* Tracking the certification program of Cisco's router rival
A few newsletters ago, I pointed you to a package of articles written by my colleague Senior Editor Carolyn Duffy Marsan about the stresses of taking the Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) lab exam. A reader wrote in suggesting that I write about the certifications of Juniper, the 10-year-old networking company that is snapping at the heels of Cisco in both the service provider and now the enterprise markets. (The reader assured me that he didn’t work for the Cisco-rival.)
I recently spoke to Scott Edwards, senior staff manager, global operations at Juniper’s education services, who outlined the Juniper Networks Technical Certification Program (JNTCP), which is based around the company’s product platforms.
To attend Juniper’s courses, which are provided by Juniper Networks Education Centers and the company’s training partners, participants are expected to be familiar with TCP/IP basics; link-state routing protocols, including a familiarity with either OSPF or IS-IS; operation of BGP4 and knowledge of the BGP4 mandatory attributes; and general interdomain routing issues. Juniper also recommends a list of reading material as preparation.
The JNTCP is based on eight Juniper platforms that span service provider routing, enterprise routing and security, and are mapped with four levels of certifications. (See a graphical representation here.)
The four levels are:
*The “intro” Juniper Networks Certified Internet Associate level (JNCIA) – Edwards pointed out this level is not considered “entry-level” as students are likely to have between three and five years networking experience.
*The Specialist (JNCIS) level, which discusses platform topics at an advanced level.
*The Professional (JNCIP) level, which requires passing the JNCIS exam in the particular platform as a perquisite for taking the JNCIP practical exam.
*The Expert (JNCIE) level, which requires candidates to hold the JNCIP certification for the particular platform and is aimed at networking pros with three to five years networking experience, and two years of experience working with that particular product.
Right now, Juniper’s core and edge products are covered by all of the certification levels and the company plans to launch, in the second half of this year, education and certification at the expert level around its enterprise routing platform, Edwards says.
Edwards says the pass rate runs at 60% for the written exams and between 30% and 40% for the professional and expert level practical exams. Worldwide, there are 5,641 JNCIAs, 1,956 JNCIS’, and 542 JNCIPs and JNCIEs. The company’s students have mostly been network operations support personnel, network engineers and network designers and architects, Edwards says.
