Category Archives: CCIE

There Won’t Be A CCIE: SDN. Here’s Why

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There’s a lot of work that’s been done recently to bring the CCIE up to modern network standards. Yusuf and his team are working hard to incorporate new concepts into the written exam. Candidates are broadening their horizons and picking up new ideas as they learn about industry stalwarts like OSPF and spanning tree. But the biggest challenge out there is incorporating the ideas behind software defined networking (SDN) into the exam. I don’t believe that this will ever happen. Here’s why.

Take This Broken Network

If you look at the CCIE and what it’s really testing, the exam is really about troubleshooting and existing network integration. The CCIE introduces and tests on concepts like link aggregation, routing protocol redistribution, and network service implementation. These are things that professionals are expected to do when they walk in the door, either as a consultant or as someone advising on the incorporation of a new network.

The CCIE doesn’t deal with the design of a network from the ground up. It doesn’t task someone with coming up with the implementation of a greenfield network from scratch. The CCIE exam, especially the lab component, only tests a candidate on their ability to work on something that has already exists. That’s been one of the biggest criticisms of the CCIE for a very long time. Since the knowledge level of a CCIE is at the highest level, they are often drafted to design networks rather than implementing them.

That’s the reason why the CCDE was created. CCDEs create networks from nothing. Their coursework focuses on taking requirements and making a network out of it. That’s why their practical exam focuses less on command lines and more on product knowledge and implementation details. The CCDE is where people that build networks prove they know their trade.

The Road You Must Design For

When you look at the concepts behind SDN, it’s not really built for troubleshooting and implementation without thought. Yes, automation does help implementation. Orchestration helps new devices configure themselves on the fly. API access allows us to pull all kinds of useful information out of the network for the purposes of troubleshooting and management. But each and every one of these things is not in the domain of the CCIE.

Can SDN solve the thorny issues behind redistributing EIGRP into OSPF? How about creating Multiple Spanning Tree instances for odd numbered VLANs? Will SDN finally help me figure out how to implement Frame Relay Traffic Shaping without screwing up the QoS policies? The answer to almost every one of these questions is no.

SDNs major advantages can only be realized with forethought and guidelines. Orchestration and automation make sense when implemented in pods or with new greenfield deployments. Once they have been tested and proven, these concepts can be spread across the entire network and used to ease design woes.

Does it make more sense to start using Ansible and Jinja at the beginning? Or halfway through a deployment? Would you prefer to create Python scripts to poll against APIs after you’ve implemented a different network monitoring system (NMS)? Or would it make more sense to do it right from the start?

CCIEs may see SDN in practice as they start using things like APIC-EM to roll out polices in the network, but CCDEs are the real SDN gatekeepers. They alone can make the decisions to incorporate these ideas from the very beginning to leverage capabilities to ease deployment and make troubleshooting easier. Even though CCIEs won’t see SDN, they will reap the benefits from it being baked in to everything they do.

Tom’s Take

Rather than asking when the CCIE is going to get SDN-ified, a better question would be “Should the CCIE worry?” The answer, as explained above, is no. SDN isn’t something that a CCIE needs to study for. CCDEs, on the other hand, will be hugely impacted by SDN and it will make a big difference to them in the long run. Rather than forcing CCIEs into a niche role that they aren’t necessarily suited for, we should instead let them do what they do best. We should incorporate SDN concepts into the CCDE and let them do what they do best and make the network a better place for CCIEs. Everyone will be better in the long run.

The Rising Tide of CCIE Written Costs

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In CCIE news this week, Cisco has raised the price of their exams across the board. The CCNA has moved up to $325, and the CCIE Written moves from $400 to $450. It goes without saying that there is quite a bit of outcry in the community. Why is the price of the CCIE Written exam surging so high?

No Such Thing As A Free Test

The most obvious answer is that the amount of work going in to development of the exam has increased. The number of people working behind the scenes to create a better exam has caused the amount of outlay to go up, hence the need to recover those costs. This is the simplest explanation of all the cost increases.

As Cisco pours more and more technology into the tests, the amount of hands and fingers touching them has gone down. At the same time, the quality of the eyeballs that do look at the exam has gone up. It’s a lot like going to a specialist doctor. The quality of the care you receive for your condition is high, but the costs associated with that doctor are higher than a regular general practice doctor. Cisco’s headcount is now focused on keeping exam quality high. That kind of expertise is always more expensive per capita, even if the number of those people is fewer.

The odd thing here is that even if the costs of the people doing the work are going up, the amount that the test is increasing doesn’t seem to correlate. It’s been less than two years since the formal introduction of the current version of the CCIE written exam at the then-unheard of price point of $400. We’re two and a half years removed from the CCIE 4.0 Written exam and it’s lofty $350 price point. Has the technology changed so much in less than three years?

The Great Barrier Test

Going back to the introduction of the 5.0 version of the CCIE Written, there was also a retake policy change introduced. Cisco wanted to create a “backoff timer” to reduce the amount of times that a person could take the exam before needing to wait. The change still allowed you to take the second attempt after 30 days, but then the third attempt must wait an additional 90 days after that. So, instead of being able to get three exam attempts in 60 days, those same three attempts would have taken 120 days.

This change was rolled back about six months ago due to outcry from the community. CCIEs trying to recertify were stymied by the exam and forced to wait longer and longer to pass it, with their certification hanging in the balance. With the increased timeouts and limit of four retakes per year, some long time CCIEs were in danger of exhausting their attempts and watching their certification slide away without any recourse to fix it.

Now, the increased price behind the CCIE Written could indeed be attributed to the increased overhead. But it could also be an attempt to keep people from rushing in to take the test every 30 days. Making a policy change to keep people out the exam is one way to do it. But making the exam financially painful to continually fail is another. If you’re willing to drop $1350 in three months to try and pass then you either have money to burn or you’re desperate to pass.

