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Michael Morris

You Knew I Had to Comment on the Cisco Certified Architect Program

So, I if I save $10 a week, I should be able to take the test by 2037!

By michaeljmorris on Sun, 07/12/09 - 12:25pm.

Two years ago at Cisco Live, Cisco brought about 50 CCIEs in a room to present their ideas about the new expert design certification and architect certification. The CCDE was already in motion and the Architect program was on Cisco's minds. Surprisingly, most of the conversation and questions from the CCIEs were about the architect certification which we had more interest in. From my notes, it appears Cisco has adhered to their initial idea to have the architect program use a board exam possibly with Telepresence.

Since many of you have probably read a lot of news about the CCA....err...Cisco Certified Architect (going to be tough to not reflexively use an acronym for a name with three capitalized words), I'll jump into the comments:

  • There is a lot of anger on the Cisco Certification message boards about CCIEs not being allowed to take this exam. Some feel that with 3 or more CCIEs you should be able to take the Cisco Certified Architect exam. Sorry, but I disagree. The CCIE is still about configuration and deployment - how the stuff works. I know a lot of CCIEs that can configure OSPF in their sleep, but can't tell me why splitting an OSPF area is poor design. Let's say you have R&S, Voice, and Security CCIEs. That doesn't mean you know design well, it means you know how to configure a lot of stuff. Yes, a lot of CCIEs will be very good design engineers, like me. But there are 20,000 CCIEs now, and only a small portion can really do design well, that's the reason for the CCDE.
  • That being said, I would consider a dual prerequisite for the Cisco Certified Architect - CCDE and CCIE. Is that too much to ask? I think not. Let's be honest, you can design/architect the greatest network in the world, but, at the end of the day, if you can't actually make the equipment do what you designed, you've got issues.
  • Great FAQ put together by Cisco on the Cisco Certified Architect.
  • The audio in this video from Cisco about the Cisco Certified Architect is terrible. What you record that on a webcam?
  • Now the cost....$15,000 huh? Ouch! Something tells me if I ask my boss for $1,500 for another CCIE he'd say charge it! If I ask for $15,000 I'm going to need a meeting with the CIO. And, from what I can tell on the website, it's $15,000 per try (in keeping with Cisco tradition). So, $30,000 to $45,000 per architect. That's a tough ROI. News flash: the economy is not going to be booming by next January. With only 7 people eligible to take the exam, there may be no initial candidates in January. I think Cisco has overpriced it. How about $3,000-$5,000?
  • That being said, for all your conspiracy quacks out there, Cisco is not pricing this at $15,000 in a grand scheme to pad their profit margins. Let's say 100 people per year take the Cisco Certified Architect exam (100 per year is not going to happen for a long time). That's $1,500,000 in revenue. Based on fiscal year 2008 that is .0038% of all Cisco's revenue. Cisco's gain in this is marketing. They can showcase more individuals that are certified experts in networking and can provide networking solutions, probably with Cisco equipment. This is an investment for Cisco, not a product line. Oh, and by the way, 9/11 was not an inside job, FDR didn't know about Pearl Harbor, and the moon landing was not staged in a Hollywood studio.
  • It was interesting to see the application process included a report on a completed project in which the Cisco Certified Architect candidate acted as a network architect. So, not only do you need a CCDE and 10-years of experience in networking, you also have to have completed a qualified, real-life network architecture project. That is very good and will, in the long-term, help weed out candidates who cram for tests but don't actually build many networks (come on 20,000 CCIEs, you know who you are!).

So, overall, I am glad to see Cisco pushing along and rolling out the Cisco Certified Architect program. It's good for the industry and for individual engineers (ok, ok, and good for Cisco). I hope to take it some day. But, at $15,000 a test with only 7 possible candidates in a bad economy, it might be a while before we get CCA #1.....err....I mean Cisco Certified Architect #1.

More >From the Field blog entries:

Happy 2-Year Anniversary - A Reminder to Focus on What's Really Important in Network Engineering

Using FCAPS for IP Telephony Management

Not a Lot of Excitement for Networkers This Year?

