Cisco Certification FAQs: Your Ultimate Guide

Training & Certification FAQs

No matter where you stand in your certification journey, our Frequently Asked Questions can guide you forward. Need tailored answers? Reach out to our certification experts for assistance. Get in touch with us now!

General FAQs

This initiative is built on technology transition that Cisco has driven in the networking industry. “Unleashing the full capabilities of the new network” means that there are entirely new capabilities in the network, and this fundamentally changes “how networking is done”. To fully leverage the capabilities of the new network, networking and software skills are key.

The new Cisco Certification program introduces CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE certifications that maintain the high-quality standards known to the industry yet have been streamlined based on market demands and learner preferences. The program is designed for agility, value, and leadership. It lets people choose the skills they want to develop and encourages lifelong learning.

New DevNet Associate and DevNet Professional Certifications provide software skills for network engineers and software developers who work with Cisco technologies.

This allows Cisco to combine the strengths of the Cisco certified community, Networking Academy community, and DevNet community, and build the workforce for the next generation of businesses built on Cisco technologies.

Cisco is enhancing their certification program to bring you:

  • Streamlined and updated certification paths, such as
    • Consolidated and updated associate level training and certification for networking engineers -one course, one exam covers the fundamental topics for all network technologies.
    • Specialist certifications to validate your skills in line with your job role and interests.
    • Your choice of concentration exams at the professional level that allows you to tailor your certification to your preferences.
    • CCIE achievement that validates core knowledge on end-to-end practical skills through the entire network life-cycle of designing, deploying, operating and optimizing complex network scenarios.
    • New DevNet certifications at the associate, specialist and professional levels to validate your software development skills.
  • The ability to start where you want -no prerequisites to start earning your associate, specialist, professional or expert level certification.
  • Continuing education credits for recertification and ongoing development available for CCNA, Cisco Certified Specialist, CNNP and CCIE.
  • New Emeritus lifetime tenure for CCIE certifications maintained continuously for 20 years.
  • Badging for completing training courses.
  • No more continuing education administrative fee, as of February 24, 2020.

The following features of the Cisco program have not changed:

  • Multiple levels of certification, at associate (CCNA), specialist, professional (CCNP) and expert (CCIE) levels.
  • Learning on your schedule, in your preferred way –online or in-person.
  • Core technology concentrations at professional and expert levels, in Enterprise, Security, Service Provider, Collaboration, Data Center and more.
  • Recertification exams available at all levels.
For:You get:
Successfully completing trainingTraining badge
Passing the CCNA examCisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Passing the Cisco Certified DevNet Associate examCisco Certified DevNet Associate
Passing any written, proctored exam, with exception of the CCNA examCisco Certified Specialist
Passing any DevNet written, proctored exam, with exception of the Cisco Certified DevNet Associate examCisco Certified DevNet Specialist
Passing one core exam and one concentration exam in the same technologyCisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
Passing one DevNet core and one DevNet concentration examCisco Certified DevNet Professional
Passing one core exam and the corresponding lab in the same technologyCisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)

Cisco has designed the new training and certification program to be customizable. For example, CCNP includes more options than ever before, with a concentration exam of your choice. And you can earn training badges for completing training and Specialist certifications for passing written, proctored exams in technologies and skills that relate directly to your job, interests, and aspirations.

 

It will depend on each learner’s path. Cisco’s goal is to make it more convenient for learners to become certified and enable them to customize learning to best meet their needs. At the associate level, users will take a single comprehensive exam. At the professional level, users will need to take a core exam and their choice of concentration exam in the same technology track. At the expert level, users will need to take a core exam along with a corresponding lab exam. Specialist certifications will be awarded for passing any written, proctored exam, with the exception of associate level exams.

In the enhanced portfolio, Cisco has incorporated design subject matter into the CCIE lab exams. Cisco is always evaluating their portfolio and will continue to make changes as needed. At this time, the CCDE and CCAr certifications will remain as they are today.

Cisco certifications are among the most valued in the industry. All Cisco certification exams are designed and monitored by experts. They’re developed using a standardized, industry-accepted methodology, which generates valid, credible, valuable, and legally-defensible certifications. Cisco is also constantly validating the integrity of the exams through test site monitoring, enforcement of candidate requirements, exam security practices, data analytics and investigations tied to the security tip line.

