by the CCIE R&S lab, so studying for and passing those cert exams was basically CCIE prep. I had to know the material anyway, so figured I might as well get the professional level cert to go along with it.

    If your end game is CCIE Security, I'd look over the topics that the lab exam covers, and take all associate and professional level certs that have material on that lab exam. This iwll give you a solid study plan, and allow you to use the professional level certs as milestones on your preparation path, while at the same time making you more marketable.
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  • cxzar20cxzar20 Member Posts: 168
    Forsaken_GA wrote: »
    It's really up to you. My end game is the CCIE Routing and Switching cert. So I pursued the CCNP, took a little time out for CCDP (wish I hadn't, it's essentially resume filler, and more suited to a sales engineer than a network engineer) and then moved on to CCIP. I took the CCIP specifically because it covers BGP, MPLS, and QoS, which are all topics covered by the CCIE R&S lab, so studying for and passing those cert exams was basically CCIE prep. I had to know the material anyway, so figured I might as well get the professional level cert to go along with it.

    If your end game is CCIE Security, I'd look over the topics that the lab exam covers, and take all associate and professional level certs that have material on that lab exam. This iwll give you a solid study plan, and allow you to use the professional level certs as milestones on your preparation path, while at the same time making you more marketable.

    I feel the same way about the CCDP. I went for it because my employer was pushing for it, but I don't even include the CCDA on my resume.
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  • spiderjerichospiderjericho Registered Users, Member Posts: 896 ■■■■■□□□□□
    sieff wrote: »
    Does it make sense to continue acquiring the different flavors of the CCNP certs (Security, Wireless, SP) "OR" to go for the CCIE? For example I was tempted to go for the CCDP, but I'm debating the same energy required for another professional level cert could be used to prepare for a CCIE cert. At what point do you stop going for professional level certs and go all in for an expert level cert in one technology?
    I think it all depends on your career goals. Do you work or want to work in a job where you're a general purpose network admin/engineer or do you work somewhere where you're more specialized like routing/switching, unified communication, planning/network design, wireless, SANs, etc?

    I think if you're going about the Pokemon approach, it makes you more of a renaissance man versus specialist. As someone who went through most of the Associate certifications (except for wireless), I began to realize I wasn't using most of the skills I was learning (and as they say, if you don't use it, you lose it). I'd say the CCNA has stuck with me, but I don't touch an infrastructure where I have to implement IP Phones, Communication Managers, zone-based firewalls, IOS IPS or do much designs. I think it was good in exposing me to the technologies but I want to be focused on routing/switching. Some of the certs help to enhance that, but I don't work in a SMB or medium-sized network where that might help.

    In my case the time I would invest in say a Juniper or HP routing/switching cert would go be more beneficial and make me more marketable than learning , CCNP Service Provider, CCNP Wireless or CCNP Security (though that is a very desirable cert if you're working with IPS, ASA, etc).

    And I hated studying for CCDP, but I think it definitely helps to supplement a CCNP Voice, CCNP R&S, etc. It helps you to see the whys as far as why a network is concerned versus the how things work.
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