Have you heard that Cisco changes its CCIE and CCDE exam policy? If you are planning to take or re-take CCIE or CCDE exams – written or lab- any time soon, be sure to keep the changes in mind. This especially concerns the cases of retakes (when you initially fail your exam). While we all hope to pass from the first try, the following information is definitely worth keeping in the back of your head.

Written Exam: Retakes

There is no limit to the number of attempts that can be made on the written exam, but it is compulsory to wait at least 5 days between exam attempts. Once you pass a particular written exam, you cannot retake it for 180 days (not that many candidates would choose to do it anyways, but sometimes, in light of recertification or the need to improve the score, some people do that).

Starting August 2, 2014, the following Cisco policy changes come into effect:

• Candidates who fail any CCIE or CCDE written exam must wait for a period of 15 calendar days, beginning the day after the failed attempt, before retaking the same exam.
• Candidates may attempt any CCIE or CCDE written exam up to four times per rolling calendar year. Candidates cannot retake the same written exam more than four times per rolling calendar year regardless of passing or failing the exam.

All candidates must wait 30 days between CCIE lab attempts. Please note that the 30-day period starts from the day after a failed lab exam.

Candidates who do not pass the CCDE practical exam can retake it during the next scheduled exam administration.

Effective August 2, 2014, the following policy changes will be enforced:

• Candidates who fail any CCIE lab exam on the first attempt must wait for a period of 30 calendar days before scheduling a second attempt at the same lab exam.
• Candidates who fail the second attempt at any CCIE lab exam must wait for a period of 90 calendar days before scheduling any further attempts. The same wait time will be applied to subsequent attempts until the fifth attempt.
• Candidates who fail a fifth attempt at any CCIE lab exam must wait for a period of 180 calendar days before scheduling any further attempts.
  NOTE: There is no wait time between a passed qualification written exam and the first lab or practical exam attempt. However, candidates must make an initial attempt at the CCIE lab exam or CCDE practical exam within 18 months of passing the CCIE or CCDE written exam.

Do you have any ideas? Please feel free to share them in comments.

Yet, the company makes transition as easy as possible for the candidates. Those who have previously taken the IBM exam, can continue using their Candidate Testing ID, and all their records and IBM exam history will remain in place. Pearson VUE also recognizes valid IBM promotion codes and IBM vouchers issued prior to the transition.

The biggest change, however, seems to be the new test numbers. IBM introduces new prefixes (yes, no longer those familiar 000s), and keeps the ending 3 digits the same. The full exam correlation table is available here.

Exam Admission Changes

At Pearson VUE centers, new exam admission requirements are being used. With the primary goal of improving the security and minimizing the chances of exam fraud, IBM has decided that candidates who are taking a proctored exam are now photographed and asked to provide a digital signature. The photograph and signature become a permanent part of each candidate’s IBM certification record. Photos taken during the admission process are printed on score reports and all candidate data is securely stored and protected by Pearson VUE. These requirements may be modified according to local laws.

When the candidate puts Red Hat Certified System Administrator in Red Hat OpenStack credential on their resume, it means they have the skills, knowledge, and abilities to create, configure, and manage private clouds using Red Hat Enterprise Linux® OpenStack® Platform, including:

• Installing and configuring Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform.
• Demonstrating excellent project management skills
• Configuring and managing images.
• Adding compute nodes.
• Managing storage using Swift and Cinder.

To achieve the Red Hat Certified System Administrator in Red Hat OpenStack certification, candidates need to pass Red Hat’s EX210 exam. This is a 3 hour performance based exam where candidates need to perform a variety of hand-on tasks. Those who have taken Red Hat exams before probably know that the company is all about practical tasks and real world experiences (which is great for your future career and real-life job, if you ask us!)

And here’s what Red Hat says about the exam requirements (no formal prerequisites and down-to-earth realistic approach make us love Red Hat!)

• There are no restrictions on eligibility to take this exam.
• All Red Hat Certificate of Expertise exams are performance-based, meaning that candidates must perform tasks on a live system, rather than answering questions about how someone might perform those tasks.
• Real-world experience is the best preparation for this hands-on exam.

In 2014, Cisco strives to address the skill deficit in network security given the challenges of cloud and mobility, by providing network security engineers, analysts, and product specialists with development opportunities. The announced changes include:

• Launch of the redesigned CCNP Security certification program
• Launch of the new Cisco Cybersecurity Specialist certification
• Announcement of the retirement of the existing Cisco Security Specialist certifications
• New and updated product training courses

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the redesign of CCNP Security certification program, which also includes the retirement of a number of exams.

