Cisco late last month announced changes to its storage and security certification programs.

Cisco announced that its Cisco Storage Networking Design Specialist and Cisco Storage Networking Support Specialist certifications could be applied toward getting the highest professional designation offered by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). Pros with either of Cisco's storage certs can apply their designations to get SNIA's Certified Storage Networking Expert (SCSN-E) certification.

SCSN-E candidates are required to pass SNIA's Storage Networking Management/Administration, SNIA Architect - Assessment, Planning & Design, and SNIA Storage Network Foundations exams (or EMC Storage Technology Foundations exam for the latter category). As well as these three exams, they must also pass specific certification exams from EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, Medusa, McData, and now Cisco.

Cisco's storage networking certification program has been around for more than two years, and followed the vendor's entrance into the Fibre Channel storage market four years ago, according to the networking giant. The exams have mostly been taken by Cisco resellers, but Roger Beatty, a manager at Cisco's learning and development group points out that the Storage Networking Support Specialist designation is also applicable to IT pros in nonreseller organizations.

Although Cisco's storage networking certs aren't the most popular or the most widely-held of Cisco's certifications, Beatty claims they are "growing rapidly" and are one of the vendor's certifications that are "about to take off because of the growth rate."

Also late last month, Cisco announced the addition of its entry-level Information Security Specialist Certification to its security certifications roster. "Candidates who achieve the certification demonstrate the foundational knowledge and skills required to install and support a Cisco self-defending network," says the company.

Certification holders will also be certified as having met the 4011 training standards mandated by the National Security Association (see the "National Training Standard for Information Security Systems Professionals" document that sets out the standards here).

Christine Yoshida, Cisco learning and development manager, says Cisco's latest certification shows that holders are familiar with computer security, national security, information security policy management and ethics, plus are able to put in place minimum standards for telecommunications and automated systems security.

Jon Brodkin is senior writer at Network World.