Cisco certifications are among the most valued in the industry. All Cisco certification exams are designed and monitored by experts. They’re developed using a standardized, industry-accepted methodology, which generates valid, credible, valuable, and legally-defensible certifications. Cisco is also constantly validating the integrity of the exams through test site monitoring, enforcement of candidate requirements, exam security practices, data analytics and investigations tied to the security tip line.

CCNA FAQs

The CCNA certification will no longer be required as a prerequisite for professional certifications, giving learners the ability to start where they choose in their learning journey.

CCIE FAQs

Yes, the same written exam will serve as the core exam for CCNP certification and CCIE certification.

Yes, you are required to pass the technology core exam before you take the lab exam.

A CCIE or CCIE Emeritus that maintains their active or Emeritus status for 20 years will have the option to choose a lifetime Emeritus status with no fee. For more information on the CCIE Lifetime Emeritus Benefit, please visit https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-
certifications/certifications/expert/ccie-program/emeritus.html.

CCNP FAQs

A technology core exam is one of the two exams required for CCNP, CCIE, and Cisco Certified DevNet Professional certifications. For CCNP and CCIE, there are five technology core exams available: Enterprise, Security, Service Provider, Collaboration and Data Center. Technology core exams cover the foundational concepts that are required for a candidate to be proficient in a technology architecture. For Cisco Certified DevNet Professional, there is one DevNet core exam.

A concentration exam is one of the two exams required for professional-level certification (CCNP). Concentration exams take a deeper dive into a relevant and related technology, allowing the candidate to choose a topic that is either of interest or related to his or her chosen technology area of focus. For CCNP, there are concentration exams for all five technology tracks: Enterprise, Security, Service Provider, Collaboration and Data Center. There are also multiple concentration exams available for Cisco Certified DevNet Professional.

For passing your technology core exam, you’ll receive a Specialist certification, which will remain active for three years. You have until your Specialist certification expires to pass the concentration or lab exam to complete your professional or expert-level certification.

Yes, you can take and pass both a concentration exam and a lab exam within three years of passing the core exam to achieve your professional and expert-level certifications.

DevNet Certification FAQs

Cisco DevNet is Cisco’s developer program to help developers and IT professionals who want to write applications and develop integrations with Cisco products, platforms, and APIs. Cisco DevNet includes Cisco’s products in software-defined networking, security, cloud, data center, mobility, internet of things, collaboration, services and open-source software development. The developer.cisco.com site also provides learning and sandbox environments as well as video series for those trying to learn coding and testing apps.

The industry comes to DevNet to find Cisco Community resources like Code Exchange, which includes code repositories related to Cisco technologies; Ecosystem Exchange to connect with the Global Cisco Partner Ecosystem and find solutions; and now DevNet Automation Exchange, which is the industry leading code repository of network automation use cases.

Cisco certifications are already known worldwide as some of the most prestigious networking credentials in the industry. DevNet certifications are a subset of Cisco certifications, intended to validate software skills such as programming, application development, DevOps and automation.

While Cisco certifications are unique and distinct in their subject matter, they are very much complementary. Together, these certifications provide a comprehensive catalog that validates skill sets in both networking hardware and software. As Cisco has blended hardware and software to reflect the demands of the industry, so, too, are these certification programs aligned, making it easy for learners to fluidly move between technologies, solutions and programmability.

Yes, you will earn a Cisco Certified DevNet Specialist if you successfully pass any professional-level DevNet exam.

Yes, you can take as many of the concentration exams as you’d like.

Cisco DevNet Automation Exchange is an industry leading code repository with over 50 code repositories and use cases for network automation. This resource provides multi-domain network automation solutions to provide step-by-step guidelines with code repositories across your entire automation lifecycle. The Exchange use cases will solve customers’ biggest problems and include automation at scale, self-serve network operations, telemetry and insights, a holistic approach to monitoring your network and cross-domain automation of applications.

Utilize the Exchange to build more advanced and more capable networks with intent-based networking, multi-domain solutions, APIs and programmability. You can share your code with the community and use code that has been created by the community. The Exchange is created by the community and curated by Cisco DevNet. 

Specialist Certification FAQs

A Specialist certification covers a specific technology topic. You can earn a Specialist certification by passing any written, proctored exam in the certification portfolio, with the exception of associate-level exams.