CCIE

A Pattern Emerges from Recent CCNA “Specializations”

I’d been wondering recently why Cisco is expanding its ever-popular CCNA certification to include CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, and CCNA Wireless. Now I get it: Cisco also offers various professional credentials, including CCDP (Design), CCNP (Networking), CCSP (Security), and CCVP (Voice), as well as CCIE specializations (many of them in synch with the other areas already mentioned). In the near future, a plain-vanilla CCNA will no longer suffice to meet prequisite requirements for the CCSP and CCVP. You guessed it: the relevant specialist versions of the CCNA will be required to meet pre-requisites instead.

Given that coverage from one Cisco Professional cert to another varies pretty widely, I think this evolution in requirements makes sense, and also provides a way for entry-level professionals to start pursuing technical specialties closer to the beginning of their Cisco cert path. I’m a little concerned that fundamentals remain well-covered no matter what kind of CCNA one earns, but Cisco generally does a good job of ensuring its certified professionals have solid and comprehensive backgrounds in basic networking tools, terms, and concepts. Perhaps this means the company is simply adding a “merit badge” program, because individuals who seek the CCNA Voice, CCNA Security, or CCNA Wireless credentials must first earn the base CCNA credential, then take another exam in the area of specialization.

Finally, given the existence of a CCNA Wireless as well as a CCIE Wireless, does this mean that a CCWP might be in the offing? I can’t help but see this omission as a gap that Cisco will seek to fill, possibly even some day soon. For more information on various Cisco certifications visit www dot cisco dot com slash go slash <certname> where you replace the final <certname> with CCNA, CCNP, CCDP,…, CCIE to get to their home pages; or simply use certification instead of <certname> at the end of that string to get to the cert program home page.

Erik Eckel Opines on “10 Best IT Certifications”

In digging through some Microsoft PR materials recently, I came across mention of a Top 10 IT certification list that Erik Eckel put together for TechRepublic, later reprinted by big-time training company Global Knowledge. Though it’s dated December 12, 2008 it still provides some interesting information for consideration, and some fodder for ongoing debate. I’m not quite sure that I fully understand his selection criteria which he describes as follows “While this list may not include the 10 best accreditations for you, it does catalog 10 IT certifications that possess significant value for a wide range of technology professionals.”

Here’s his list as ranked at TechRepublic in straight numerical order:

1. MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional), with specific mention of database developer, database administrator, enterprise messaging administrator, and server asministrator
2. MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist), with specific mention of SQL Server business intelligence, database creation, or SQL server administration
3. CompTIA Security+, with an observation that “security continues to be a critical topic”
4. MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) with specific mention of the Windows Developer 3.5, ASP.NET Developer 3.5, and Enterprise Applications Developer 3.5 tracks
5. CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate), with an emphasis on increasing dependence on remote access technologies, even at smaller companies
6. Comptia A+, iwth an emphasis on “proven support expertise” in the areas of desktop installation, problem diagnosis, preventive maintenance, and computer/network troubleshooting.
7. PMP (Project Management Professional) with an emphasis on “job skills and knowledge required to plan, execute, budget, and lead a technology project”
8. MCSE/MCSA (Microsoft Certified System Engineer/Administrator) represent Microsoft’s previous take on basic admin (MCTS) and professional (MCITP) certs, and enjoy amazing certficiation population numbers–as Eckel observes “…these certifications tend to indicate holders that have been working within the technology field for a long time.”
9. CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) receives mention for “…building a respected, vendor-neutral security certification,” that’s also accredited by ANSI.
10. CompTIA Linux+ get a nod because “…the open source alternative is an important platform…”

Given these choices, it’s no wonder that Microsoft is promoting this list: they’ve garnered 4 out of 10 (really 5 out of 11) choices therein. CompTIA might also take cheer as well from the inclusion of Network+, Security+, and A+ (of which Network+ and A+ are by far its most popular credentials). And certainly, all the other elements in the list–CCNA, PMP, and CISSP–are all immensely popular and highly sought-after credentials as well.

Though Eckel’s selection criteria and methods aren’t entirely clear, this blog makes me wish that CertCities.com would revive its Top 10 lists, which used to be an interesting marker between one year and the next for IT professionals. At  least their list came from a survey of thousands of active IT participants, an could in some sense be argued as representative of collective interests. Funny how those lists of yore don’t differ too much from Eckel’s list, either.