Cisco ASA IP Phone Proxy - My New BFF

Too Many IOS Versions, Something's Gotta Give Soon

(Network) Engineering a Merger

  Go to Cisco Subnet for more Cisco news, blogs, discussion forums, security alerts, book giveaways, and more.

Architect cert

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By Anon (not verified) on Sun, 07/12/2009 - 3:34pm.

Amen, brother! (since it's Sunday...)

CCDE and CCA

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By Anatoly Gavrilov (not verified) on Sun, 07/12/2009 - 7:37pm.

I think with only 7 CCDE people, Cisco announced CCA too early.

And I think CCDE will get slow momentum, as currently there are no requirements to be CCDE for partner specialization.

CCA

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By Ian Krieger (not verified) on Sun, 07/12/2009 - 8:51pm.

Thanks a lot Scott for putting that together, I also didn't realise the cost.

I agree with both your comments and the previous commenter, far too early to announce the CCA certification.

Wrong Morris

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By Scott Morris (not verified) on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 1:57pm.

Just a little FYI, although Michael and I share the same last name we are not the same people nor even related. :)

He's just a little cooler than I am because he PASSED his CCDE during the beta last year! (no hard feelings, really!)

But on the flip side with this, I did get a chance to sit down with folks at Cisco during Networkers (Cisco Live 2009) and get some more information beyond all the hype and rumors...

Check out https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/docs/DOC-5483

Scott (the OTHER Morris)

Lets be real for a

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By Anon (not verified) on Sun, 07/12/2009 - 9:37pm.

Lets be real for a minute.

Cisco is not a monolithic company. The people who run the certifications are a unit of the business with their revenue goals. Even if the revenue from the CCA or CCDE is next to nothing compared to the whole mothership, 1.5m could be significant to the business unit.

CCIE, CCDE, CCA or maybe another vendor's cert??

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By Anon (not verified) on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 12:15am.

Already being a CCIE, CCDE does sound appealing but one has to consider what ROI $15K and a CCA title will bring to you. Personally, a CCIE/CCDE and/or a JNCIE (if you work with Juniper) will have just as much of not more value.

I couldn't agree more with

0
By Anon (not verified) on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 6:29am.

I couldn't agree more with you.

Cisco is actively marginalizing the CCIE at this point. "They aren't designers." "They don't understand business requirements."

At least, Cisco hasn't certified them on those things. And if Cisco hasn't certified them on how to talk to business people and build a network that meets their needs, then they might as well go back to the NOC and start working coldstart tickets. The CCIE is just someone who knows a lot of IOS commands in a narrow field of specialty. They are like a glorified CCNA.

Thats the message at this point.

The CCDE suffers already from the idea that it is extremely subjective and despite the "vendor neutral" description that Cisco has placed on it, it is very much a Cisco oriented test. The CCA will be even more so.

15k is ridiculous.

CCA

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By Anon (not verified) on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 1:31pm.

As I recall, there was mentioning of Cisco Certified God when the architect idea first came out. Look at it this way: it is more of putting something ahead of you, especially those with CCIEs and CCDEs ;)

For the costs, my view is that it is a marketing gimic. Mostly it would be offered via certain channels with discounted price, or even free. Hey, but if you have a lot of money and also think you are better than other CCDEs (or CCIEs who are not eligible), you are welcome to try.

Another note, 15K is about 10 times of CCIE/CCDE exam cost. Sympolically I think that is a different level of certification than CCIE/CCDE.

Cheers,

Another thought on 15K

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By Anon (not verified) on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 1:41pm.

For your engineering heads, you need to learn how to sell the sizzles rather than the steak!

Consider buying jewelry for women. It is not stone she is after but the feeling of being important...

Disclaimer, I am not a woman.

Cheers,

MBA or CCA

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By Anon (not verified) on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 9:56pm.

I would rather spend 15K towards an MBA vice another Cisco certification. If you are a CCIE and an MBA, then it would blend the technical with the business and plus HR folks understand MBA and CCIE, but it may be a while for CCA to catch on with HR and tech community.

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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.