To understand the knowledge of information technology and choose it as the gear of future success and career’s goal, IT professional always ready to start learning from the basic level as well as the advanced level with the help of IT certifications. One of the vital parts of IT technology is communication and networking that continuously plays a very significant role to maintain organizational communication structure.
Well-known global leading certification suppliers, Cisco System Inc provides credentials for the achievement of its IT pros in communication and networking’s products and services. These credentials increase jobs in the market for their candidates to prove their skills and knowledge. Cisco has the specialty in routing and switching products that direct video, voicemail and the flow of rich data through networks around the world. They are also exceptional with offers for collaboration (WebEx) and telepresence, applications for unified communications, storage networking, and an arrangement of services from simple product support with complete details for cloud management and data centers.
Cisco has organized a great structure of career certification programs for learning and provides different levels that start from an entry-level, advanced level than professional and expert levels, and some certification areas are for the level of the architect.
The portfolio of Cisco consists of following credentials and jobs;
- Cisco Certified Technician – (CCT): system administrator or Engineer of field, network and application support
- Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician – (CCENT): technician roles or help desk
- Cisco Certified Network Associate – (CCNA): Engineer of network, telecommunications and technician or analyst of network, network operations center
- Cisco Certified Network Professional – (CCNP): Network administrator, engineer of support, network as well as senior-level roles
- Cisco Certified Design Professional – (CCDP): Senior network design engineer, senior analyst, network designer or cyber protection analyst
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert – (CCIE): Expert-level roles; engineer of systems, lead, network) or senior network administrator, network architect
- Cisco Certified Design Associate – (CCDA): Engineer of design, network, system, lead, and analyst interface developer or technical specialist
- Cisco Certified Design Expert – (CCDE): Expert-level roles; systems engineer, network architect, network design engineer or IT infrastructure team lead
- Cisco Certified Architect – (CCAr): Architect network, lead, voice data, enterprise, and more
The aforementioned list of certifications has two main paths. One is covering network operation and the other one is for network design. Networking ladder begins from the entry-level CCENT, then CCNA, moves up to CCNP and ends with the CCIE while the starting of the design network is CCENT, then CCDA, moving up to professional-level CCDP, after that the CCDE, and crowns the program with the CCAr.
There are six subcategories of Cisco Technical Specialist;
- Collaboration
- Data Center
- Network Programmability
- Service Provider
- Internet of things
- Operating System Software
The two famous Digital Transformation Specialists are;
- Customer Experience
- Business Architecture
We can define further, the role of the different level certifications as below;
Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician – Entry Level
Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) is one of the two entry-level certifications for beginners. It is the beginning of the networking career for the achievement to maintain, install, and troubleshoot small networks, enterprise branch networks, and implement the security of basic network. CCENT prerequisites for some associate-level certification like CCNA and CCDA.
Cisco Certified Technician – Entry Level
Cisco Certified Technician is the second entry-level certification for beginners. A CCT certification indicates the talents to successfully work onsite support and maintenance of network-related equipment and work effectively and efficiently with the Technical Assistance Center of Cisco. Routing, Data Center and Switching are the few fields that can choose further.
Cisco Certified Network Associate – Associate Level
Cisco Certified Network Associate CCNA provides knowledge of basic talents in supporting, installing, and troubleshooting the networks of wireless and/or wired. One can choose from multiple ways, including CCNA Cloud, CCNA Cyber Ops, CCNA Collaboration, CCNA Industrial, CCNA Data Center, CCNA Switching and Routing, CCNA Security, CCNA Service Provider and CCNA Wireless. The CCNA is a requirement for the specialized level CCNP certification. The operations of network arrangements are focused on CCNA certification.
Cisco Certified Design Associate – Associate Level
Another important part of the associate level is Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA). This certification is suggested to IT professionals to focus on the design of wired and wireless networks and incorporate voice and security results. CCDA increases the value of IT professionals in the organization and makes them confident for future rewards.
The combination of CCNA credential and CCDA credential creates good opportunity to enhance the skills of the beginner of networking and Cisco has the credit for growing up the level of confidence in their candidates.
Cisco Certified Network Professional – Professional Level
Cisco professional level has two certifications that they are offering to their professionals. The first one is Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) which is for the pros who are deploying, planning, and troubleshooting the wide area networks as well as local area networks. The most tracks of CCNP are the same as the CCNA, except for the CCNA Industrial and CCNA Cyber Ops, because these tracks not offered in the CCNP.
Cisco Certified Design Professional – Professional Level
The second certification for the professional level is the Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP) which is known for building advanced knowledge and proficiency in deploying and designing the concept of multilayer-switched networks and scalable networks. It is such a valuable tool for Cisco Certified Design Professionals, Senior Analyst, Senior Network Design Engineers, and Principal Systems Engineers for the development of their design expertise and proficiency.
Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert – Expert Level
Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) has professional skills and technical knowledge of Cisco network products and solutions that embraces Data Center, Collaboration, Routing and Switching, Service Provider, Security, and Wireless.
Cisco Certified Design Expert – Expert Level
Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) is the identification of expert-level knowledge and skills in network design. It helps network designers to increase the complex networks of the companies by efficiently translating business policies into evolutionary technical policies.
Cisco Certified Architect – Architect Level
Cisco Certified Architect (CCAr) is the highest level of certifications and the Ph.D. of Cisco Career Certification program. This certification validates the expertise of senior network organization architect who can design and plan IT infrastructures according to the business planning of the organization.
These were some of the most popular Cisco certifications. Other than this, you can also enroll yourself in Cisco SDN training, CCNA cyber ops training, and other Cisco certifications training and online courses for more knowledge, powerful resume, and in-demand skills.