I wouldn’t have any arguments with this list, in fact, if it used the word “Popular” instead of “Best” to describe its constituents, because there’s almost no argument about any of these on a pure numbers basis. But the definition of best is one that’s fraught with peril, and certainly subject to lots of differing interpretations. While he does give the CCIE passing mention in his CCNA item, I’d be inclined to put it in any Top 10 Best I were to put together,  and I’d be more inclined to pick rather more senior-level credentials rather than entry-levels ones like the CompTIA items, MCTS, and CCNA. But that’s my “best” interpretation showing. What’s yours?

More on Entry-Level Certs from the Trenches

I play pool two nights a week on leagues that belong to the American Poolplayers Association (APA). My Thursday night 9-ball team is composed primarily of people who work in IT. Of the seven people on the team, one is a paralegal, another a hairdresser, and the other five work for Dell (1), IBM/Tivoli (1), NetQoS (1), Megapath (a network management subsidiary of T-Mobile), and me/himself (self-employed technology writer).

One of our number has recently earned his CCNA, by finally completing the second of the two exam sequence for that credential (640-822 ICND1 and 640-816 ICND2), about 9 months after completing the first exam. The second time around it took him three tries to pass, primarily because of the many draws on his time away from studying and toward other things in life: family, leisure, plus a baby on the way. He’s 32 and has worked for the same high-tech company for the past 5 years.

When I asked my friend–let’s call him Joe–whether or not his newly-earned credential would provide him a salary bump, he thought about it for a minute and then said “No. Probably not. I’ll see when my next annual review comes around.” When I asked him why he thought that was the case, he observed that his employer is notoriously attentive to the bottom line and that employees tend to come late into their calculations and distributions even when times are good, more so when times are not so good. Right now, 2% raises are about as much as anybody is getting, under any circumstances.

He’s getting ready to start on the CCNP for Routing and Switching next, with a goal of earning that credential by the end of 2009 or early in 2010. At that point, he plans to start down the CCIE path for both Routing and Switching and Security, and also plans to start looking around for another job. I’ve seen this young man grow significantly in skills, knowledge, professional stature, and maturity in obtaining his CCNA and expect him to continue further down that path in pursuing and obtaining his CCNP, and ultimately, his CCIE.

But this story is entirely typical for many early to mid-career IT professionals (Joe has 7 years of full-time IT experience now, and has worked his way up from help desk, to technical support, to infrastructure support along the way). He’s also got a bachelor’s in Computer Science from a middle tier Texas University and now, of course, the CCNA. When I ask him how he feels about his progress and prospects he’s brutally realistic about his situation: “I had hoped to be doing better by now, but with the economy so shaky, I could definitely be doing worse.” This only appears to strengthen his resolve to do better in the future, and to turn his advancing certifications into more earnings and improved job security.

So do we all, Joe; so do we all. As we make the transition from a crazy 2008 to an uncertain 2009, I hope all of us can appreciate what’s good about our current situations, and resolve to improve them as best we can in the times ahead. What else can we do? You tell me…

The Importance of Soft Skills (Part 1 of 4 Parts)

Soft skills have a lot to do with career opportunities and development, just as do harder technical skills. What’s this distinction mean? Soft skills refer to abilities that make people better employees, and open doors to opportunities, that aren’t directly related to the subject matter for their jobs. In simpler language, soft skills refer to a person’s ability to relate to others, to get him- or herself (and possibly others) organized, to communicate in written, spoken or other forms, to conduct research or gather information about various topics as assigned, and so forth.

Soft skills might be considered the things you should know how to do to do your best at any job, no matter what that specific job might be. Soft skills also explain why college degrees are valued credentials for job candidates: it takes 2 to 4 years to earn most degrees (excluding the very top tier for PhD, MD, and so on). To earn a degree, candidates must possess the ability to learn, to tackle a broad range of subject matter, to possess at least minimal communications skills that include a fair amount of writing and perhaps also some spoken or presented materials, and to dig into a subject (their major) to a considerable level of detail.

