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Michael Morris

Insight on the New Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) - Part II

By michaeljmorris on Tue, 07/31/07 - 4:33pm.
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As I mentioned in my post the other day about the CCDE, there was an initial Q&A session with about 50 CCIEs at Networkers last week that gave an overview of Cisco's intention for the CCDE.

During the Q&A (and based on an invitation e-mail sent earlier) Cisco highlighted the following key points:

  • Cisco has identified a need for certifying individuals with a high degree of experience and expertise in designing and architecting large-scale networks (over several hundred routers) at the routing layer.

  • The CCIE, while an extremely well respected certification, focuses on the device level configuration and operation of Cisco equipment. Network design is not part of those tests. Furthermore, for experienced design engineers and architects, the CCIE tracks do not fit their roles and needs anymore, yet the CCIE is the only avenue for industry recognition for people at their level. The concept for this certification came about because some of Cisco's earliest CCIEs are no longer interested in the CCIE's product and configuration focus since that is not part of their job anymore.

  • The new CCDE will be on par with the existing CCIE programs. It will have a written exam and then a "performance oriented scenario test which assesses a practitioner's advanced network design skills". The "scenario" format or process has not been developed yet. The intent is not to make it a "lab", but focus it on design. Thoughts about responding to an RFP or project plan were presented as options during the Q&A. The goal of the CCDE is to provide incentives for experienced network design practitioners to continue professional development.

  • The Network Infrastructure Architect (which is not officially named yet) will be feature a board review. Candidates to the board would have already completed the CCDE. The board would be made up of industry experts; likely Cisco employees, but not required. A candidate would have to present and defend a network design and architecture to the board. The expectation is the board review would be extremely rigorous, only for the most experienced engineers.



    • I'll have one more post about the CCDE and Architecture certification in a few days. That will detail the engineers' comments during the Q&A and information on the CCDE Written Exam. Let's just say, the comments were lively...positive....but lively.

    (read Part III)

    Tags

    Interesting career developments

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    By Linda Leung on Tue, 07/31/2007 - 5:01pm.

    Thanks Michael for filling us in on what was discussed at the Q&A. I think it'll be interesting to see how the Network Infrastructure Architect will go down. The only architect programs I know of are the ones run by the Open Group and Microsoft. I know Open Group were able to to say they had a lot of people certified as Open Group Architects because they accredited similar programs run by EDS, IBM, etc. So anyone who became an EDS architect could also call themselves Open Group certified. And we've not heard much from Microsoft about its elite architect program since it was launched a couple of years ago. It'll be interesting to see how many CCIEs/CCDEs will go for the NIA - for the kudos or would it really help their career prospects? After all, a CCIE is highly regarded anyway.....

    Linda Leung (lleung@nww.com) - author of NWW's IT Careers and Training Newsletter

    Thank you Michael

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    By Brad Reese on Wed, 08/01/2007 - 3:47am.

    Excellent information Michael, thank you.

    Sincerely and gratefully yours,

    Brad Reese
    http://www.BradReese.Com

    CCDE...........

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    By Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/02/2007 - 9:04am.

    Great information! I guess I better start studying for the CCDE.....

    The only thing that concerns me about the Architecture certification is that the board review will be highly subjective, so it will be very interesting to see how they decide on who will be given the certification. That is one thing that is nice about the CCIE Labs, you pass or you don't. I'm sure that the Architecture certifiation will primarily be comprised of industry pundits and friends of friends whom find themselves with an opportunity handed to them on a silver platter. Let's hope not, but that's how these things usually turn out..........

    More mind control

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    By meatpieandtatters on Fri, 08/10/2007 - 8:21am.

    I hate to play cynic (actually, it's quite fun) but isn't this just more competitive positioning? Sure, there's certainly expertise than can enhance the certificant's resume and earnings potential, but at face value it's really just meant to bolster Cisco's sales efforts. Perhaps they'll deal with interoperability issues with Juniper and others, but the Cisco Certified prefix pretty much sums everything up nicely. These OEM certifications are great for the techs and helps ensure job security and earning potential, but for the end-customers all you can count is an over-stuffed diet of more equipment. I'm not just picking on Cisco. Oracle, Microsoft and all the other vendor certifications are designed to push the maximum amount of product through the client's door. As surely as the individuals know their stuff, the world revolves around sales, and these guys and gals are 'certified' to sell you solutions and take your money. Any idea that you're getting objective advice from one of these 'certified consultants' should be immediate stricken from your mind. The only truly objective opinion comes from someone without any financial stake in the outcome of the decision, monetarily, friendship, influence or otherwise.

    RE: More Mind Control

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    By Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/10/2007 - 9:08am.

    I would pretty much agree with your comments, but for a career mindided engineer there really aren't any other certifications out there worth pursuing at that level. There aren't any high-level vendor neutral certs, and until there are we will all be stuck wtih vendor certs which are designed to push product out the door. I would love to see a vendor neutral cert that contained a lab compenent with a multi-vendor environment. You could then really prove who the real engineers are...............

    CCDE

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    By Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/31/2007 - 1:49pm.

    How many of you folks remember that Cisco tried this back in 2k. They had a CCDE lab and only a few folks were certified. Now maybe this sceniaro based exam would be a better approach

    Good maybe it'll slow down the CCIE numbers

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    By Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/23/2008 - 1:06am.

    Hey Cisco - Keep the CCIE numbers low and the CCIE hard so it will continue to mean something.

    It seems no one except Cisco and the people taking their professional level exams really care about your other certs (CCNA, NP, etc).

    The CCDE sounds pretty good in theory but only the CCIE carries the aura of a true networking blackbelt.

    Depends on the Blackbelt

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    By michaeljmorris on Wed, 01/23/2008 - 8:28am.

    http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/21786

    Michael J. Morris
    CCIE #11733, JNCIA

    How can one assume, even

    0
    By Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/23/2008 - 11:42am.

    How can one assume, even Cisco themselves, that a CCIE did not learn the "how" or "why" to design a network while studying for the CCIE? In spite of this, some of the CCIE labs I faced definitely had some testing on design aspects (2 day version).

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    About From the Field

    Michael Morris is a communications engineering manager at a $3-billion high-tech company. His background is in enterprise WANs working with telcos and developing large-scale routing designs. He has worked on networks at government and corporate organizations, including networks at two Fortune 10 companies. In his current role, he leads a team of 10 engineers responsible for large-scale IT networking projects and architectural standards for data networks, storage area networks, IP telephony, contact centers, and security. Michael is CCIE #11733 and recently became one of the first three Cisco Certified Design Experts (CCDE) ever (#20080002). He has 11 years experience in networking and communications, including four years as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army. He has a bachelor's degree in MIS from the University at Buffalo and is working on his MBA from NC State University. In 2008, he was awarded the Network Professional Association (NPA) Professional Excellence and Innovation Award for his work on network architecture, templates and enterprise MPLS design.

    Contact him.