Up, Up, and Away to the Clouds: Cisco Multicloud Specialist Certifications

Is it a chook? Is it a aircraft? No, it’s the newest certifications from Cisco Learning and Certifications! That’s proper, I’m pleased to share some particulars on the three latest Cisco Specialist certifications with you all. And all three relate to that matter that continues to be on the minds of each engineer, IT chief, and firm—the CLOUD!

Every hero deserves an origin story…

Cloud is clearly an essential matter for us all within the IT world at present, and we knew that cloud-related certifications belonged within the Learning and Certifications portfolio of tech profession certifications.  But we wished to do them proper.

Join me on a brief little journey again in time, if you’ll.

It was June 2022, and I used to be in Las Vegas for Cisco Live.  It was a wonderful occasion, in fact, however it was additionally the primary time in a very long time that we’d been capable of get collectively as a Learning and Certifications staff in particular person.  One night as a staff dinner was ending up, I discovered myself sitting with Par Merat, VP of Learning and Certifications, and Joe Clarke, Distinguished Engineer extraordinaire for Learning and Certification.

We began speaking about what ought to come subsequent for certifications from Cisco (a subject that we speak about rather a lot.. certs don’t stand nonetheless), and Cloud, in fact, got here up.  After brainstorming some concepts, a theme began to kind.  We wished to verify any new cloud certification focused elements of the cloud that Cisco and Cisco Certified engineers had important roles to play. We additionally realized {that a} single all-encompassing “Cisco Cloud Certification” wasn’t sensible.  Cloud is simply too massive and broad a subject. The thought of use case focused concentrations got here up, a certification that straight aligned to the forms of tasks that our neighborhood was being requested to do day-after-day.

As an instance, I introduced up one thing I’d heard so many community engineers speak about engaged on for his or her corporations.  They have been being requested to attach their company community WANs to the general public cloud networks in a method that supplied consistency in design, engineering, and operations.  They wanted to combine the cloud networks into the company networks and didn’t simply need to “bolt it on.” So I floated an thought for a “Secure Cloud Connectivity” certification that targeted on this drawback and the Cisco expertise and options that might assist remedy this drawback at present.

The thought resonated, and it will definitely turned “Designing and Implementing Cloud Connectivity,” the primary of the three Multi-Cloud Certifications that got here out of this idea.

Bring out the certs!!!!

This brings us again to at present, and I’m so pleased with the strategy we took for these certifications and the three new Professional-level specializations that we’ve launched.

The first one introduced was the already launched “Designing and Implementing Cloud Connectivity” certification.  This certification is a part of the Enterprise Professional monitor and covers the structure, expertise, and operation of the safe community interconnections between private and non-private clouds utilizing Cisco applied sciences.  What is actually thrilling to me about this certification is that it acknowledges that there are a number of attainable methods to construct community bridges between clouds and that community engineers should steadiness the enterprise and technical necessities of their enterprise when evaluating and deciding on what is true for a challenge.

If you’re an enterprise community skilled managing the connections to the general public cloud, it is a certification it’s best to positively take a look at.  The first date to check is September twentieth, 2023 – which is nearly right here!  As a focus examination within the Enterprise monitor, it may be mixed with a cross on the “Implementing Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies” (ENCOR) examination to earn your CCNP Enterprise certification.

The second new cloud certification is “Designing and Implementing Secure Cloud Access for Users and Endpoints” which lives within the Security Professional monitor and has what could be the best sounding acronym of all of our certifications, “SCATZ”. With SCATZ, we wished to focus on the change in how enterprises are offering customers entry to purposes and information.

When I first began at Cisco about 13 years in the past, almost each software, inner web site, wiki, information share, or instrument I wanted to do my job required that I set up a VPN into Cisco’s community.  This was to make sure that solely licensed customers accessed the essential programs inside Cisco’s company community.  Today that’s not the case.  There are only a few instances that I’ve to open up AnyConnect and hook up with Cisco’s VPN community anymore.  That doesn’t imply that Cisco isn’t nervous about safety, fairly the alternative, Cisco is hyper-aware of safety.  But we’re additionally very targeted on person expertise and making programs simply and persistently out there.  With updates in our safety portfolio from Duo, Umbrella, Firepower, and Secure Analytics, we will now present constant and efficient safety to Cisco’s world and really hybrid workforce with out forcing every of us to be tethered to a VPN connection always.

The SCATZ focus examination evaluates safety professionals’ capacity to design and implement all these options for their very own enterprises.  It’s a improbable addition to the safety focus choices for candidates trying to earn their CCNP Security after passing the “Implementing and Operating Cisco Security Core Technologies” (SCOR) examination.  The first date to sit down for SCATZ is November 20, 2023.

The final of the three cloud certifications is “Designing and Implementing Cisco Service Provider Cloud Network Infrastructure” as a result of as cool as it’s to devour cloud providers, somebody nonetheless has to construct it.  After all, one of the best definition of “the cloud” is “someone else’s computer”.  While this certification is within the Service Provider Professional monitor, I believe it’s price a glance by any enterprise or information heart skilled constructing personal cloud as nicely.  It explores all of the virtualization, automation, and constructing infrastructure at scale matters which can be key to providing sturdy, on-demand cloud providers to fulfill the ever-increasing person expectations.  It can be stuffed with some very cool community applied sciences that make me need to fireplace up Cisco Modeling Labs and begin labing to arrange to take the examination.  And I’ve nonetheless received time to arrange, the primary date to check for this certification isn’t till January 20, 2024.

What about coaching?

What would a Cisco certification be with out coaching courses and supplies to assist candidates get ready?  Well, it most likely wouldn’t be a Cisco certification in any respect.  🙂

Our coaching content material improvement staff has been exhausting at work constructing new Cisco U Learning Paths and Instructor Lead coaching programs to assist candidates be taught all of the ins and outs of those thrilling cloud use instances and prepare to take and cross these new exams.  These coaching courses will embrace the identical high-quality hands-on lab expertise that you just’ve come to count on from official Cisco Learning content material. Just get a have a look at this topology that can be a part of the “Designing and Implementing Cloud Connectivity” course.

The courses are in improvement now, so keep tuned for particulars on once they’ll be out there to Cisco U subscribers to dive into.  And positively ask your favourite Cisco Learning Partner once they plan to start providing the brand new courses.  Even with the provision of a lot on-demand technical coaching content material, I nonetheless love the chance to work with an skilled teacher and learn the way one thing works.  The non-scripted components of the training and with the ability to ask questions and dive down some technical threads in school are so invaluable.

Well, that’s about it for now.  I hope you’re as enthusiastic about these new cloud certifications as we’re.  Which one are you fascinated about taking first?  Are you already learning and need to be one of many first to earn the brand new specialization?  Let me know within the feedback!

Resources

Exam matter blueprints

Designing and Implementing Cloud Connectivity v1.0 (ENCC 300-440)

Designing and Implementing Secure Cloud Access for Users and Endpoints v1.0 (SCAZT 300-740)

Designing and Implementing Cisco Service Provider Cloud Network Infrastructure (SPCNI 300-540)