How can we obtain success on this trade? It was the query I contemplated 20 years in the past after I got down to take my profession to the following degree and attain what few have: the Cisco Licensed Internetwork Professional (CCIE) certification.
Now main the CCIE program as Cisco’s Director of Certifications, I’ve skilled firsthand the revolutionary affect of this program on my friends and the trade.
This 12 months, we have a good time the 30-year anniversary of the CCIE certification. Let’s look again at the place we got here from—and the way far we’ve come.
Transient Historical past of the CCIE Program
- 1990: Networkers Customers Symposiums launches: As networking booms with new ranges of connection and extra challenges in connectivity, we launch Networkers Customers Symposiums – also called “Networkers.” The convention, later renamed Cisco Reside, allows clients to be taught, collaborate, and develop the trade collectively.
- 1993: CCIE launch: Cisco introduced the CCIE program publicly on September 27, 1993, when then-CEO John Chambers was quoted, “The CCIE program begins the place different distributors’ certification applications go away off.”
- Enjoyable truth: The unique title of this system was going to be “Cisco High Gun.” Nevertheless, the well-known Tom Cruise film by the identical title had already been launched. We figured there could also be some authorized points in utilizing that title… so as a substitute, we selected “Cisco Licensed Internetwork Professional.”
- 1993: First CCIE Award: The CCIE program selected to start out its numbering system with 1024 (2 to the facility of 10). That quantity went right into a plaque on the CCIE lab itself in San Jose, CA, adopted by quantity 1025, awarded to the primary particular person to earn the CCIE. And the remaining is historical past.
My CCIE Journey
My curiosity in turning into a CCIE began within the late 90s. Tech was very totally different from at the moment. The internet was evolving, and networking was a very new idea. I used to be in search of a problem to advance my profession.
When researching the best way to take my profession to the following degree, I found Cisco, a reasonably new tech firm on the time. Not solely did I discover a strategy to take a look at my expertise with the CCIE program, however a window of alternative. The examination ensured perfection, and I preferred the problem.
Turning into a CCIE opened profession developments for me. Not solely was I in a position to obtain promotions with extra pay, however I additionally gained extra peer respect and recognition—as did my colleagues who acquired the certification. There’s a excessive degree of respect for individuals who obtain CCIE. You change into a part of an elite group.
Normally, worth is immediately equal to the relevancy of a product. If the CCIE take a look at was irrelevant to what I did in my job, I’d not have pursued it. And if it was not up to date to the know-how of at the moment, this system would fail. I’ve been a CCIE for 20+ years and might nonetheless apply my learnings from this system.
CCIE program is a real take a look at of deep information and expertise, an endorsement (validation) of being an professional – crème de la crème!
The CCIE Program’s Transformation Over Time
As know-how has developed, this system has modified considerably. Within the early days, the CCIE program was a two-day take a look at, the place candidates spent the primary day organising the {hardware} and initializing the pod with fundamental configurations. Then, candidates would come again for a second day to carry out extra superior configurations, spending the second half of the day troubleshooting eventualities.
As we speak’s CCIE program has been streamlined to a one-day take a look at, eradicating the now trivial steps and focusing extra on community technique, structure, and the community lifecycle, together with planning and designing to satisfy buyer necessities. The improved lab examination is targeted on the end-to-end community lifecycle from Day 0 (planning & designing), Day 1 (implementing and deploying), and Day 2 (working & sustaining), testing complete expertise throughout the whole spectrum of community options.
Beginning final 12 months, we launched Cisco Certification Roadmaps, an agile and iterative cadence-based mannequin to replace exams extra ceaselessly and incrementally, retaining them extra present and related, aligned with speedy know-how evolution, and making certain relevancy for at the moment. The roadmap will present well timed and related info to maintain you forward of adjustments being launched as you research for the CCIE examination and all different Cisco certifications.
Be part of the CCIE Celebration
Be part of us in celebrating the 30th anniversary of this system and change into part of the #CCIE30 neighborhood!
In June, we kicked off celebrations at Cisco Reside in Las Vegas, however we can be celebrating around the globe all year long. Every CCIE lab web site will host “birthday” celebrations, bringing clients and workers collectively to share tales and talk about how the CCIE program modified their lives.
How Can You Turn into a CCIE?
This examination is about validating your expertise—within the subject and in actual life.
Most individuals who fail lack expertise. I’d know. I failed beforehand, not as a result of lack of learning however as a result of I used to be nonetheless too new in my profession. As soon as I began truly doing the eventualities introduced within the examination in my job, my studying accelerated, and so did my CCIE prep. It was all about getting hands-on and practising.
Even after getting ideally gained 5 to seven years of expertise, you continue to should put together. Turning into a CCIE is difficult work, however we’ve got sources accessible to you.
Whether or not you might be in your journey to turning into a CCIE or working towards advancing your profession on the whole, I go away you with this recommendation: Deal with pursuing excellence, and success will comply with.
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