"CCNA" is again taking center stage for Cisco certifications

xagreus · June 4

According to https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/a-new-era-for-cisco-certifications, we're coming full circle, and their Associate-level cybersecurity certification will again be considered "CCNA":

CCNA Cyber Ops (2016) -->
Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate (2020)-->
Cisco Certified Cybersecurity Associate (2025?)-->
CCNA Cybersecurity (Feb. 3, 2026)

Similarly,

Cisco Certified Cybersecurity Professional-->
CCNP Cybersecurity

"No changes will be made to the exam topics, only the name of the certifications will change."

And notably, the Cisco DevNet Associate/Professional/Expert certifications will be re-branded as CCNA Automation/CCNP Automation/CCIE Automation, with major updates only to the CCNP exam.

I think it makes sense to make the most of Cisco's certification brand recognition like this. And I do like the broad "Automation" designation rather than the rather narrower "DevNet" focus.

volfkhat · June 5

i first got my CCNP back in 2020....

Nowadays... i'm Not even sure if it's worth renewing

Funny how 5 years can change things lol

E Double U · June 6

I got my CCNA in 2010, CCNA Security in 2013, and CCNP Security in 2014. Moved on to vendor-agnostic certs after that and never looked back since I moved into roles that no longer granted me access to Cisco devices. I enjoyed those days though. I worked very hard for CCNA and got a lot out of it at the time.

JDMurray · June 6

The naming of certifications is all about marketing. Sales are down? Get the marketing people to change a few things! Sometimes it's best to go retro.

volfkhat · June 9

E Double U said:

I got my CCNA in 2010, CCNA Security in 2013, and CCNP Security in 2014. Moved on to vendor-agnostic certs after that and never looked back since I moved into roles that no longer granted me access to Cisco devices. I enjoyed those days though. I worked very hard for CCNA and got a lot out of it at the time.

Just curious...
How did you get the training for your CCNA back in 2010?

I didnt get mine until 2015... but that was only thanks to the genrousity of a particular Youtube channel (Dan's courses, i believe)

But man... 2010 was so much earlier.

Did you learn it in school? Employer?

Thanks

greg9891 · June 10

JDMurray said:

The naming of certifications is all about marketing. Sales are down? Get the marketing people to change a few things! Sometimes it's best to go retro.

I'm thinking the same thing. These days its been a tossup as to which certifications are worth it and which ones to let expire.

E Double U · June 11

volfkhat said:

E Double U said:

I got my CCNA in 2010, CCNA Security in 2013, and CCNP Security in 2014. Moved on to vendor-agnostic certs after that and never looked back since I moved into roles that no longer granted me access to Cisco devices. I enjoyed those days though. I worked very hard for CCNA and got a lot out of it at the time.

Just curious...
How did you get the training for your CCNA back in 2010?

I didnt get mine until 2015... but that was only thanks to the genrousity of a particular Youtube channel (Dan's courses, i believe)

But man... 2010 was so much earlier.

Did you learn it in school? Employer?

Thanks

A colleague got his CCIE and for a small fee offered to train analysts interested in obtaining the CCNA. He opened up access for us to the engineering team's lab environment for practicing configurations. My daily role already granted me access to perform show commands on Cisco routers.

volfkhat · June 11

E Double U said:

A colleague got his CCIE and for a small fee offered to train analysts interested in obtaining the CCNA. He opened up access for us to the engineering team's lab environment for practicing configurations. My daily role already granted me access to perform show commands on Cisco routers.

WOWZA.... quite a fortunate opportunity

E Double U · June 13

volfkhat said:

E Double U said:

A colleague got his CCIE and for a small fee offered to train analysts interested in obtaining the CCNA. He opened up access for us to the engineering team's lab environment for practicing configurations. My daily role already granted me access to perform show commands on Cisco routers.

WOWZA.... quite a fortunate opportunity

Indeed! So I took full advantage.

"CCNA" is again taking center stage for Cisco certifications

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