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The CCIE certification is without doubt one of the most prestigious marks of feat in IT, evolving over time to deal with the wants of each the IT panorama and CCIE candidates. On the forefront of each change is our unwavering dedication to ship lab exams on the similar normal and rigor for which the CCIE is understood. And as we face new challenges which have led us to a brand new regular, our CCIE program has advanced and emerged, extra accessible and handy than ever earlier than.
CCIE and me
I began my certification journey again within the late nineties, round ’97 or ’98. I keep in mind getting ready in these days — the occasions have been so completely different. There have been no sources, no examine supplies. There weren’t even any instructions or tips on the market. Past only a few Cisco Press books about know-how, you have been mainly by yourself. That’s modified dramatically over time, with numerous programs, bootcamps, and even digital CCIE sensible lab leases. We discovered that offering higher supplies doesn’t trivialize the examination; it enhances the educational expertise and improves outcomes.
The important thing to getting ready for and sustaining a CCIE is the understanding that incomes the certification isn’t the tip of the highway. You don’t end up after 5 days of coaching and name it quits. As a substitute, whenever you earn your CCIE, it’s an expertise validation. It’s the end result of years of information and experience constructing and the initiative to preserve your certification.
The flexibility to vary is important. We dwell in a digital world now. After I took my lab examination within the 90s, it took two days. We spent the primary day connecting the wires and cables ourselves; we did all of this {hardware} stuff. It was robust. It was rigorous. However within the early 2000s, we made a change and moved to at some point of testing. Folks didn’t perceive at first. They thought it appeared like a downgrade of what we have been doing. A part of the job meant explaining that, no, this was a recognition of the altering panorama of superior applied sciences and their rising complexities. We eliminated the trivial stuff to make room for extra superior matters related to the sector. It was our job to acknowledge these adjustments and account for them. That’s nonetheless our job immediately.
Your examination, your means
The brand new method to CCIE is much less a couple of elementary shift in networking, however extra concerning the elementary change in our mid-pandemic world. Coincidentally, I used to be in China in November 2019, when the specter of COVID first started rising. It took a couple of months, however by March, the escalation of the pandemic had impacted work around the globe, and packages just like the CCIE certification program floor to a halt. Till this level, we might solely ship the CCIE certification in a single particular means, in very particular areas. Clearly, that couldn’t proceed. This system slowed as we tried to determine the way to defend the well being of our prospects, companions, and staff — whereas additionally defending the integrity of the examination.
Six months handed and not using a single CCIE earned, and the strain was escalating. Candidates have been nonetheless hungry to earn their certifications, however they wanted the exams to certify.
Why can’t you provide them [CCIE labs] remotely? Why can’t we check from dwelling?
We thought of distant testing, but it surely launched extreme points. The examination lasts eight hours, is intense, and desires to stay safe. In order that was out.
This pondering introduced us to a brand new query: how can we provide an examination that’s versatile and accessible whereas remaining safe? That’s the place the Cellular Labs got here in. The unique model of those labs consisted of a shippable end-user surroundings supplied by Cisco. We strived to create a cellular setup that might permit us to deploy exams in additional locations and get extra individuals scheduled (with an extended lead time), whereas nonetheless sustaining a managed surroundings for the security and the integrity of the lab.
After all, offering the end-user surroundings is an costly endeavor. Establishing the labs in numerous areas means delivery substantial quantities of substances, which then raises the examination value.
So, what if we didn’t should ship every thing to the lab location? That thought led to creating the Convey Your Personal Machine (BYOD) program. As a substitute of Cisco offering all of this costly-to-move gear, we labored to develop a means for CCIE candidates to carry their personal gear. It allowed us to chop down on the prices for everybody. It additionally enabled us to run extra examination periods in a broader variety of venues.
Value financial savings aren’t the one good thing about the BYOD mannequin. With regards to such a rigorous 8-hour lab examination, confidence and luxury are key. Candidates profit when the instruments they’re utilizing to check are the identical instruments they’ve used to organize. They don’t should go in and attempt to make themselves comfy on gear that isn’t arrange the best way they like.
After all, that is all along with reopening our current brick-and-mortar everlasting areas. We’re not throwing away the profitable issues we’ve already created. We’re simply opening up extra doorways.
CCIE subsequent steps
When you select the BYOD cellular lab possibility, you’ll carry your individual equipment. Which means you’ll have the chance to carry your individual laptop computer, keyboard, mouse, exterior monitor—every thing. You’ll arrive the morning of your examination at which period you’ll be capable of arrange your workspace the best way you prefer it. We’ll present a bootable flash drive, a safe working system you’ll be able to boot from for the examination. That’s how we’re in a position to scale the cellular supply of our Professional-level labs.
The place are we now?
As we proceed to navigate the reopening of our lab areas, the well being and security of our prospects, companions, and staff proceed to be our prime concern. Openings shall be on a case-by-case foundation, primarily based on native situations, laws, Cisco Company, and medical steerage.
We’re increasing our cellular lab footprint and capability, offering you with another check supply technique to take your Professional-level Cisco lab exams in your proximity. CCIE Cellular lab areas assist all Professional-level Cisco certification tracks.
Thanks for taking a second to be taught concerning the evolution of the CCIE and the official introduction to the Convey Your Personal Gadgets (BYOD) Cellular Lab program. Go to the Cisco Studying Community for the most recent on our new BYOD Cellular Labs testing possibility and how one can take your lab examination your means — utilizing your very personal units. Please be at liberty to remark together with your ideas and share how your certification journey goes under.
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