CCIE Certification

The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert, or CCIE, is a technical certification offered by Cisco Systems. The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) and Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) certifications were established to assist the industry in distinguishing the top echelon of internetworking experts worldwide and to assess Expert-level infrastructure network design skills worldwide. These certifications are accepted worldwide as the most prestigious networking certifications in the industry. The CCIE and CCDE community has established a reputation of leading the networking industry in deep technical networking knowledge and are deployed into the most technically challenging network assignments. The Expert-level certification program continually updates and revises its testing tools and methodologies to ensure unparalleled program quality, relevance and value. Through a rigorous written exam and a performance based lab, these Expert-level certification programs set the standard for internetworking expertise. ^[1]

The program is currently divided into six different areas of expertise or "tracks". The CCIE track in which one becomes certified determines the different aspects of networking technology. One may also choose to pursue multiple CCIE tracks in several different categories of Cisco technology: Routing & Switching, Service Provider, Security, Collaboration, Data Center, and Wireless.

CCIE Requirements

According to Cisco, less than 3% of Cisco Certified engineers obtain CCIE certification and less than 1% of the networking professionals worldwide, and the average candidate will spend thousands of their own dollars and spend at least 18 months studying while pursuing it.^[2]

CCIE candidates must first pass a written qualification exam and then the corresponding hands-on lab exam. An in-depth understanding of the topics on the exams and three to five years of job experience are expected before attempting certification. ^[3]

There are two test sets for the requirement for certification

• Written Exam : Duration 120 minutes , 90 - 110 questions with multiple choice and simulation
• Lab Exam : 8 hours Lab exam (One day), Previously, CCIE Lab Exam was two full days exam

Details: Lab exam consists of a 2 hour Troubleshooting section, a 30 minute Diagnostic section, and a 5 hour and 30 minute Configuration section.

Tracks of Expert Certification

There are seven tracks of Expert Level certifications. It was designed for the requirement of the industry.

• CCDE : The expert-level network design engineers who is capable of translating business needs, budget, and operational constraints into the design of a converged solution. ^[4]
• CCIE Routing & Switching: The most popular CCIE track. The expert-level network engineers who can plan, operate and troubleshoot complex, converged network infrastructure. ^[5]
• CCIE Collaboration: Suitable expert level for the Collaboration Architects, Unified Communications Architects, or Voice and Video Network Managers ^[6]
• CCIE Data Center: Expert of the planning, design, implementation and management of complex, modern IT data center infrastructure. ^[7]
• CCIE Security: Concerning the modern security risks, threats, vulnerabilities, The security experts who have the knowledge and skills to architect, engineer, implement, troubleshoot, and support the full suite of Cisco security technologies and solutions using the latest industry best practices to secure systems and environments. ^[8]
• CCIE Service Provider: The expert-level ISP (Internet Service Provider) network engineers who bring the knowledge and skill to build an extensible Service Provider infrastructure to deliver rich managed services ^[9]
• CCIE Wireless: The expert who is able to demonstrate broad theoretical knowledge of wireless networking and a solid understanding of wireless local area networking (WLAN) technologies from Cisco. ^[10]

CCIE Emeritus

CCIE holders would be able to apply the CCIE Emeritus if thay are approaching their ten year anniversary of CCIE licence.

• CCIE Emeritus would be the person who has moved out of the "day to day" Network and technical work but would be able to involve in the CCIE program serving as ambassadors to current and future CCIE program.
• CCIE Emeritus is non-ACTIVE CCIE but Candidate is recognized for technical proficiency and long term status within the program.
• CCIE Emeritus have the opportunity to re-enter active CCIE status by taking any current written CCIE exam if necessary. ^[11]

Continuing Education Program

It is alternative way of recertification for the CCIE license instead of passing the written exam. This program is managed by the principals Flexibility, Diversity and Integrity

• Flexibility : Allowing individuals a wide range of options for the recertification
• Diversity: Several options of trainings: online courses, instructor-led training and authoring of content
• Integrity: Achieved by having Cisco authorized content providers with recertification requirement, validate the credits submitted by that individual ^[12]

Relevance to real-world situations

Regarding a new approach to networking with Software-defined networking, There are some critics about CCIE certifications with the challenging corner-case scenarios of written and lab exams. However, the principal of networking is still same and a router or a switch is a physical device or just a piece of software, the fundamental Networking operations remain the same in the real-world internetworking. CCIE still relevant to the Software-defined networking era. ^[13]

References