Introduction
Cisco Certification Path
Cisco offer five levels of network certification: Entry, Associate, Professional, Expert and Architect, the highest level of accreditation within the Cisco Career Certification program.
Entry
Both the CCENT and the CCT certifications serve as starting points for individuals interested in starting a career as a networking professional.
Associate
The Associate level of Cisco Certifications can begin directly with CCNA for network installation, operations and troubleshooting or CCDA for network design. Think of the Associate Level as the foundation level of networking certification. This includes:
Professional
The Professional level is an advanced level of certification that shows more expertise with networking skills. Each certification covers a different technology to meet the needs of varying job roles. This includes:
Expert
The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification is accepted worldwide as the most prestigious networking certification in the industry. This includes:
Architect
Cisco Certified Architect is the highest level of accreditation achievable and recognizes the architectural expertise of network designers who can support the increasingly complex networks of global organizations and effectively translate business strategies into evolutionary technical strategies. This includes:
Entry
Both the CCENT and the CCT certifications serve as starting points for individuals interested in starting a career as a networking professional.
Associate
The Associate level of Cisco Certifications can begin directly with CCNA for network installation, operations and troubleshooting or CCDA for network design. Think of the Associate Level as the foundation level of networking certification. This includes:
- CCNA Routing and Switching
- CCDA
- CCNA Data Center
- CCNA Security
- CCNA Service Provider
- CCNA Service Provider Operations
- CCNA Video
- CCNA Voice
- CCNA Wireless
Professional
The Professional level is an advanced level of certification that shows more expertise with networking skills. Each certification covers a different technology to meet the needs of varying job roles. This includes:
- CCDP
- CCNP
- CCNP Data Center
- CCNP Security
- CCNP Service Provider
- CCNP Service Provider Operations
- CCNP Voice
- CCNP Wireless
Expert
The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification is accepted worldwide as the most prestigious networking certification in the industry. This includes:
- 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
Cisco Certified Architect is the highest level of accreditation achievable and recognizes the architectural expertise of network designers who can support the increasingly complex networks of global organizations and effectively translate business strategies into evolutionary technical strategies. This includes:
Specialist Certifications
The Specialist designation certifies the specific expertise of technical professionals, including those with Cisco Career Certifications at the associate, professional or expert levels. By earning specialist certifications, network professionals can enhance their core networking knowledge in technologies such as security, data center or video.
Many Specialist certifications align with the requirements of the Cisco Partner Specialization program.
Collaboration
SecurityVideo
Many Specialist certifications align with the requirements of the Cisco Partner Specialization program.
Collaboration
- Voicemail and Messaging Specialists
- Data Center Application Services
- Cisco Data Center Application Services Design Specialist
- Cisco Data Center Application Services Support Specialist
- Data Center Unified Computing
- Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Design Specialist
- Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Support Specialist
- Data Center Unified Fabric
SecurityVideo
