How will we succeed in good fortune on this trade? It was once the query I contemplated two decades in the past after I got down to take my profession to the following degree and accomplish what few have: the Cisco Qualified Internetwork Skilled (CCIE) certification.
Now main the CCIE program as Cisco’s Director of Certifications, I’ve skilled firsthand the innovative have an effect on of this program on my friends and the trade.
This yr, we have a good time the 30-year anniversary of the CCIE certification. Let’s glance again at the place we got here from—and the way some distance 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 demanding situations in connectivity, we release Networkers Customers Symposiums – often referred to as “Networkers.” The convention, later renamed Cisco Reside, permits consumers to be told, collaborate, and develop the trade in combination.
- 1993: CCIE release: Cisco introduced the CCIE program publicly on September 27, 1993, when then-CEO John Chambers was once quoted, “The CCIE program starts the place different distributors’ certification techniques depart off.”
- A laugh truth: The unique title of this system was once going to be “Cisco Most sensible Gun.” Then again, the well-known Tom Cruise film via the similar title had already been launched. We figured there is also some prison problems in the use of that title… so as a substitute, we selected “Cisco Qualified Internetwork Skilled.”
- 1993: First CCIE Award: The CCIE program selected to begin its numbering gadget with 1024 (2 to the facility of 10). That quantity went right into a plaque at the CCIE lab itself in San Jose, CA, adopted via quantity 1025, awarded to the primary particular person to earn the CCIE. And the remainder is historical past.
My CCIE Adventure
My passion in changing into a CCIE began within the overdue 90s. Tech was once very other from lately. The internet was once evolving, and networking was once an absolutely new idea. I used to be on the lookout for a problem to advance my profession.
When researching how one can take my profession to the following degree, I found out Cisco, an attractive new tech corporate on the time. No longer best did I have the ability to check my abilities with the CCIE program, however a window of alternative. The examination ensured perfection, and I appreciated the problem.
Changing into a CCIE opened profession developments for me. No longer best was once I in a position to obtain promotions with extra pay, however I additionally won extra peer appreciate and popularity—as did my colleagues who gained the certification. There’s a top degree of appreciate for individuals who succeed in CCIE. You grow to be a part of an elite staff.
Basically, price is at once an identical to the relevancy of a product. If the CCIE check was once inappropriate to what I did in my activity, I wouldn’t have pursued it. And if it was once no longer up to date to the era of lately, this system would fail. I’ve been a CCIE for 20+ years and will nonetheless observe my learnings from this system.
CCIE program is a real check of deep wisdom and enjoy, an endorsement (validation) of being knowledgeable – crème de l. a. crème!
The CCIE Program’s Transformation Over Time
As era has advanced, this system has modified considerably. Within the early days, the CCIE program was once a two-day check, the place applicants spent the primary day putting in place the {hardware} and initializing the pod with fundamental configurations. Then, applicants would come again for a 2d day to accomplish extra complex configurations, spending the second one part of the day troubleshooting situations.
These days’s CCIE program has been streamlined to a one-day check, disposing of the now trivial steps and focusing extra on community technique, structure, and the community lifecycle, together with making plans and designing to fulfill buyer necessities. The improved lab examination is targeted at the end-to-end community lifecycle from Day 0 (making plans & designing), Day 1 (imposing and deploying), and Day 2 (running & keeping up), checking out complete abilities throughout all of the spectrum of community answers.
Beginning final yr, we presented Cisco Certification Roadmaps, an agile and iterative cadence-based fashion to replace checks extra incessantly and incrementally, holding them extra present and related, aligned with fast era evolution, and making sure relevancy for lately. The roadmap will supply well timed and related data to stay you forward of adjustments being presented as you find out about for the CCIE examination and all different Cisco certifications.
Sign up for the CCIE Birthday party
Sign up for us in celebrating the 30th anniversary of this system and grow to be part of the #CCIE30 group!
In June, we kicked off celebrations at Cisco Reside in Las Vegas, however we can be celebrating all over the world right through the yr. Each and every CCIE lab web page will host “birthday” celebrations, bringing consumers and staff in combination to percentage tales and talk about how the CCIE program modified their lives.
How Can You Develop into a CCIE?
This examination is ready validating your enjoy—within the box and in actual existence.
Most of the people who fail lack enjoy. I might know. I failed up to now, no longer because of loss of finding out however as a result of I used to be nonetheless too new in my profession. After I began in fact doing the situations offered within the examination in my activity, my finding out sped up, and so did my CCIE prep. It was once all about getting hands-on and practising.
Even upon getting preferably won 5 to seven years of enjoy, you continue to should get ready. Changing into a CCIE is difficult paintings, however now we have sources to be had to you.
Whether or not you might be in your adventure to changing into a CCIE or running towards advancing your profession generally, I depart you with this recommendation: Center of attention on pursuing excellence, and good fortune will apply.
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