Though this recasting of the degree isn’t meant to overlook or downplay the importance of a chosen field of study, nor to negate the idea that some majors are more valuable (and usally also more difficult) than others, my idea here is to illustrate how soft skills add value to the degree as a pretty substantial credential. Considering the time, effort, and expense involved in earning a degree, it should also help to compare and contrast the respective value of a degree versus most IT certifications. While some very special credentials, such as the Cisco CCIE and SAP consulting certs, can claim some degree of parity with a degree, most IT certs fall significantly lower on the ladder of perceived value, importance, and difficulty involved.

In my next three blogs, I will focus on the same number of soft skills that I believe serious IT professionals would all do well to cultivate further:

1. Written communications
2. Spoken communications and presentations
3. Project management

I will explore the value for each such skill, explain some techniques to assess your current skills levels and capabilities, and suggest some possible approaches or activities to improve your standing for each one. Hopefully, this will be not only useful and informative, but also interesting and perhaps even stimulating enough to provoke some follow-through.

Also, please don’t forget that if you have questions, comments, or suggestions for other topics that I might address you can post them here, or e-mail them to me at  EdTittel at TechTarget.com. As always, thanks for your time and attention.

–Ed–

Calculating Certification ROI

Enough readers have commented on pros, cons, and costs of certification that I wanted to throw a calculation tool into the hopper. Whenever you consider spending time, effort, and money on career development or enhancement it’s a really good idea to use standard “return on investment” techniques to calculate your payoff (or lack thereof) from those things.

Here’s how:
1. Add up all the direct costs for obtaining the certification. This will almost always mean one or two books to prep for your exam, plus the cost of the exam itself. It can also include costs for practice tests, training (classroom, online, DVD, and so forth), and getting to the exam center to take the exam (for example, CCIE lab exams are administered at 10 Cisco sites around the world, so candidates must add travel and lodging costs to the not-inconsiderable costs for the exam itself, unless they’e lucky enough to live within driving distance of one of those test centers). This is your “out of pocket” cost for the certification, and requires you to spend those dollars. For the CCNA, for example, the two-test option involves $250 for exam costs, along with a more hypothetical $100 for books, and $150 for practice tests, for a total of $500.
2. Estimate the time it’s going to take you to prepare for and take the exam. It’s rare to find a cert that requires less than 100 hours of preparation, and more demanding certs can easily require 400-500 hours of preparation. Put a value on an hour of your time (the standard approach is to divide your current annual salary by 2080, or the number of working hours in a year) and multiply by that number. This is your “time cost” for the certification. Let’s say your time is worth $35 and hour, and you plan to spend 100 hours preparing for the CCNA. That cost is then $3,500.
3. Other costs: you have to drive around to get to a test center and back home again, and possibly also to pick up exam materials. Let’s say the CCNA costs for this kind of thing come to $40, including 100 miles of driving for various purposes.

OK, your total cost for this effort is $4,100. Your return on that investment is the amount of additional earnings that obtaining the certification will provide for you. Purely as an illustration, let’s assume you work at a company that picks up your cert exam and materials costs ($500), and that earning the CCNA gets you a 7% raise ($2.45 an hour). You’ll earn an extra $5096 in the year following your CCNA, and you get reimbursed for your $500 for direct costs. That adds up to $5596 in benefits versus $4,100 in total costs. Your ROI is the ratio of benefit to cost, or 36.48%. Nearly everybody would agree that this is a pretty handsome and compelling ROI.

But if instead the cert leads to no pay increase, or opportunities for a new and better paying job, your $4,100 in costs will produce a benefit of only $500, which means you lose $3,600 on the deal. Only you can decide if you’re willing to spend the time (worth $3,500, but yours to spend any way you like) and the other costs ($100) to earn that bit of alphabet soup next to your name. For some people, it’s a welcome way to keep sharpening technical skills and knowledge, and a way to keep learning new and interesting stuff. But if you think of certification as a chore rather than something worthwhile in its own right, you may want to steer clear.

BTW, this approach works for just about any kind of career development activity you may care to undertake (or at least want to think about undertaking). In some cases, the payoff will be tangible and you can make or break the case purely by the numbers. In most cases, however, you’ll have to decide if the intrinsic worth of the learning, activity, and effort involved offsets the value of the time you must put in to see things through to completion. Only you can decide if the answer is “Yes” or “No,” but hopefully, I’ve given you some techniques you can use to quantify the exercise. The ultimate key lies in the value you put on your time, and the opportunity cost to you by spending that time one way (on certification) rather than another (entertainment, family, relaxation, or whatever else you like to do).