How will we obtain success on this business? It was the query I contemplated 20 years in the past once I got down to take my profession to the following degree and attain what few have: the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (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 business.
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.
Brief History of the CCIE Program
- 1990: Networkers Users Symposiums launches: As networking booms with new ranges of connection and extra challenges in connectivity, we launch Networkers Users Symposiums – also referred to as “Networkers.” The convention, later renamed Cisco Live, allows prospects to study, collaborate, and develop the business 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 where other vendors’ certification programs leave off.”
- Fun reality: The unique identify of this system was going to be “Cisco Top Gun.” However, the well-known Tom Cruise film by the identical identify had already been launched. We figured there could also be some authorized points in utilizing that identify… so as an alternative, we selected “Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert.”
- 1993: First CCIE Award: The CCIE program selected to begin 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 changing into a CCIE began within the late 90s. Tech was very totally different from at present. 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 easy methods to take my profession to the following degree, I found Cisco, a fairly new tech firm on the time. Not solely did I discover a technique to take a look at my abilities with the CCIE program, however a window of alternative. The examination ensured perfection, and I favored the problem.
Becoming a CCIE opened profession developments for me. Not solely was I capable of obtain promotions with extra pay, however I additionally gained extra peer respect and recognition—as did my colleagues who acquired the certification. There is a excessive degree of respect for individuals who obtain CCIE. You turn into a part of an elite group.
In basic, worth is straight equal to the relevancy of a product. If the CCIE take a look at was irrelevant to what I did in my job, I might not have pursued it. And if it was not up to date to the technology of at present, this system would fail. I’ve been a CCIE for 20+ years and may nonetheless apply my learnings from this system.
CCIE program is a real take a look at of deep data and expertise, an endorsement (validation) of being an knowledgeable – crème de la crème!
The CCIE Program’s Transformation Over Time
As expertise has developed, this system has modified considerably. In the early days, the CCIE program was a two-day take a look at, the place candidates spent the primary day establishing 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.
Today’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 enhanced lab examination is concentrated on the end-to-end community lifecycle from Day 0 (planning & designing), Day 1 (implementing and deploying), and Day 2 (working & sustaining), testing complete abilities throughout the complete spectrum of community options.
Starting final 12 months, we launched Cisco Certification Roadmaps, an agile and iterative cadence-based mannequin to replace exams extra steadily and incrementally, preserving them extra present and related, aligned with fast expertise evolution, and making certain relevancy for at present. The roadmap will present well timed and related data to maintain you forward of adjustments being launched as you examine for the CCIE examination and all different Cisco certifications.
Join the CCIE Celebration
Join us in celebrating the 30th anniversary of this system and turn into part of the #CCIE30 neighborhood!
In June, we kicked off celebrations at Cisco Live in Las Vegas, however we shall be celebrating world wide all year long. Each CCIE lab website will host “birthday” celebrations, bringing prospects and workers collectively to share tales and focus on how the CCIE program modified their lives.
How Can You Become a CCIE?
This examination is about validating your expertise—within the area and in actual life.
Most individuals who fail lack expertise. I might 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. Once I began really 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 upon getting ideally gained 5 to seven years of expertise, you continue to should put together. Becoming a CCIE is tough work, however we’ve got assets obtainable to you.
Whether you might be in your journey to changing into a CCIE or working towards advancing your profession typically, I go away you with this recommendation: Focus on pursuing excellence, and success will observe.
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