Comments on Cisco IOS hints and tricks: Why I'm no longer an active CCIE

Hey Ivan - Have you considered trying for the CCDE...

2008-09-02T19:15:00.000+02:00

Hey Ivan -
Have you considered trying for the CCDE?

ryan

After 20 years of networking I don't see a point i...

2008-07-30T07:07:00.000+02:00

After 20 years of networking I don't see a point in it. My employer wants me to do CCIE but I can't muster up the will or drive to do it. I have a great job, supporting networks and designing plus working from home. I agree it's what you know. I also highly recommend younger engineers to go for it, do it, but mostly be your best. Want an edge over the competition, be a multivendor engineer. Know Cisco inside and out but you better know some Juniper too. I rarely have walked in to an exclusive Cisco shop. So old timers, I agree why bother, young guys go for it and do your best! Just my humble opinion.

I didn't mean anything by my comments, other than ...

2008-07-28T16:49:00.000+02:00

I didn't mean anything by my comments, other than the fuel cost (car/plane) is certainly an added factor if you live a healthy distance from a testing center.

I'd love to be able to work in Montana, gorgeous country and I have friends and family in the Great Falls area.

From the looks of things, Slovenia looks good too =D

The only thing that is annoying about the written test is the actual test itself. I don't like the testing-taking trickery they use and it certainly feels like you have to prepare for it by divining what it is they're looking for instead of just wielding your concrete knowledge of the subject matter.

If you are referring to my case of driving two hou...

2008-07-25T12:35:00.000+02:00

If you are referring to my case of driving two hours as living in BFE, I suppose you are entitled to your opinion; however, Billings is the largest city in Montana at just over 100k people... still small compared to Denver... but the issue is that Cisco's policies are removing the incentives for smaller test centers to keep offering Cisco testing... I've been told that Cisco gives test centers a quota of how many tests per month they must administer or they charge an additional $20/student for the privilege of tha center giving the test... how this makes sense is beyond me. Comments about money don't indicate that I don't have it to pay... I simply object to paying so much for a test with such obviously bad quality control. Then again, I'm not quite ready to give up active CCIE status so I keep doing it.

I agree with some of the comments here, but certai...

2008-07-25T10:32:00.000+02:00

I agree with some of the comments here, but certainly not all.

People like Ivan, CCIE or not, don't have to prove anything to anyone. If you have a significant body of work that is verifiable, chances are you'll never need a CCIE to begin with. Experience and actual knowledge count very highly, again unless you're working for a channel partner.

I don't agree with a 10-year automagic certification for life award, but the fact that you can say that you maintained a CCIE for 10 years (5 recerts potentially) is in and of itself an accomplishment.

I agree that the recertification process is 'annoying', but it's not really that expensive (although living in BFE and adding in fuel cost and it's not a vacation you want to pay for). If you're not making enough money as a CCIE-level networking professional you're doing something wrong or you've overextended your finances to complain about the minimal cost of the recert. Also, ask your employer to pay for it.

I love the idea of continuing education.

I focus on the technology and as such it has allowed me to thrive in every NEM's product-line, in addition to actually implementing all the major protocols (routing and otherwise) from the ground-up at a new NEM.

Believe me, if you think you know the technologies, try protocol implementation/analysis and you'll find out quickly that you take things for granted as a typical network engineer... things like 'turning on LDP' or 'configuring IPSec peers utilizing ISAKMP for keying', so on and so forth. So that's an interesting career path for those who love to dissect specifications and know the protocols and operational configuration of multi-vendor equipment.

If you're a younger engineer, by all means acquire some level of certification. If it allows you to get your foot in the door somewhere to gain experience, then do it. Don't be concerned what people think about certifications, just apply yourself and do the best job you can because that's really what counts.

I'm a nine year ccie and have to agree on the poin...

2008-07-24T14:34:00.000+02:00

I'm a nine year ccie and have to agree on the points of test quality expressed above... it is particularly annoying for me as I live in Montana and have to drive two hours to get to the closest test center. During my last recert in March 2008, I saw several questions that asked for the "best" answer and provided multiple correct answers. The problem is that the question is scored in a binary pass / fail with no partial credit... forcing me to guess what someone else subjectively said was best at $300 per test and a six hour round-trip. I'm not ashamed to say I had to take the silly thing twice before passing... this doesn't even include obviously absurd questions on the R/S recert that any person with knowledge of TCP would laugh at... in this case it amounted to figuring out which one of the answers given was "least wrong".

In all, I'm not sorry I have the CCIE and I'll continue to recert.

My Bad, it appears that "1) you are all eligible f...

2008-07-21T08:16:00.000+02:00

My Bad, it appears that "1) you are all eligible for life membership under the 10+ plus CCIE rule that is now in place. " is no the case, a fellow CCIE had informed me this was the case, but it appears to not be so.

I'm a recent CCIE, and I totally understand the is...