In addition, a higher exam fee would cause test takers to be absolutely certain of their knowledge level before attempting the exam. Creating an initial barrier to entry that will make people think twice before scheduling an exam on a whim does create a situation where the first-time pass rate will improve significantly. This will also help drive funding to certification materials and classes, as candidates will want to know that they will pass before stepping into a certification exam center.

Tom’s Take

I’d really like to think that Cisco is just trying to cover their overhead with the recent price increases. Everything goes up in price. Some things go up faster than others. But the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if Cisco isn’t trying to use the increased price of the exam to help raise the pass rates and discourage folks from rushing the test repeatedly to see the exam question pool. $450 is a tough pill to swallow even if you pass. I think we’re going to see a lot more people taking advantage of the free Cisco Live exam as well as the half price cert exams there. And I sincerely hope the rumored options for recertification take flight soon. Because I don’t know how ready I am to go all out to study when there’s that much money on the line.

Fixing The CCIE Written – A Follow Up

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I stirred up quite the hornet’s nest last week, didn’t I? I posted about how I thought the CCIE Routing and Switching Written Exam needed to be fixed. I got 75 favorites on Twitter and 40 retweets of my post, not to mention the countless people that shared it on a variety of forums and other sites. Since I was at Cisco Live, I had a lot of people coming up to me saying that they agreed with my views. I also had quite a few people that weren’t thrilled with my perspective. Thankfully, I had the chance to sit down with Yusuf Bhaiji, head of the CCIE program, and chat about things. I wanted to share some thoughts here.

Clarity Of Purpose

One of the biggest complaints that I’ve heard is that I was being “malicious” in my post with regards to the CCIE. I was also told that it was a case of “sour grapes” and even that the exam was as hard as it was on purpose because the CCIE is supposed to be hard. Mostly, I felt upset that people were under the impression that my post was designed to destroy, harm, or otherwise defame the CCIE in the eyes of the community. Let me state for the record what my position is:

I still believe the CCIE is the premier certification in networking. I’m happy to be a CCIE and love the program.

Why did I write the post? Not because I couldn’t pass the written. Not because I wanted people to tell me that I was wrong and being mean to them. I wrote the post because I saw a problem and wanted to address it. I felt that the comments being made by so many people that had recently taken the test needed to be collected and discussed. Sure, making light of these kinds of issues in a public forum won’t make people happy. But, as I said to the CCIE team, would you rather know about it or let it fester quietly?

Yusuf assured me that the CCIE program holds itself to the highest standards. All questions are evaluated by three subject matter experts (SMEs) for relevance and correctness before being included in the exam. If those three experts don’t sign off, the question doesn’t go in. There are also quite a few metrics built into the testing software that give the CCIE team feedback on questions and answer choices. Those programs can index all manner of statistics to figure out if questions are creating problems for candidates. Any given test can produce pages worth of valuable information for the people creating the test and trying to keep it relevant.

Another point that was brought up was the comment section on the exam. If you have any problem with a question, you need to fill out the comment form. Yes, I know that taking time out of the test to provide feedback can cause issues. It also interrupts your flow of answering questions. But if you even think for an instant that the question is unfair or misleading or incorrect, you have to leave a detailed comment to make sure the question is flagged properly for review. Which of the following comments means more to you?

  • Trivia question

or

  • This question tests on an obscure command and isn’t valid for a CCIE-level test.

I can promise I know which one is going to be evaluated more closely. And yes, every comment that has purpose is reviewed. The exam creators can print off every comment ever left on a question. The more detailed the comment, the more likely to trigger a review. So please make sure to leave a comment if you think there is a problem with the question.

Clarity Of Vision

Some of the conversations that I had during Cisco Live revolved around the relevance of the questions on the test to a CCIE candidate. Most of the people that I talked to were CCIEs already and using the test for recertification. A few came to me to talk about the relevance of the test questions to candidates that are qualifying for the lab.

While I’m not able to discuss any of the specific plans for the future of the program, I will say that there are ideas in place that could make this distinction matter less. Yusuf told me that the team will be releasing more details as soon as they are confirmed.

The most important point is that the issues that I have with the CCIE Written exam are fixable. I also believe that criticism without a suggestion solution is little more than whining. So I decided to put my money where my mouth is with regard to the CCIE written exam.

I volunteered to fix it.

I stepped up and offered my time as an SME to review the questions on the written exam for relevance, correctness, and grammar. That’s not a light undertaking. There are a ton of questions in the pool that need to be examined. So for every person that agreed with my post or told me that they thought the exam needed to be fixed, I’m putting you all on the spot as well.

It’s time for us as a community of CCIEs to do our part for the exam. Yusuf told me the easiest way to take part in the program is to visit the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/go/certsme

Sign up for the SME program. Tell them that you want to help fix the CCIE. Maybe you only have to look at 5-10 questions. If the hundred or so people that agreed with me volunteered today, the entire test question pool could be analyzed in a matter of weeks. We could do our part to ensure that people taking the exam have the best possible test in front of them.

But I also challenge you to do more. Don’t just correct grammar or tell them they spelled “electricity” wrong in the question. Challenge them. Ask yourself if this is a question a CCIE candidate should know the answer to. There’s a chance that you could make a difference there. But you can’t do that unless you step up the plate.

Tom’s Take

I had at least ten people tell me that they would do whatever it took to fix the CCIE test last week after I talked to the CCIE cert team. They were excited and hopeful that the issues they saw with the test could be sorted out. I’ll admit that I stepped out on a pretty big limb here by doing this in public as opposed to over email or through official channels. And I do admit that I didn’t clarify my intent to build the program up as opposed to casting the whole exam team and process in a bad light.

Mea culpa.

But, my motivation succeed in getting people to talk about the CCIE written. There are many of you that are ready to do your part to help. Please, go sign up at the link above to join the SME program. Maybe you’ll never look at a single question, Maybe you’ll look at fifty. The point is that you step up and tell Cisco that you’re willing. If even fifteen people come forward and agree to help then that message will sound loud and clear that each and every one of us is proud of being a CCIE and want the program to continue long past the time when we’re retired and telling our grandchildren about the good old days of hard but fair tests.

