Finally - I am a CCNP

Panzer919

It's been a very long journey, but I passed TSHOOT this morning. My boss keeps telling me to go ahead and get the DP, but I'm not sure if that's what I want to do. Might work towards getting my IE written out of the way or start working on some Datacenter knowledge.

Ivanjam

Congratulations, Panzer919! You deserve a rest and a six-pack of your favorite beer.

Mrock4

Congrats! If you want to go the IE right now is the best time IMO, since a lot of the IE written is overlap with the CCNP track.

NetworkVeteran

Congratulations! The next-step is a tricky choice.

The CCIE R&S is obviously the best upgrade, but it takes 1-2 years, and you won't have anything concrete to show for your efforts until you complete that arc. I think you'll discover that the written qualification exam is fairly easy and nothing to brag about. Especially when you discover those folks who've passed it but would never be able to pass the CCNP exams!

I've opted for the CCNP => CCIP => => Written => Lab route with the idea of having more concrete milestones to show for my progress (learning BGP, MPLS, and QoS in more detail). I still wonder if I should go JNCIA and/or MEF after CCIP but before CCIE. I don't want folks to get the impression I'm a Cisco groupee, since I do fiddle with J alot and A-L on occasion.

Roguetadhg

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

Congratulations! The next-step is a tricky choice.

The CCIE R&S is obviously the best upgrade, but it takes 1-2 years, and you won't have anything concrete to show for your efforts until you complete that arc. I think you'll discover that the written qualification exam is fairly easy and nothing to brag about. Especially when you discover those folks who've passed it but would never be able to pass the CCNP exams!

I've opted for the CCNP => CCIP => => Written => Lab route with the idea of having more concrete milestones to show for my progress (learning BGP, MPLS, and QoS in more detail). I still wonder if I should go JNCIA and/or MEF after CCIP but before CCIE. I don't want folks to get the impression I'm a Cisco groupee, since I do fiddle with J alot and A-L on occasion.

Hmm. Why is it like that? I wouldn't thought it would've been harder than NP. May not be Lab-hard. But definitely harder

Panzer919

The new CCNP Foundation Learning Guides do a good job of going through most of the IE material. There are some big holes though. The CCIP used to be a good tool to fill those holes but since that is gone, you have to just study and lab the material without being able to use the tests as an indication of how well you knew the material. At least that's my take. I like being able to take a test to see how well I know the material. I will probably still get those books to have a complete picture though.

reloaded

Congrats! Passed same test today also, feels great to be official!

Roguetadhg

Panzer919 wrote: »

The new CCNP Foundation Learning Guides do a good job of going through most of the IE material. There are some big holes though. The CCIP used to be a good tool to fill those holes but since that is gone, you have to just study and lab the material without being able to use the tests as an indication of how well you knew the material. At least that's my take. I like being able to take a test to see how well I know the material. I will probably still get those books to have a complete picture though.

Would you think getting hands on CCIP MPLS, BGP books would be beneficial for the IE:R+S? Before they go out of print.

Panzer919

Absolutely! Add it to the typical "required reading" that you will see on the IE forums (if they are not already there). Just a suggestion (unless your employer is picking up your book bill, use Half.com and you can usually save a decent amount of $ on the books. I bought my CCNP books in a set and saved like $75.

NetworkVeteran

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Hmm. Why is it like that? I wouldn't thought it would've been harder than NP. May not be Lab-hard. But definitely harder

It's true the body of CCIE R&S theory is larger than the body of CCNP R&S theory. Note, however, that the CCIE R&S Written does not cover configuration / troubleshooting. This means it's possible for someone without much hands-on knowledge to pass, and it's easier to ****.

Cisco doesn't award any certificate for passing the CCIE Written.

It's counter-intuitive, but I don't see a CCIE Written w/o CCNP as stronger than a CCNP, that certainly hasn't been my experience in the field anyway, although I have met people go batty and make poor decisions when dealing with an "almost CCIE".

(I say this having passed the CCIE Written before and in-position to do so again.)

Panzer919

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

It's counter-intuitive, but often a CCIE Written w/o CCNP is weaker than a CCNP, and too often people act batty when they think they're dealing with an "Almost CCIE".

I know a Cisco Consultant who had their NA and was working their way through when they let their cert lapse due to work load. He decided to say screw it and was using the CCNP Foundation Learning Guides to study for the IE.

I have not begun to look over the IE written blue print to see what all it goes over. I have heard that if you know the NP stuff, your over half way to the IE written being done. Which is why most people don't say a whole lot when the written is done.

Roguetadhg

It's still one step closer to those digits. It may be not gold, but it's better than nothing

Panzer919

Roguetadhg wrote: »

It's still one step closer to those digits. It may be not gold, but it's better than nothing

Pennies add up to dollars eventually

creamy_stew

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Would you think getting hands on CCIP MPLS, BGP books would be beneficial for the IE:R+S? Before they go out of print.

I think so. The CCIP QoS cert guide is certainly mentioned all the time as a great resource.

MickQ

First off, congrats Panzer!

Secondly, this thread has given me a lot to think about. To cover the IE material, I was looking at doing DA, DP, IP (CCNP:SP), then IE written before the lab.
Is the IE written that (relatively) easy coming straight from getting your NP?

Zartanasaurus

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Hmm. Why is it like that? I wouldn't thought it would've been harder than NP. May not be Lab-hard. But definitely harder

The difference between NP and IE Written is that each individual NP test is more focused and in depth-on that particular technology and includes sims. IE Written covers more topics overall than the entire NP track (sort of NP + IP), but doesn't go very deep. Inch deep, mile wide as they say. Of course, with an exam like that, there's nothing to prevent them from asking you super complicated questions about each domain, but there's a healthy mix of gimme CCNA level questions on the exam as well. I thought the exam was fair though.

Zartanasaurus

Panzer919 wrote: »

I have not begun to look over the IE written blue print to see what all it goes over. I have heard that if you know the NP stuff, your over half way to the IE written being done. Which is why most people don't say a whole lot when the written is done.

Having just passed my Written, I can say that ROUTE and SWITCH are the two best prerequisite tests, at least in the questions I got. Over half way there probably isn't an understatement. The other half is a mix of stuff you'd learn in IP, and a few topics that you'd either know from OTJ or Cisco Docs as I haven't ever seen them listed on any NP level Exam Topic lists.

NetworkVeteran

MickQ wrote: »

Is the IE written that (relatively) easy coming straight from getting your NP?

Well, the first time I passed the CCNP, I spent 2-3 months per exam. I then spent a total of about a month studying Caslow's CCIE book and passed the CCIE Written. So yes, it really was that easy in the past. I have colleagues who passed it more recently, and their estimation is similar.

networker050184

Congrats!

MrBrian

Congrats on the NP!

whatthehell

Great job and congratz!

tprice5

Congrats!

Panzer919

Thanks everyone. I started looking at the datacenter specialist exams to help me along the way to an eventual Datacenter IE. Surprisingly some require the CCDA so looks like that is my next move. Get the design out of the way and either hit CCIE R&S and/or Datacenter.

JeanM

Congrats! Interesting to read about the next targets..