After much anticipation, the changes to the CCNP certification track have been officially announced. You can view the official certification options on Cisco’s website.
Essentially the information that has been floating around the Internet (and covered here) regarding the changes has been spot on. Pre-orders for some of the Cisco Press books have started popping up, with expected delivery dates around the middle of February.
It seems that those of us studying for our CCNP certification have some decisions to make. For some time rumors have been floating around about an update to the CCNP exam (currently version 5.0). About one week ago, information that looked to be targeted to Cisco Network Academy partners was leaked. This information seems to substantiate the rumors that have been floating around.
Without getting into too many specifics (since Cisco has not made an official statement regarding the changes) it looks like CCNP 6.0 will bring some major changes. The current information shows that the BCMSN and BCSI exams will be replaced by applicable switching and routing exams. Further information seems to indicate that the ISCW and ONT exams will not be replaced. Finally, it appears that an exam geared towards troubleshooting will be added.
There is much discussion on what these changes will do to the perceived value of the CCNP certification. Others are concerned that they will be stuck with outdated study material if they only begin their studies now. History has shown that there will probably be some sort of phase-in period where both the new and old exam content will be available.
Personally, I have decided to purchase some training material anyway and continue my studies. My decisions were fueled by two major factors. First, the electronic training I purchased came with free updates. As the content of the CCNP exams changes, I will be entitled to free updates to the training material. The most important reason I choose to continue my studies is for personal advancement.
The ultimate goal of my study efforts is to obtain my CCNP certification. However, during this time I also want to build my networking knowledge and skills in order to advance myself both personally and professionally. If I study and learn a topic that is not covered on the new exams, I will still have knowledge of the topic that will no doubt come in handy at some point in my career. In my opinion, this is sometimes lost when studying for any professional certification. Many people find themselves studying just to pass the exam rather then also focusing on their personal advancement.
The voices in my head have spoken! After a few weeks of back and forth between CCNA-Voice and starting the CCNP, I have decided to begin studying for the CCNP certification. My feeling is that the CCNP will go a long way to further solidify and build my routing and switching knowledge.
The CCNA-Voice is not completely out of the running. There is still a strong part of me that is interested in learning about the voice side of networking. I’m not sure if I will actually go for the CCNA-Voice certification, but chances are strong that I will at least pickup the Cisco Press book and maybe some hardware.
Back on the CCNP side of things, I have “unofficially” started the studying process. Basically I have just started going through the early sections of the BCMSN module of TestOut (CBT provided by my employer). Once I catch up on some of the leisure books that have been on my to-do list, I will probably pickup the Cisco Press CCNP exam certification library. Later I will likely add the Train Signal CCNP training library.
Train Signal has a very nice package for CCNP candidates. You get their training material for all four CCNP exams, which includes audio and video format for both your computer and portable media player. The added bonus that drew me in was the addition of the Transcender practice exams for all four of the CCNP exams. I had never heard for Transcender before, but after taking the exam tour on their site it appears that they have a very good product.
That’s enough talk on what I will be using to study. Until next time!