About New Cisco Career Certification Exam

This article is all about the New  Cisco Career Certification Exam. Cisco Systems has made some modifications on its different levels of certifications by omitting some old certifications topics and introduced new latest topics to keep pace with the emerging IT technology and industry demand.

Cisco is the worldwide leading IT company that develops, manufactures, and sells  Cisco network devices. It manufactures LAN Switches, Routers, Firewall, and other system devices. The world’s major IT Companies, Internet Service Providers (ISP) use Cisco products for their network infrastructure. That is why Cisco certified professionals and engineers are in high demand in the networking industry. Almost every IT companies prefer their employees with Cisco certification and offer a decent salary package for them.

To become a Cisco certified network engineer, Cisco conducts different levels of certification programs throughout the year. The Cisco certification provides added flavour for those who want to pursue a career in the field of computer networking.

Summary of Major Changes in New Cisco Career Certification

• Entry-level CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) is retired.
• The old CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) with the different tracks are merged into a single CCNA 200-301 certification requiring only one exam.
• CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) will only have five different tracks and require to pass two separate exams to acquire CCNP certification: The core exam and the concentration exam.  One can choose any one of the concentration exams to clear CCNP certification.
• The specialist level is achieved after passing the core exam in the CCNP track.
• CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert) will require two exams; one is the CCNP core  exam and the other is the CCIE Lab exam
• A New Devnet track is introduced at all levels.
• The validation of all certifications will be for three years.

What are the different levels of New Cisco Certification?

Cisco modifies and updates its career certifications syllabus from time to time with the latest topics to meet the growing needs of the latest IT technology in the field of computer networking infrastructure. The new Cisco Career certification consists of  5 different levels from the basic level to the highest level of accreditation.

Review of Old Cisco Certification Program

The table below shows the old Cisco certification syllabus.

New  Cisco Certification Program

There have been major changes in Cisco certification from 24 February 2020. Cisco changes its certification program and the syllabus covered from time to time in order to keep pace with networking technology by adding a new syllabus to the program. Cisco also introduced the DevNet certification program for different levels that helps to acquire knowledge on Cisco software development and automation.

The latest new Cisco syllabus for different levels of certification as per the Cisco Official site are as follows:

CCT (Cisco Certified Technician)

CCT (Cisco Certified Technician)  is the entry-level track and is the first step to start a career in the networking field. CCT helps to develop skills to diagnose, restore, repeat, and replace Cisco devices at customers’ sites. They are closely associated with Cisco Technical Assistant Center (TAC) for efficient and quick customer support.

CCT has two different tracks:

• CCT (R&S)
• CCT ( Data Center)

CCT (R&S) has the basic skills to diagnose, troubleshoot, and restore the Cisco routers and switches at the customer sites.

CCT (Data Center) has the skills to handle online support and maintenance of unified computing systems and servers. They have a fair knowledge of Cisco unified computing systems and servers, types of cabling and network interface, Cisco UCS, and NX-OS.

CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)

CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) is an associate-level certification program. It is one of the most popular IT certifications to begin a career in computer network infrastructure.

The new CCNA 200-301 was launched on 24 Feb 2020 with major changes in its syllabus. The new CCNA 200-301 syllabus includes Network Fundamentals, IP Connectivity, IP Services, Security Fundamentals,  Network Access, Automation, and Programmability.

CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional)

CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) is a professional certification program by Cisco. CCNP qualified professionals have in-depth knowledge of LAN and WAN network infrastructure.

After successfully passing CCNA 200-301 you can go for further professional level certification CCNP.  However, there is no mandatory prerequisite for new CCNP certification.

In order to acquire a new  CCNP  certification, you need to pass two separate exams.

