Certifications are very crucial for a successful IT career. If you really want to go far in the industry, you should earn at least one or two credentials to enhance your potential. In this guide, we will explore Cisco certificates and all necessary information that will help you achieve them.
No doubt, Cisco certifications offer measurable and valuable benefits to the professionals. Apart from the certified specialists, these certs are also highly beneficial to the organizations with which the experts work.
Before we go ahead, it is important to highlight that there are a few levels of certifications for network designers. These include CCENT (entry-level), CCNA/CCDA (associate level), CCNP/CCDP (professional level), CCIE/CCDE (expert level), and CCAr (architect level).
In addition to this, there are different certification paths for specific technical fields. They include Routing & Switching, Security, Industrial Network, Service Provider, Data Center, Wireless, Cyber Ops, and Cloud. Let us explore some of the certification paths in detail.
It is essential to mention that each of these credentials requires that you pass one or more exams. You don’t have to worry though, PrepAway has all the resources to help you prepare.
Cisco Entry-Level Certifications
CCENT – Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician
This is the entry-level of Cisco credentials and it covers fundamental networking knowledge. It is essential to mention that before CCENT was introduced, CCNA was the first level of the Cisco certification program.
This certificate validates that a candidate can install, troubleshoot, and manage small enterprise network such as basic network security. You should earn CCENT before progressing to the CCNA certification.
To earn CCENT, you are required to pass the 100-105 ICND1 (Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1) exam. This test is a prerequisite for CCNA Security, CCNA Routing and Switching, CCNA Wireless, and CCDA.
CCT – Cisco Certified Technician
The individuals with this credential have the required skills to diagnose, repair, replace, and restore critical Cisco system devices and networking at the customer sites. These certified professionals work closely with the Cisco Technical Assistance Center to efficiently resolve any support incidents.
There are two domains under the CCT credential, and these are CCT Routing & Switching and CCT Data Center. You can learn more about these exams and use preparation materials from the PrepAway platform.
Cisco Associate-Level Certifications
CCDA – Cisco Certified Design Associate
The credential validates that one can design switched or routed networks associated with broadband services, WANs, and LANs. To obtain this certification, you must have CCENT at least, and pass the 200-310 exam.
CCNA – Cisco Certified Network Associate
- CCNA Routing & Switching: This credential covers the skills and experience required to administer devices on medium and small-sized networks. The candidates desiring to earn this certification must pass the 100-105 ICND1 and 200-105 ICND2 exams. You may choose to write the test separately, which is 200-125 CCNA. This certificate is a prerequisite for more advanced certifications such as CCNP and CCDP.
- CCNA Security: This certification measures the knowledge and skills of security infrastructure, vulnerabilities, and threats to networks, as well as threat mitigation. To earn it, you must have certain skills, such as installation, monitoring, and troubleshooting network devices to sustain the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of data. You also need to pass the 210-260 IINS exam and have the CCNA certification.
- CCNA Cloud: This certificate is designed for Cloud engineers, network engineers, and Cloud administrators who want to develop and validate their skills in Cloud and be equipped with the knowledge and skills required for the changing business world. To earn this certification, you must pass the 210-451 CLDFND and 210-455 CLDADM exams.
- CCNA Collaboration: This credential is aimed at the Cisco engineers who focus on Cisco Unified Communication products. They specialize in deployment and support of live text, voice, and video communication solutions across different IP networks.
- CCNA CyberOps: This certification prepares the individuals for a career as an associate-level cybersecurity analyst in security operations centers. To earn the credential, you have to pass the 210-250 SECFND and 210-255 SECOPS exams.
- CCNA Industrial: This certificate is designed for plant administrators, traditional network engineers, and control system engineers who work in manufacturing, oil and gas industries, and process control, and they are also involved in the convergence of industrial networks and IT. You must pass the 200-601 IMINS2 exam to earn this credential.
- CCNA Service Provider: This credential validates your ability to implement and configure baseline Service Provider Next-Generation networks of Cisco. The candidates must pass the 640-875 and 640-878 exams. You don’t need a standard CCNA certificate to pursue this certification. Everything you need for your preparation is available on the PrepAway website.
- CCNA Wireless: This certification covers wireless LANs. It is designed for professionals, such as wireless support specialists, networking associates and administrators, and WLAN project managers. The credential validates the knowledge and skills in implementation, support, and configuration of wireless LANs. The applicants are required to pass the 200-355 WIFUND exam to earn this certification.
Cisco Professional-Level Certifications
CCDP– Cisco Certified Design Professional
The professionals with this certification can discuss, create, and design advanced addressing and routing, network management, security, IP multicast enterprise architecture, and data center that involve wireless domains and virtual networking. The CCDA and CCNA Routing and Switching credentials are prerequisites for Cisco CCDP, and you must pass the 300-101 ROUTE, 300-115 SWITCH, and 300-320 ARCH exams.
CCNP – Cisco Certified Network Professional
- CCNP Routing & Switching: This credential validates your ability to plan, verify, implement, and troubleshoot wide and local area enterprise networks while working in partnership with specialists on advanced voice, video, wireless, and security solutions. Apart from the CCNA exams, the candidates must also pass three different professional-level tests: 300-101 ROUTE, 300-115 SWITCH, and 300-135 TSHOOT.
- CCNP Security
- CCNP Cloud
- CCNP Collaboration
- CCNP Data Center
- CCNP Service Provider
- CCNP Wireless
Final Thoughts
The certifications mentioned above are some of the top ones offered by Cisco. Others include CCDE, CCIE R&S, CCIE Security, CCIE Wireless, CCAr, etc. Their details can be found on the official website of Cisco. Everything you need to prepare for any Cisco exam is available at PrepAway website.