If you have any questions about participating in the program or you want to reach out to me with your thoughts, don’t hesitate to contact me. Let’s put the power of community behind this!

The CCIE Routing And Switching Written Exam Needs To Be Fixed

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The former logo listed in this post was removed by request of Cisco

I’m having a great time at Cisco Live this year talking to networking professionals about the state of things. Most are optimistic about where their jobs are going to fit in with networking and software and the new way of doing things. But there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with one of the most fundamental pieces of network training in the world. The discontent is palpable. From what I’ve heard around Las Vegas this week, it’s time to fix the CCIE Written Exam.

Whadda Ya Know?!?

The CCIE written is the bellwether of network training. It’s a chance for network engineers that use Cisco gear to prove they have what it takes to complete a difficult regimen of training to connect networks of impressive size. It’s also a rite of passage to show others that you know how to study, prep, and complete a difficult practical examination without losing your cool. But all that hard work starts with a written test.

The CCIE written has always been a tough test. It’s the only barrier to entry to the CCIE lab. Because the CCIE has never had prerequisites and likely never will due to long standing tradition, the only thing standing in the way of you ability to sit the grueling lab test is a 100 question multiple choice exam that gauges your ability to understand networking at a deep technical level.

But within the last year or so, the latest version of the CCIE written exam has begun to get very bad reviews from all takers of the test. There are quite a few people that have talked about how bad the test is for candidates. Unlike a lot of “sour grapes” cases of people railing against a test they failed, the feedback for the CCIE written is entirely different. It tends to fall into a couple of categories:

The Test Is Poorly Written

The most resounding critique of the exam is that it is a poorly constructed and executed test. The question quality is subpar. There are spelling mistakes throughout and test questions that have poor answer selections. Having spent a large amount of time helping construct the CCNA exam years ago, I can tell you that you will spend the bulk of your time creating wrong answers as distractors to the right ones. Guidelines say that a candidate should have no better than a 25% chance to guess the correct answer from all the choices. If you’ve ever taken a math test that has four multiple choice answers with three being correct for various mistakes in working the problem, you know just how insidious proper distractors can be (and math teachers too).

The CCIE written is riddled with bad distractors according to reports. It also has questions that don’t have a true proper answer or a set of answers that are all technically correct with no way to select them all. That frustrates test takers and makes it very difficult to study for the exam. The editing and test mechanics errors must be rectified quickly in order to restore confidence to the people taking the test.

The Test Doesn’t Cover The Material

Once people stop telling me how bad the test is constructed, they start telling me that the questions are bad on a conceptual level as well. No NDAs are violated during these discussions to protect everyone involved, but the general opinion is that the test has skewed in the wrong direction. Cisco seems to be creating a test that focuses more on the Cisco and less on the Internetworking part of the CCIE.

The test has never been confused for being a vendor-neutral exam. Any look at the blueprint will tell you that there a plenty of proprietary protocols and implementation methods there. But the older versions of the exam did do a good job of teaching you how to build a network that could behave itself with other non-Cisco sections. Redistributing EIGRP and OSPF is a prime example. But the focus of the new exam seems to be skewed toward very specific Cisco proprietary protocols and the minutia around how they operate. I’ve always thought that knowing the hello and dead timers of OSPF NBMA areas is a huge time sink and really only justified for test takers, but I also see why knowing that would be important in multi-vendor operations. But knowing the same thing for an EIGRP DMVPN seems a bit pointless.

The other problem is that, by the admission of most test takers, the current CCIE Written Exam study guide doesn’t cover the areas of the blueprint that are potentially on the test. I feel very sorry for my friend Narbik Kocharians here. He worked very hard to create a study guide that would help test takers pass the exam with the knowledge necessary to do well on the lab. And having a test over a completely different area than his guide makes him look bad in the eyes of testers without good cause. It’s like a college class when the professor tells you to study the book but gives you a test over his or her lectures. It’s not fair because you studied what you were told and failed because they tested something else.

CCIEs Feel There Are Better Recert Options

This is the most damaging problem in my mind. About half the test takers for the CCIE written are candidates looking to qualify for the lab. That requires them to take the written exam for their specific track. But the other half of the test takers are CCIEs that have passed the lab and are looking to recertify. For these professionals, any CCIE written exam is valid for recertification.

Many CCIE candidates look to broaden their horizons by moving to different track to keep their CCIE current while they study for service provider, data center, or even collaboration as a topic area of study. For them, the CCIE is a stepping stone to keep the learning process going. But many CCIEs I’ve spoken to in the past few months are starting to take other exams not because they want to learn new things, but because the CCIE Routing and Switch written exam is such a terrible test.

Quite a few CCIEs are using the CCDE written to recertify. They feel it is a better overall test even though it doesn’t test the material to the level that the CCIE R&S written exam does. They would even be willing to take the chance of getting a question on an area of technology that they know nothing about to avoid having to deal with poor questions in their areas of study. Still more CCIEs are choosing to become Emeritus and “retire” so as to avoid the pain of the written exam. While this has implications for partner status and a host of other challenges for practicing engineers, you have to wonder how bad things must be to make retirement of your CCIE number look like a better option.

Tom’s Take

I took the CCIE R&S written last year at Cisco Live. I was so disgusted with the exam that I immediately switched to the CCDE written and recertified my number while simultaneously vowing never to take the R&S written again. From what I’ve heard this year, the test quality is still slipping with no relief in sight. It’s a sad state of affairs when you realize that the flagship test for Cisco engineers is so horribly broken that those same engineers believe it can’t be fixed. They feel that all the comments and feedback in the world are ignored and their expertise in taking exams is pushed aside for higher cut scores and a more exclusive number of candidates. The dark side of it all is the hope that there isn’t an agenda to push official training materials or other kinds of shortcuts that would help candidates while charging them more and/or locking out third party training providers that work hard to help people study for the lab.

