New CCIE More 'Real World'

Cisco recently revamped its highest-level certification, the Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE), making substantial changes to the exam methodology as well as the content.

One of Cisco's best-known CCIEs, Scott Morris (recently featured on this site), wrote a lengthy article breaking down all aspects of the new certification. Overall, he gives the new focus and concentrations high marks. Morris writes:

"One of the large changes in the CCIE program is the focus on real life. It has long been a fundamental philosophy of life that the CCIE lab exam did not reflect on real life. Very often it showed you what NOT to do with your network, but tested well on a candidates deep understanding of protocols ... The 4.0 version of the CCIE R&S Lab Blueprint is instilling a sense of reality into the world."

While Morris doesn't think all the changes are good, he believes the CCIE will better reflect what network administrators do on a day-to-day basis. He also interviewed the CCIE program manager to get a sense of the thought processes that brought about the changes.

Ultimately, Morris feels that the CCIE has gained a lot more relevance with the changes:

"Personally, I think that the changes are great for the CCIE program, at least from the program-side of things. Troubleshooting is a seriously important concept for real-life networks."

Morris' article should be required reading for all those in CCIE preparation, or considering the CCIE.