CCNP Security Certification Program Redesign

The redesign of the CCNP Security certification reflects the skills and responsibilities required of today’s network security engineers, who increasingly require a holistic end-to-end understanding of a complete security posture.

The new training courses and labs that are being provided as part of the redesigned certification will utilize a common topology and have been created to complement one another, allowing engineers to grow their skills in harmony with their careers as they progress through the certification.

The following exams and corresponding training courses are available for registration worldwide:

300-206 Implementing Cisco Edge Network Security Solutions (SENSS)     

The 300-206 (SENSS)exam tests the knowledge of configuring and implementing security on Cisco network perimeter edge devices such as a Cisco Switch, Cisco Router, and Cisco ASA Firewall. This exam focuses on the technologies used to secure the perimeter of a network such as Network Address Translation (NAT), ASA policy and application inspect, and Zone-Based Firewall on Cisco routers. Exam topics are available here.

300-207 Implementing Cisco Threat Control Solutions (SITCS)       

The 300-207 (SITCS) exam tests a network security engineer on advanced firewall architecture and configuration with Cisco’s Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) utilizing access and identity polices. This exam covers integration of Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and context-aware firewall components, as well as Web (Cloud) and Email Security solutions. Take a look at the topics here.

300-208 Implementing Cisco Secure Access Solutions (SISAS)        

The 300-208 (SISAS) exam tests whether a network security engineer knows the components and architecture of secure access by utilizing 802.1X and TrustSec. This exam covers Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) architecture, solution and components as an overall network threat mitigation and endpoint control solutions. It also includes the fundamental concepts of BYOD using posture and profiling services of ISE. Exam topics available here.

300-209 Implementing Cisco Secure Mobility Solutions (SIMOS)    

The 300-209 (SIMOS) exam tests a network security engineer on the variety of Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions that Cisco has available on the Cisco ASA firewall and Cisco IOS software platforms. The exam assesses the knowledge necessary to properly implement secure remote communications through VPN technology such as remote access SSL VPN and Site-to-Site VPN (DMVPN, FlexVPN). You can check the topics for this exam here.

Those who are already in the process of attaining their CCNP Security certification have the option of completing their remaining exams before the last date to test of April 21, 2014 or of migrating to the new exams, with credit applied for existing exams passed. More information about the migration path is available here.

Retired Exams

With the redesign of CCNP Security program and the launch of the new Cybersecurity Specialist certification, Cisco retires sits current CCNP Security exams. The following exams and certifications will be retired affective April 22, 2014. Therefore, the last day for taking these exams is April 21.

So, if you were planning to become a CCNP Security this year, you have every chance to get a newly updated certification which supposedly reflects the most current industry trends. Stay tunes as well explore the brand new Cisco Cybersecurity Specialist certification in our next post.

Exams related to HTML5-related exams, 70-481 and 70-482, will be updated next week, on November 18, 2013, as Microsoft announced a few month ago. And the two exams related to C# – 70-484 and 70-485 – will be updated early next month, on 2 December.

Now, let’s look at the exams. Changing next week:

70-481: Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps Using HTML5 and JavaScript
The exam measures the following skills:

• Designing Windows Store apps (20%)
• Developing Windows Store apps (20%)
• Creating the user interface (21%)
• Program user interaction (20%)
• Managing security and data (19%)

Here, you can find out which parts of the exam have been changed.

70-482: Advanced Windows Store App Development Using HTML5 and JavaScript
Skills measured within the exam:

• Developing Windows Store apps (17%)
• Discovering and interact with devices (13%)
• Program user interaction (18%)
• Enhancing the user interface (18%)
• Managing data and security (18%)
• Preparing for a solution deployment (16%)

Changes in the 70-482 exam are outlined here.

Those of you focusing on the C# related exams still have over 2 weeks to adjust as the following exams will be changed on 2 December:

70-484: Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps Using C#

Skills measured:

• Designing Windows Store apps (19%)
• Developing Windows Store apps (19%)
• Creating the user interface (21%)
• Program the user interaction (21%)
• Managing security and data (20%)

Here’s what exactly will change in the 70-484 exam.

Last but not least, exam 70-485: Advanced Windows Store App Development Using C#

Skills to be tested:

• Developing Windows Store apps (17%)
• Discovering and interact with devices (16%)
• Program user interaction (17%)
• Enhancing  the user interface (16%)
• Managing data and security (17%)
• Preparing for a solution deployment (17%)

This exam’s upcoming changes are available here.