Cisco needs to fix this problem now. They need to listen to feedback and get their written problems under control. If they don’t, they may soon find the only people taking the R&S written test are the same kinds of dumpers and cheaters they think they are trying to keep out with a poorly constructed test.

NOTE: I have published an update to this post here: Fixing The CCIE Written – A Follow Up

CCIE at 50k: Software Defined? Or Hardware Driven?

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Congratulations to Ryan Booth (@That1Guy_15) on becoming CCIE #50117. It’s a huge accomplishment for him and the networking community. Ryan has put in a lot of study time so this is just the payoff for hard work and a job well done. Ryan has done something many dream of and few can achieve. But where is the CCIE program today? And where will it be in the future?

Who Wants To Be A CCIE?

A lot of virtual ink has been committed to opinions in the past couple of years about how the CCIE is become increasingly irrelevant in a world of software defined DevOps focused non-traditional networking teams. It has been said that the CCIE doesn’t teach modern networking concepts like programming or building networks in a world with no CLI access. While this is all true, I don’t think it diminishes the value of getting a CCIE.

The CCIE has never been about building a modern network. It has never been focused on creating anything other than a medium-sized enterprise network in the case of the routing and switching exam. It is not a test of best practices or of greenfield deployment scenarios. Instead, it has been a test of interoperability with an exisiting architecture. It tests the ability of the candidate to add devices and protocols to a stable existing network.

Other flavors of the CCIE test over different protocols or technologies, but the idea is still the same. The only one that even comes close to requiring programming is the CCIE Collaboration, which tests over the ability to customize Cisco Contact Center scripts. Otherwise, each test focuses on technology implementation and not architecture or operation.

Current logic dictates that people don’t want to take the CCIE because it doesn’t teach programming or API interaction. Yet candidates are showing up in droves. It’s almost as if the networks we have today are going to need to be maintained and built out over the coming years. These are the kinds of tasks that are well suited to a support-focused certification like the CCIE. The ideal CCIE candidate isn’t using Vagrant and Chef in a lab somewhere. They’re muddling through OSPF to RIP distribution somewhere in the dark corners of a network that got welded on after an acquisition.

Is Everyone A CCIE?

One thing I have noticed about the CCIE is the fact the number climb seems to have leveled off. It’s not the rapid explosion of certifications that it has been in the past, nor is it the eventual cliff of increased difficulty. Things seem to be marching more toward steady growth. I don’t know how much of that can be attributed to factors like the Cisco official CCIE training program or the upgrade to version 5 almost two years ago.

Lots of CCIEs doesn’t necessarily mean that the test has lost meaning. Microsoft had several thousand MCSEs by the time the certification became a punchline to countless call center jokes. Novell had a virtual army of Certified NetWare Engineers (CNEs) before software changes locked many of them into CNE 5 or CNE 6. Having a lot of certified individuals doesn’t devalue the certificaiton. It’s what people do with it that creates the reputation. Ask and Novell Certififed Directory Engineer (CDE) about the reputation garnered by a test and they can give you a lesson in hard exams that breed bright engineers.

Does that mean that we should brace ourselves for even more CCIEs in the future? It likely won’t be as bad as has been imagined. The written exam for version 5 has pointed out to me that Cisco is going to start closing ranks around technologies in the near future. The written exam serves as a testing ground for potential new topics on the exam. MPLS was a written topic long before it became a potential lab exam topic. The current written exam is full of technologies that make me think Cisco is starting to put more emphasis on the Cisco and less on the Internetworking in CCIE.

Cisco wants to have a legion of certified individuals that think about Cisco technology benefits. That’s why we’re starting to see a shift toward things like DMVPN and GETVPN in testing. In place of industry standard protocols, we get the Cisco improved versions. This locks candidates into the Cisco method of thinking and ensures that their go-to solutions will include some form of proprietary technology.

If this shift in thinking is really the start of the new way of certification testing, I worry for the future of the CCIE. Not because there are 50,000 CCIEs, but because the new inductees into the CCIE group will be focused on creating islands of Cisco in the sea of interoperable data center networks. That’s good for Cisco’s bottom line, but bad for the reputation of the CCIE. Could you imagine what would happen if a CCIE walked in and told you they couldn’t fix your MPLS VPN configuration issues because “I only know how to work on DMVPN”?

Tom’s Take

Every time someone I know passes the CCIE it makes me happy that they’ve completed a rigorous exam testing process. It tells me this person knows how to follow the lab instructions to create an interoperable enterprise network based on constraints. It also tells me that this person knows how to study material and doesn’t give up. Those are the kinds of people I would want in my networking group.

CCIEs are the perfect people to learn more modern network techniques like programmability and SDN. Not because they learned how to do it on their test. But because they are the kinds of people that learn well and will apply everything they have to picking up a new concept. But it needs to be pointed out here that Cisco must foster that kind of interoperable learning experience with CCIEs. Focusing too heavily on proprietary solutions to help create an army of unknowing Cisco SEs in the field will only serve to hurt Cisco in the future when that group of certified individuals must learn to work in the world of networking post-SD.

 

Get a CCIE, Don’t Be A CCIE

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Getting a CCIE is considered to be the pinnacle of a person’s networking career.  It is the culmination of hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of study.  People pass the lab and celebrate with the relief that can only come from completing a milestone in life.  But it’s important for newly-minted CCIEs to realize that getting your number doesn’t mean you obtained hubris with it.

A great article that talks about something similar comes from Hunter Walk.  It’s Fine To Get an MBA, But Don’t Be An MBA shows many of the things I’m talking about.  With the MBA, it’s a bit different.  The MBA is a pure book learning environment with very little practical experience.  The CCIE is a totally practical exam that requires demonstration of knowledge.  However, both of these things share something in common.  People get very hung up on the knowledge from the certification and forget to keep an open mind about other ideas.  In essence, someone that is “Being a CCIE” is using their certification incorrectly.

Here are some points:

Get A CCIE to further your knowledge about networking and learn how system work. Don’t Be A CCIE and think that you’ve learned everything there is to know about networking.