•  Core exam
• Any one of the  concentration exam

Core Exam

Different tracks of core exam available for the new CCNP certification are:

• CCNP Enterprise
• CCNP Data Center
• CCNP Security
• CCNP Service Provider
• CCNP Collaboration

CCNP Enterprise

In order to acquire CCNP Enterprise certification, you need to pass:

• Core Exam-350-401 ENCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Core Technologies)
• Anyone Concentration Exam from the list below

1. 300-410 ENARSI (Implementing Cisco Enterprise Advanced Routing and Services)
2. 300-415 ENSDWI (Implementing Cisco SD-WAN Solutions)
3. 300-420 ENSLD (Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks)
4. 300-425 ENWLSD (Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks)
5. 300-430 ENWLSI (Implementing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks)
6. 300-435 ENAUTO (Implementing Automation for Cisco Enterprise Solutions)

CCNP Data Center

For  CCNP Data Center certification, you need to pass:

• Core Exam-350-501 DCCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Data Center Core Technologies)
• Anyone Concentration Exam from the list below

1. 300-610 DCID (Designing Cisco Data Center Infrastructure)
2. 300-615 DCIT (Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Infrastructure )
3. 300-620 DCACI (Implementing Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure)
4. 300-625 DCSAN (Configuring Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches)
5. 300-635 DCAUTO (Implementing Automation of Cisco Data Center Solutions)

CCNP Security

In order to acquire CCNP  Security certification, you need to pass:

• Core Exam-350-701 SCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Core Technologies)
• Anyone Concentration Exam from the list below

1. 300-710 SNCF (Securing Networks with Cisco Firepower Next-Generation Firewall (SSNGFW) or Next-Generation IPS (SSFIPS )
2. 300-715 SISE (Implementing and Configuring Cisco Identity Services Engine)
3. 300-720 SESA (Securing Email with Cisco  Email Security Appliance)
4. 300-725 SWSA (Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks)
5. 300-730 SVPN (Implementing Secure Solutions with Virtual Private Networks)
6. 300-735 SAUTO (Implementing Automation for Cisco Security Solutions)

CCNP Service Provider

In order to acquire CCNP Service Provider certification, you need to pass:

• Core Exam-350-501 SPCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Service Provider  Networks Core Technologies)
• Anyone Concentration Exam from the list below

1. 300-510 SPRI (Implementing Cisco Service Provider Advanced Routing Solutions)
2. 300-515 SPVI (Implementing Cisco Service Provider VPN Services)
3. 300-535 SPAUTO (Implementing Automation for Cisco Service Provider Solutions)

CCNP Collaboration

In order to acquire CCNP Collaboration certification, you need to pass:

• Core Exam-350-801 ENCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Collaboration Core Technologies)
• Anyone Concentration Exam from the list below

1. 300-810 CLICA (Implementing Cisco Collaboration Applications)
2. 300-815 CLACCM (Implementing Cisco Advanced Call Control and Mobility Services)
3. 300-820 CLCEI (Implementing Cisco Collaboration Cloud and Edge Solutions)
4. 300-835 CLAUTO (Implementing Automation for Cisco Collaboration Solutions)

CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert)

CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert) is an expert-level certification program conducted by Cisco. It is the most prestigious certification accepted globally and is aimed at planning, designing, implementing, configuring, and troubleshooting all types of network infrastructure.

The different tracks available for new CCIE certifications are

• CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure v1.0
• CCIE Enterprise Wireless v1.0
• CCIE Data Center v3.0
• CCIE Security V6.0
• CCIE Service Provider v5.0
• CCIE Collaboration v3.0

To acquire CCIE certification of particular tracks, you must have a prerequisite of clearing one Core Exam of the respective track and CCIE Lab test of that track.

Note: The new CCIE lab consists of 2 modules: Module 1 is of 3 hours duration and covers the lab test on designing.  The module 2 lab test  is of  5 hours and is based on deployment, operations, and optimization

CCAr (Cisco Certified Architecture)

CCAr is the highest level of accreditation within the Cisco career certification program. CCAr is for the senior network infrastructure engineers who have a very good understanding of business strategy and network infrastructure principles.

Those who have a valid CCDE certificate can opt for CCAr.

Conclusion

I hope this article helps you to understand the different levels and tracks of the new Cisco Career Certification. In the next article, I am going to explain the new CCNA 200-301 certification and how to prepare and pass the CCNA exam.