CCNP

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.

Is Now the Time to Buy a CertPack Deal?

In handling a series of reader questions recently here on the ITKE, somebody raised the question of whether or not it was worth spending $15,000 to sign up for a combination cert training package that would help him acquire A+, Network+, MCP, and MCSA certification. This is an interesting question for all kinds of reasons that I’d like to explore. But first the answer is: “It depends on who’s paying. If somebody else is footing the bill, it may be worthwhile. If you must pay for this out of your own pocket, or borrow money to cover those costs, perhaps not.”

Now for some cost analysis, and then some explanations:

• As I explained waaaay back in 2002, an MCSA is going to cost you about $1,100 to acquire based on minimal and actual costs for self-study including the exams themselves ($125 x 4 = $500 ), Exam Crams ($30 x 4 = $120), full-length study guides ($50 x 4 = $200), and practice tests ($70 x 4 = $280). BTW, obtaining the MCSA gets you an MCP when you pass the first exam in the series, so mentioning the MCP is a little misleading: you must be an MCP to become an MCSA in any case.
• If you shop for exam vouchers carefully, you can find discounts on Network+ costs, with a low of about $215 (see ITExamVouchers.com for the latest deals). Add in the Exam Cram ($30), Study Guide ($50), and a practice exam ($70) for a total of $365 for self-study costs.
• Ditto above for A+, and you can find a low of about $300 for both of the A+ exams. Add two each Exam Crams ($60), Study Guides ($100), and practice exams ($140) for a total of $600 for self-study costs.
• Total self-study budget: $2,065 vs. package price of $15,000. Need I say any more?

Now some explanations, thoughts, and ideas:

• Why go after the MCSA when you should be thinking MCITP for the latest Windows client and server versions, plus platform technologies, services, and so forth, anyway. Chances are good the MCSA will disappear no later than 2012 anyway. Why spend that kind of cash on a soon-to-be-obsolete credential?
• Network+ and A+ are strictly entry level technician certs. They might get you into a support tech or help desk “starter job,” but they won’t get you much further than that. If you’re expecting a significant return on your training/cert investments, these are just the first elements in what should be a much longer sequence of increasingly serious (and higher-paying) credentials.
• If you really want to get a sequence going, you’d want to think about various MCITP credentials, and possibly also Cisco certifications in the CCENT, CCNA, and professional (CCNP, CCDP, CCVP, CCSP) families. Cisco exams cost $125 (two-step CCNA process) or $250 (one-step CCNA and most other non-CCIE exams) each, and you can take 1 (640-802) or 2 (640-822 which also gets you a CCENT, and 640-816) to earn the CCNA. Most of the Cisco professional certs require 4 exams at $250 each to earn, but are highly regarded in the marketplace.

My final take on this situation is that only those with money to burn, or other people’s money to spend, should be considering a “full boat classroom ride to certification.” For everybody else, the economics of self-study are still too compelling to overlook. Still the very best bang for your certification bucks around!

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…