Get A CCIE and work with your coworkers and peers to solve problems.  Don’t Be A CCIE and ignore everyone because you think you’re smarter than they are.

Get A CCIE and contribute to the community with knowledge and experience.  Don’t Be A CCIE and refuse to share because you can’t be bothered.

Get A CCIE and help your company to take on bigger and better networking projects.  Don’t Be A CCIE and assume you are indispensable.

Get A CCIE because you want to.  Don’t Be A CCIE and assume you’ve always been one.

A CCIE doesn’t change who you are.  It just serves to show people how dedicated you can be.  Don’t let five little numbers turn you into a bully or a know-it-all.  Realize you still have much to learn.  Understand that your position is now at the forefront of where networking is going, not where it has been.  When you know that being a CCIE is more than just a piece of paper, then you will have truly gotten your CCIE.

CCIE Version 5: Out With The Old

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Cisco announced this week that they are upgrading the venerable CCIE certification to version five.  It’s been about three years since Cisco last refreshed the exam and several thousand people have gotten their digits.  However, technology marches on.  Cisco talked to several subject matter experts (SMEs) and decided that some changes were in order.  Here are a few of the ones that I found the most interesting.

CCIEv5 Lab Schedule

Time Is On My Side

The v5 lab exam has two pacing changes that reflect reality a bit better.  The first is the ability to take some extra time on the troubleshooting section.  One of my biggest peeves about the TS section was the hard 2-hour time limit.  One of my failing attempts had me right on the verge of solving an issue when the time limit slammed shut on me.  If I only had five more minutes, I could have solved that problem.  Now, I can take those five minutes.

The TS section has an available 30 minute overflow window that can be used to extend your time.  Be aware that time has to come from somewhere, since the overall exam is still eight hours.  You’re borrowing time from the configuration section.  Be sure you aren’t doing yourself a disservice at the beginning.  In many cases, the candidates know the lab config cold.  It’s the troubleshooting the need a little more time with.  This is a welcome change in my eyes.

Diagnostics

The biggest addition is the new 30-minute Diagnostic section.  Rather than focusing on problem solving, this section is more about problem determination.  There’s no CLI.  Only a set of artifacts from a system with a problem: emails, log files, etc.  The idea is that the CCIE candidate should be an expert at figuring out what is wrong, not just how to fix it.  This is more in line with the troubleshooting sections in the Voice and Security labs.  Parsing log files for errors is a much larger part of my time than implementing routing.  Teaching candidates what to look for will prevent problems in the future with newly minted CCIEs that can diagnose issues in front of customers.

Some are wondering if the Diagnostic section is going to be the new “weed out” addition, like the Open Ended Questions (OEQs) from v3 and early v4.  I see the Diagnostic section as an attempt to temper the CCIE with more real world needs.  While the exam has never been a test of ideal design, knowing how to fix a non-ideal design when problems occur is important.  Knowing how to find out what’s screwed up is the first step.  It’s high time people learned how to do that.

Be Careful What You Wish For

The CCIE v5 is seeing a lot of technology changes.  The written exam is getting a new section, Network Principles.  This serves to refocus candidates away from Cisco specific solutions and more toward making sure they are experts in networking.  There’s a lot of opportunity to reinforce networking here and not idle trivia about config minimums and maximums.  Let’s hope this pays off.

The content of the written is also being updated.  Cisco is going to make sure candidates know the difference between IOS and IOS XE.  Cisco Express Forwarding is going to get a focus, as is ISIS (again).  Given that ISIS is important in TRILL this could be an indication of where FabricPath development is headed.  The written is also getting more IPv6 topics.  I’ll cover IPv6 in just a bit.

The biggest change in content is the complete removal of frame relay.  It’s been banished to the same pile as ATM and ISDN.  No written, no lab.  In it’s place, we get Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN).  I’ve talked about why Frame Relay is on the lab before.  People still complained about it.  Now, you get your wish.  DMVPN with OSPF serves the same purpose as Frame Relay with OSPF.  It’s all about Stupid Router Tricks.  Using OSPF with DMVPN requires use of mGRE, which is a Non-Broadcast Multi-Access (NBMA) network.  Just like Frame Relay.  The fact that almost every guide today recommends you use EIGRP with DMVPN should tell you how hard it is to do.  And now you’re forced to use OSPF to simulate NBMA instead of Frame Relay.  Hope all you candidates are happy now.

vCCIE

The lab is also 100% virtual now.  No physical equipment in either the TS or lab config sections.  This is a big change.  Cisco wants to reduce the amount of equipment that needs to be physically present to build a lab.  They also want to be able to offer the lab in more places than San Jose and RTP.  Now, with everything being software, they could offer the lab at any secured PearsonVUE testing center.  They’ve tried in the past, but the access requirements caused some disaster.  Now, it’s all delivered in a browser window.  This will make remote labs possible.  I can see a huge expansion of the testing sites around the time of the launch.

This also means that hardware-specific questions are out.  Like layer 2 QoS on switches.  The last reason to have a physical switch (WRR and SRR queueing) is gone.  Now, all you are going to get quizzed on is software functionality.  Which probably means the loss of a few easy points.  With the removal of Frame Relay and L2 QoS, I bet that services section of the lab is going to be really fun now.

IPv6 Is Real

Now, for my favorite part.  The JNCIE has had a robust IPv6 section for years.  All routing protocols need to be configured for IPv4 and IPv6.  The CCIE has always had a separate IPv6 section.  Not any more.  Going forward in version 5, all routing tasks will be configured for v4 and v6.  Given that RIPng has been retired to the written exam only (finally), it’s a safe bet that you’re going to love working with OSPFv3 and EIGRP for IPv6.

I think it’s great that Cisco has finally caught up to the reality of the world.  If CCIEs are well versed in IPv6, we should start seeing adoption numbers rise significantly.  Ensuring that engineers know to configure v4 and v6 simultaneously means dual stack is going to be the preferred transition method.  The only IPv6-related thing that worries me is the inclusion of an item on the written exam: IPv6 Network Address Translation.  You all know I’m a huge fan of NAT.  Especially NAT66, which is what I’ve been told will be the tested knowledge.