2008-07-21T06:36:00.000+02:00

I'm a recent CCIE, and I totally understand the issues the various other CCIE's have posted, I agree the CCIE is now not worth the paper its printed on. I have two questions though, 1) I'm not sure what all the 10 year+ guys are complaining about, you are all eligible for life membership under the 10+ plus CCIE rule that is now in place. Check it out at the CCIE support site. 2) It's very easy to say its not worth recertifying, but just wait till your searching for a new job and going up against other current CCIE's, it looks bad. It's a very competitive world out there, China is producing 300+ CCIE's a month, this translates to a lot of competition in the job market. It's one of those things that you never know what's going to happen around the corner job wise. I'll also tell you that the R&S LAB exam is progressively harder every year due to the high passing numbers they continually make it hard and hard, unlike the voice and service provider one. If you ever have to re-cert the lab, you'll be in for a big surprise.

I'm a nine-year CCIE.Yes, the quality control on t...

2008-07-13T01:54:00.000+02:00

I'm a nine-year CCIE.

Yes, the quality control on the recert exam is poor. Very poor.

A lifetime CCIE for ten year veterans? No way. I had to be a guru on IPX, Banyan Vines, XNS, and Appletalk as well as IP when I originally got my CCIE. In another ten years technologies would have changed again.

Recertification may be flawed, but it forces those who claim CCIE status to keep there skills moderately up-to-date.

Are there extremely skilled people out there who have let their CCIE status lapse? Yep. Are there people out there with great cisco skills who have never got a CCIE. You bet.

I'm also a 10+ year CCIE, and I agree, re-taking t...

2008-07-08T23:41:00.000+02:00

I'm also a 10+ year CCIE, and I agree, re-taking the qualification test every other year is damned annoying (and expensive). When people ask me if they should get their CCIE, my answer these days is no longer an unqualified yes.

I agree with most of what you said, and I must say...

2008-07-03T16:15:00.000+02:00

I agree with most of what you said, and I must say I like both your idea of giving lifetime status to 10yr CCIEs (because after 10 years, they likely no longer need a cert to prove their value - so you may as well just give them lifetime status...), and I also like the idea of maybe a 6 hour refresher course, done online, free for all current CCIEs. With Cisco pushing their WebEX stuff, I think this is a good way for them to make use of their own technology.

I recently earned the CCIE designation, and I'm al...

2008-07-01T17:35:00.000+02:00

I recently earned the CCIE designation, and I'm already uncertain as to whether or not it will be worth recertifying when my time comes up in a year or two. I went through the CCIE program as a way to become a more technically proficient network engineer. Certainly that's happened, but passing the lab exam was most definitely not a cure-all.

Since there is no financial benefit to being certified (at least not in my specific situation), I feel as if my time will be better spent educating myself about the technologies I need to make my network function better. A greater familiarity with the ubiquitous 6500 platform and planning design enhancements to improve resiliency during failures are issues not addressed by the CCIE program that are highly relevant to my day-to-day world.

I must agree with most sentiments expressed. I ha...

2008-07-01T17:09:00.000+02:00

I must agree with most sentiments expressed. I have been an active CCIE for ten years now. When Cisco first started the recertification program I was supporter as it did involve a continuing education requirement with CCIE level courses available. That soon faded and was replaced by testing which in the beginning was also technology specific and updated. Then that also faded and now it is the foundation test every two years. In my opinion the continuing education requirement would be much more beneficial with or without a test. If my employer did not require the CCIE I would be tempted to let mine lapse as well. I know a few other long time CCIE's who have also allowed their cert to expire. We have had sessions with Cisco on this but they don't seem to want to listen and sometimes I think they just like the cash flow from the testing.

Interesting aspect of things... I've had similar e...

2008-07-01T16:37:00.000+02:00

Interesting aspect of things... I've had similar experience with MCSE upgrading skills, since it becomes repetitive after a while, and you don't learn that much new.

I already saw someone ask, but here gose again:
- Is it worth it for a younger engineer to go and achieve CCIE
- What will you focus on now - I just want to see the career path of an inactive(Ex) CCIE

Yeah man! Let it rip.Seriously though - you have m...

2008-07-01T16:20:00.000+02:00

Yeah man! Let it rip.

Seriously though - you have made it and lost the touch with the reality out there... We mere mortals still need to recertify and do whatever needs to be done to stay in the game. Thanks for rubbing this into out faces.

Ivan,With all you know now. Would you recomend to ...

2008-07-01T16:14:00.000+02:00

Ivan,

With all you know now. Would you recomend to someone to get their CCIE now-a-days, or do you think knowledge and experiance enough?

Thanks,

Well, there are few aspects of being CCIE. One of ...

2008-07-01T14:13:00.000+02:00

Well, there are few aspects of being CCIE. One of them is the requirements imposed by Cisco on channel partners. To count as a CCIE toward the partner's quota, you have to be active ... which makes sense; after all, these engineers are supposed to be taking customer requests and should be very fluent in what they do.

However, that's the only place where I strongly support Cisco's position ... and I always have so much fun reading provocative posts from people that use blogs hosted by respected industry publications to promote their agenda (whatever that is).

I totally agree. IMHO Cisco should grant lifetime ...

2008-07-01T12:42:00.000+02:00

I totally agree. IMHO Cisco should grant lifetime status to anyone who has held their CCIE for over 10 years. After all - doing that has shown considerable commitment to the brand. And it's not like you have to go back to university and continually recertify for your degree, is it?

bravo! CCIE or not I think the best Cisco resource...

2008-07-01T11:59:00.000+02:00

bravo! CCIE or not I think the best Cisco resource out there..