Well, the changes do not seem to be too big or too bad. When they actually are, Microsoft tend to change the numbers of exams. And in this case, when the numbers are kept the same, the updates are expected to be moderate. Yet, it’s better not to ignore the news – to avoid being too surprised on the exam ;).

This is no secret that Cisco has significantly revamped its certification program, especially CCENT and CCNA, earlier this year. Originally announced in late March, the changes and new CCNA tracks were fully implemented this fall.

So, these are the Cisco certification levels we’re looking at now:

Entry Certifications

• CCENT
• CCT (CCT Data Center; CCT Routing & Switching; CCT TelePresence)

Associate Certifications

• CCNA Routing and Switching
• CCDA
• CCNA Data Center
• CCNA Security
• CCNA Service Provider
• CCNA Service Provider Operations
• CCNA Video
• CCNA Voice
• CCNA Wireless

Professional Certifications

• CCDP
• CCNP
• CCNP Data Center
• CCNP Security
• CCNP Service Provider
• CCNP Service Provider Operations
• CCNP Voice
• CCNP Wireless

Expert Certifications

• CCDE
• CCIE Collaboration
• CCIE Data Center
• CCIE Routing & Switching
• CCIE Security
• CCIE Service Provider
• CCIE Service Provider Operations
• CCIE Voice (Retiring February 13, 2014)
• CCIE Wireless

Architect Certification –  CCAr

What has changed in 2013?

If you are collecting information about CCENT and CCNA from message boards and brain dumps, be sure you’re looking at the updated 2013 data. This is important as CCENT and CNAA appear to have been changed the most.

What we hear may be sad news to many out there: CCENT (ICND1; exam 100-101, which can also be part of your CCNA R&S) has gotten harder – significantly. Subjects added, especially the labs, go more in depth and cover a lot more aspects (including lots of IPv6 stuff) compared to the old CCNA. CCENT Certification hasn’t been a joke before and it has gotten much further from being one now! This certification is also now a prerequisite for most CCNA certifications (except CCNA R&S, CCNA Data Center and CCNA Service Provider).

The Associate level programs, according to Cisco, have been redesigned to better fit the industry needs and the roles networking professionals need to fill. Yes, it means even more practical hands on stuff. To achieve advanced technology certification in an accelerated manner, you now need to pass only two required exams.

As upper certification levels haven’t been affected by the changes to such a degree (we’ll go over them in separate articles), another change to the Cisco certification structure would be the new recertification timeframes.

Renewal and Recertification Timeframes

If you decide to settle on your already achieved certification and do not intend to go up another level any time soon, keep in mind that Cisco Entry, Associate and Professional level certifications last for 3 years. When this time is up, you will have to renew it. Meanwhile, all CCIE and Specialist certifications last for 2 years. And in you’ve made it all the way up the Cisco scale and are now Cisco Certified Architect (no words are enough to express the respect you deserve for that!), your awe-inspiring certification will need to be renewed after 5 years.

A gentle reminder that if you do not register and pass your Cisco recertification exam before your certification expires, you will have to repeat the entire certification process. Now, you do don’t want to challenge yourself this much, do you?

And for those of you planning to recertify, here’s your Recertification Roadmap:

Specialist Recertification Roadmap

Collaboration  

• Cisco Unified Presence Specialist
• Cisco Unity Design Specialist
• Cisco Unity Support Specialist

Data Center      

• Cisco Data Center Application Services Design Specialist
• Cisco Data Center Application Services Support Specialist
• Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Design Specialist
• Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Support Specialist
• Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Design Specialist
• Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Support Specialist

Operating System Software     

• Cisco IOS XR Specialist

Security              

• Cisco ASA Specialist
• Cisco Firewall Security Specialist
• Cisco IOS Security Specialist
• Cisco IPS Specialist
• Cisco Network Admission Control Specialist
• Cisco VPN Security Specialist

Video  

• Cisco Video Network Specialist
• Cisco Rich Media Communications Specialist
• Cisco TelePresence Solutions Specialist

Retired Certifications

This year, Cisco has retired 6 certifications:

• CCIE Storage Networking
• Cisco Data Center Networking Infrastructure Design Specialist
• Cisco Data Center Networking Infrastructure Support Specialist
• Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Design Specialist
• Cisco Data Center Storage Networking Support Specialist
• Cisco TelePresence Installations Specialist

All of these retired certifications have relevant replacement available, so you can easily find a new destination for your Cisco journey.

Which Cisco certification do you have your eyes on now? Feel free to tell us in the comments. And – although the road can get bumpy sometimes, remember to keep your eyes on the prize.