Um, why?!? 

You’ve removed RIPng to the trivia section.  You collapsed multicast into the main routing portions.  You’re moving forward with IPv6 and making it a critical topic on the test.  And now you’re dredging up NAT?!? We don’t NAT IPv6.  Especially to another IPv6 address.  Unique Local Addresses (ULA) is about the only thing I could see using NAT66.  Ed Horley (@EHorley) thinks it’s a bad idea.  Ivan Pepelnjak (@IOSHints) doesn’t think fondly of it either, but admits it may have a use in SMBs.  And you want CCIEs and enterprise network engineers to understand it?  Why not use LISP instead?  Or maybe a better network design for enterprises that doesn’t need NAT66?  Next time you need an IPv6 SME to tell you how bad this idea is, call me.  I’ve got a list of people.

Tom’s Take

I’m glad to see the CCIE update.  Getting rid of Frame Relay and adding more IPv6 is a great thing.  I’m curious to see how the Diagnostic section will play out.  The flexible time for the TS section is way overdue.  The CCIE v5 looks to be pretty solid on paper.  People are going to start complaining about DMVPN.  Or the lack of SDN-related content.  Or the fact that EIGRP is still tested.  But overall, this update should carry the CCIE far enough into the future that we’ll see CCIE 60,000 before it’s refreshed again.

More CCIE v5 Coverage:

Bob McCouch (@BobMcCouch) – Some Thoughts on CCIE R&S v5

Anthony Burke (@Pandom_) – Cisco CCIE v5

Daniel Dib (@DanielDibSWE) – RS v5 – My Thoughts

INE – CCIE R&S Version 5 Updates Now Official

IPExpert – The CCIE Routing and Switching (R&S) 5.0 Lab Is FINALLY Here!

CPE Credits for CCIE Recertification

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conted

Every year at Cisco Live the CCIE attendees who are also NetVets get a special reception with John Chambers where they can ask one question of him (time permitting).  I’ve had hit-or-miss success with this in the past so I wanted to think hard about a question that affected CCIEs the world over and could advance the program.  When I finally did ask my question, no only was it met with little acclaim but some folks actually argued against my proposal.  At that moment, I figured it was time to write a blog post about it.

I think the CCIE needs to adopt a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) route for recertification.

I can hear many of you out there now jeering me and saying that it’s a dumb idea.  Hear me out first before you totally dismiss the idea.

Many respected organizations that issue credentials have a program that records CPEs in lieu of retaking certification exams.  ISACA, (ISC)^2, and even the American Bar Assoication use continuing education programs as a way of recertifying their members.  If so many programs use them, what is the advantage?

CPEs ensure that certification holders are staying current with trends in technology.  It forces certified individuals to keep up with new advances and be on top of the game.  It rewards those that spend time researching and learning.  It provides a method of ensuring that a large percentage of the members are able to understand where technology is headed in the future.

There seems to be some hesitation on the part of CCIEs in this regard.  Many in the NetVet reception told me outright I was crazy for thinking such a thing.  They say that the only real measure of recertification is taking the written test.  CCIEs have a blueprint that they need to know and they is how we know what a CCIE is.  CCIEs need to know spanning tree and OSPF and QoS.

Let’s take that as a given.  CCIEs need to know certain things.  Does that mean I’m not a real CCIE because I don’t know ATM, ISDN, or X.25?  These were things that have appeared on previous written exams and labs in the past.  Why do we not learn them now?  What happened to those technologies to move them out of the limelight and relegate them to the same pile that we find token ring and ARCnet?  Technology advances every day.  Things that we used to run years ago are now as foreign to us as steam power and pyramid construction.

If the only true test of a CCIE is to recertify on things they already know, why not make them take the lab exam every two years to recertify?  Why draw the line at simple multiple choice guessing?  Make them show the world that they know what they’re doing.  We could drop the price of the lab for recertification.  We could offer recert labs in other locations via the remote CCIE lab technology to ensure that people don’t need to travel across the globe to retake a test.  Let’s put some teeth in the CCIE by making it a “real” practical exam.

Of course, the lab recert example is silly and a bit much.  Why do we say that multiple choice exams should count?  Probably because they are easy to administer and grade.  We are so focused on ensuring that CCIEs retrain on the same subjects over and over again that we are blind to the opportunity to make CCIEs the point of the spear when it comes to driving new technology adoption.

CCIE lab revamps don’t come along every six months.  They take years of examination and testing to ensure that the whole process integrates properly.  In the fourth version of the CCIE lab blueprint, MPLS appeared for the first time as a lab topic.  It took years of adoption in the wider enterprise community to show that MPLS was important to all networkers and not just service provider engineers.  The irony is that MPLS appears in the blueprint right alongside Frame Relay, a technology which MPLS is rapidly displacing.  We are still testing on a twenty-year-old technology because it represents so much of a networker’s life as it is ripped out and replaced with better protocols.

Where’s the CCIE SDN? Why are emerging technologies so underrepresented in the CCIE?  One could argue that new tech needs time to become adopted and tested before it can be a valid topic.  But who does that testing and adoption?  CCIEs?  CCNPs? Unwitting CCNAs who have this thrust upon them because the CIO saw a killer SDN presentation and decided that he needed it right now!  The truth is somewhere in the middle, I think.

Rather than making CCIEs stop what they are working over every 18 months to read up and remember how 802.1d spanning tree functions or how to configure an NBMA OSPF-over-frame-relay link, why not reward them for investigating and proofing new technology like TRILL or OpenFlow?  Let the research time count for something.  The fastest way to stagnate a certification program is to force it in upon itself and only test on the same things year after year.  I said as much in a previous CCIE post which in many ways was the genesis of my question (and this post).  If CCIEs know the only advantage of studying new technology is gaining a leg up with the CxO comes down to ask how network function virtualization is going to benefit the company then that’s not much of an advantage.

CPEs can be anything.  Reading an article.  Listening to a webcast.  Preparing a presentation.  Volunteering at a community college.  Even attending Cisco Live, which I have been informed was once a requirement of CCIE recertification.  CPEs don’t have to be hard.  They have to show that CCIEs are keeping up with what’s happening with modern networking.  That stands in contrast to reading the CCIE Certification Guide for the fourth or fifth time and perusing 3-digit RFCs for technology that was developed during the Reagan administration.

I’m not suggesting that the CPE program totally replace the test.  In fact, I think those tests could be complementary.  Let CPEs recertify just the CCIE exam.  The written test could still recertify all the existing CCNA/CCNP level certifications.  Let the written stand as an option for those that can’t amass the needed number of CPE credits in the recertification period.  (ISC)^2 does this as do many others.  I see no reason why it can’t work for the CCIE.

There’s also the call of fraud and abuse of the system.  In any honor system there will be fraud and abuse.  People will do whatever they can to take advantage of any perceived weakness to gain advantage.  Similarly to (ISC)^2, an audit system could be implemented to flag questionable submissions and random ones as well to ensure that the certified folks are on the up and up.  As of July 1, 2013 there are almost 90,000 CISSPs in the world.  Somehow (ISC)^2 can manage to audit all of those CPE submissions.  I’m sure that Cisco can find a way to do it as well.

Tom’s Take

People aren’t going to like my suggestion.  I’ve already heard as much.  I think that rewarding those that show initiative and learn all they can is a valuable option.  I want a legion of smart, capable individuals vetting new technology and keeping the networking world one step into the future.  If that means reworking the existing certification program a bit, so be it.  I’d rather the CCIE be on the cutting edge of things rather than be a laggard that is disrespected for having its head stuck in the sand.

If you disagree with me or have a better suggestion, I implore you leave a comment to that affect.  I want to really understand what the community thinks about this.

Poaching CCIEs

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CCIEIce

During the CCIE Netvet Reception at Cisco Live 2013, a curious question came up during our Q&A session with CEO John Chambers. Paul Borghese asked if it was time for the partner restriction on CCIE tenure to be lifted in order to increase the value of a CCIE in the larger market. For those not familiar, when a CCIE is hired by a Cisco partner, they need to attach their number to the company in order for the company to receive the benefits of having hired a CCIE. Right now, that means counting toward the CCIE threshold for Silver and Gold status. When a CCIE leaves the the first company and moves to another partner their number stays associated with the original company for one year and cannot be counted with the new company until the expiration of that year.

There are a multitude of reasons why that might be the case. It encourages companies to pay for CCIE training and certification if the company knows that the newly-minted CCIE will be sticking around for at least a year past their departure. It also provides a lifeline to a Cisco partner in the event a CCIE decides to move on. By keeping the number attached to the company for a specific time period, the original company has the time necessary to hire or train new resources to take over for the departed CCIE’s job role. If the original partner is up for any contracts or RFPs that require a CCIE on staff, that grace period could be the difference between picking up or losing that contract.

As indicated above, Paul asked if maybe that policy needed to change. In his mind, the restriction of the CCIE number was causing CCIEs to stay at their current companies because their inability to move their number to the new company in a timely manner made them less valuable. I know now that the question came on behalf of Eman Conde, the CCIE Agent, who is very active in making sure the rights and privileges of CCIEs everywhere are well represented. I remember meeting Eman for the first time back at Cisco Live 2008 at an IPExpert party, long before I was a CCIE. In that time, Eman has worked very hard to make sure that CCIEs are well represented in the job market.  It is also in Eman’s best interests to ensure that CCIEs can move freely between companies without restriction.

My biggest fear is that removing the one-year association restriction for Cisco Partners will cause partners to stop funding CCIE development.  I was very fortunate to have my employer pay the entire cost of my CCIE from beginning to end.  In return, I agreed in principle to stay with them for a period of time and not seek employment from anyone else.  There was no agreement in place.  There was no contract.  Just a handshake.  Even after I left to go work with Gestalt IT, my number is locked to them for the next year.  This doesn’t really bother me.  It does make them feel better about moving to a competitor.  What would happen if I could move my number freely to the next business without penalty?

Could you imagine a world where CCIEs were being paid top dollar to work at a company not for their knowledge but because it was cheaper to buy CCIEs that it was to build them?  Think of a sports team that doesn’t have a good minor league system but instead buys their talent for absurd amounts of money.  If you had pictures of the New York Yankees in your head, you probably aren’t far removed from my line of thinking.  When the only value of a CCIE is associating the number to your company then you’ve missed the whole point of the program.

CCIEs are more valuable than their number.  With the exception of the Gold/Silver partner status their number is virtually useless.  What is more important is the partner specializations they can bring it.  My CCIE was pointless to my old employer since I was the only one.  What was a greater boon was all the partner certifications that I brought for unified communications, UCS implementation, and even project management.  Those certifications aren’t bound to a company.  In fact, I would probably be more marketable by going to a small partner with one CCIE or going to a silver partner with 3 CCIEs and telling them that I can bring in new lines of partner business while they are waiting for my number to clear escrow.  The smart partners will realize the advantage and hire me on and wait.  Only an impatient partner that wants to build a gold-level practice today would want to avoid number lock-in.

I don’t think we need to worry about removing the CCIE association restriction right now.  It serves to entice partners to fund CCIEs without worrying about them moving on as soon as they get certified.  Termination results in the number being freed up upon mutual agreement.  Most CCIEs that I’ve heard of that left their jobs soon after certification did it because their company told them they can’t afford to pay a CCIE.  Forcing small employers to let CCIEs walk away to bigger competitors with no penalty will prevent them from funding any more CCIE training.  They’ll say, “If the big partners want CCIEs so badly that they’ll pay bounties then let the big partners do all the training too.”  I don’t even think an employer non-compete would fix the issue as those aren’t enforceable in many states.  I think the program exists the way it does for a reason.  With all due deference to Eman and Paul, I don’t think we’ve reached the point where CCIE free agency is ready for prime time.

CCIE Loses Its Voice

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ccievThe world we live in is constantly adapting and changing to new communications methods.  I can still remember having a party line telephone when I was a kid.  I’ve graduated to using landlines, cellular phones, email, instant messaging, text messaging, and even the occasional video call.  There are more methods to contact people than I can count on both hands.  This change is also being reflected in the workforce as well.  People who just a few years ago felt comfortable having a desk phone and simple voice mail are now embracing instant messaging with presence integration and unified voice mail as well as single number reach to their mobile devices.  It’s a brave new world that a voice engineer is going to need to understand in depth.

To that end, Cisco has decided to retire the CCIE Voice in favor of an updated track that will be christened the CCIE Collaboration.  Note that they aren’t merely changing the blueprint like they have in the past with the CCIE SP or the CCIE R&S.  This is like the CCIE Storage being moved aside for the CCIE Data Center.  The radical shift in content of the exam should be a tip-off to the candidates that this isn’t going to be the same old voice stuff with a few new bells and whistles.

Name That Tune

The lab equipment and software list (CCO account required) includes a bump to CUCM 9.1 for the call processor, as well as various 9.x versions of Unity Connection, Presence, and CUCME.  There’s also a UCS C460, which isn’t too surprising with CUCM being a virtualized product now.  The hardware is rounded out with 2921 and 3925 routers as well as a 3750-X switch.  The most curious inclusion is the Cisco Jabber Video for Telepresence.  That right there is the key to the whole “collaboration” focus on this exam.  There is a 9971 phone listed as an item.  I can almost guarantee you’re going to have to make a video call from the 9971 to the video soft client in Cisco Jabber.  That’s all made possible thanks to Cisco’s integration of video in CUCM in 9.1.  This has been their strategy all along.

The CCIE Voice is considered one of the hardest certifications to get, even among the CCIE family.  It’s not that there is any one specific task to configure that just wrecks candidates.  The real issue is the amount of tasks that must be configured.  Especially when you consider that a simple 3-point task to get the remote site dial plan up and running could take a couple of hours of configuration.  Add in the integrated troubleshooting section that requires you to find a problem after you’ve already configured it incorrectly and you can see why this monster is such a hard test.  One has to wonder what adding video and other advanced topics like presence integration into the lab is going to do to the amount of time the candidate has to configure things.  It was already hard to get done in 8 hours.  I’m going to guess it’s downright impossible to do it in the CCIE Collaboration.  My best guess is that you are going to see versions of the test that are video-centric as well as ones that are voice-centric.  There’s going to be a lot of overlap between the two, but you can’t go into the lab thinking you’re guaranteed to get a video lab.

Hitting the Wrong Notes

There also seems to have been a lot of discussion about the retirement of the CCIE Voice track as opposed to creating a CCIE Voice version 4 track with added video.  In fact, there are some documents out there related to the CCIE Collaboration that reference a CCIE Voice v4.  The majority of discussion seems to be around the CCIE Voice folks getting “grandfathered” into a CCIE Collaboration title.  While I realize that the change in the name was mostly driven about the marketing of the greater collaboration story, I still don’t think that there should be any automatic granting of the Collaboration title.

The CCIE Collaboration is a different test.  While the blueprint may be 75% the same, there’s still the added video component to take into account (as well as cluster configuration for multiple CUCM servers).  People want an upgrade test to let the CCIE Voice become a CCIE Collaboration.  They have one already: the CCIE Collaboration lab exam.  If the title is that important, you should take that lab exam and pass it to earn your new credential.  The fact that there is precedent for this with the migration of the Storage track to Data Center shows that Cisco wants to keep the certifications current and fresh.  While Routing & Switching and Security see content refreshes, they are still largely the same at the core.  I would argue that the CCIE Collaboration will be a different exam in feel, even if not in blueprint or technology.  The focus on IM, presence and video means that there’s going to be an entirely different tone.  Cisco wants to be sure that the folks displaying the credential are really certified to work on it according to the test objectives.  I can tell you that there was serious consideration around allowing Storage candidates to take some sort of upgrade exam to get to the CCIE Data Center, but it looks like that was ultimately dropped in favor of making everyone go through the curriculum.  The retirement of the CCIE Voice doesn’t make you any less of a CCIE.  Like it or not, it looks like the only way to earn the CCIE Collaboration is going to be in the trenches.

It Ain’t Over Until…

The sunsetting officially starts on November 20th, 2013.  That’s the last day to take the CCIE Voice written.  Starting the next day (the 21st) you can only take the Collaboration written exam.  Thankfully, you can use either the Voice written or the Collaboration written exam to qualify for either lab.  That’s good until February 13, 2014.  That’s the last day to take the CCIE Voice lab.  Starting the next day (Valentine’s Day 2014), you will only be able to take the Collaboration lab exam.  If you want to get an idea of what is going to be tested on the lab exam, check out the document on the Cisco Learning Network (CCO account required).

If you’d like to read more about the changes from professional CCIE trainers, check out Vik  Malhi (@vikmalhi) on IPExpert’s blog.  You can also read Mark Snow’s (@highspeedsnow) take on things at INE’s blog.

Tom’s Take

Nothing lasts forever, especially in the technology world.  New gadgets and methods come out all the time to supplant the old guard.  In the world of communications and collaboration, Cisco is trying to blaze a trail towards business video as well as showing the industry that collaboration is more than just a desk phone and a voice mailbox.  That vision has seen some bumps along the way but Cisco seems to have finally decided on a course.  That means that the CCIE Voice has reached the apex of potential.  It is high time for something new and different to come along and push the collaboration agenda to the logical end.  Cisco has already created a new CCIE to support their data center ambitions.  I’m surprised it took them this long to bring business video and non-voice communications to the forefront.  While I am sad to see the CCIE Voice fade away, I’m sure the CCIE Collaboration is going to be a whole new barrel of fun.