From: DAve Diaz (ddiaz106@xxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Tue Apr 30 2002 - 21:32:25 GMT-3
I too support my incredible level of disbelief at this turn of events within
the CCIE program, with simple math, consider for example that the highest
approximate number used in the CCIE Program was number 6800 in February 2001
then consider that six months later the highest number known was
approximately 8000 in August 2001. That is 1200 CCIEs, minus 200 just in
case my observations are wrong, Cisco would not comment on the actual
numbers in use nor the pass rate, beleievd to fluctuate from the inae 0 5 in
October 2001 to who knows what today, but this still leaves 1000 or about
200 new CCIEs per month during this period. At this rate of growth coupled
with the new one-day practical lab can CCIE #10,000 be far behind. I predict
that in 2002 we will see CCIE #10,000 be awarded, last count was 9240,
compared to the last number we estimated in Oct 2001, which was around 8200,
so thats around 2000 a year compared to 6000 in 7 years, do the maths, cisco
want more ccie's, period, in the two day format it was almost impossible to
pass, in todays format its very doable with some hard work, cisco even
release ccie practical studies guides to help, . So why is this happening at
Cisco? Well do the words new CCIE program management put some reasons into
your mind? I also see a couple of reasons. The Cisco coupled their
certification program (overall) with financial incentives (via resellers)
and tied discount levels to having lots of Cisco certified people on staff
this has resulted in enormous back pressure from Cisco Resellers to Cisco
with these resellers saying your certifications are so hard, you are
costing us business, and so forth Cisco listened as these folks account for
a lot of the Cisco success and profits. So the new CCIE Program management
has given in, gone over to the dark side, been assimilated call it what you
will but the inherent value of Cisco Certification can easily be seen as in
jeopardy (i.e. possibly on the decline) as a direct result of these actions.
As an enduring fan of Cisco Systems, I hope that their proposed changes to
the CCIE track will in no way minimize the hard work of the men and women
who have sacrificed time and money in the pursuit of the CCIE certification.
Some of the smartest people I know are CCIEs all but not all of them are!
No doubt the people making these decisions are not by far the brightest
folks in the IT certification industry as we have seen. Regardless of what
happens, I tip my hat to anyone who seeks to better their career (and the
people on this alias) path through the attainment of an industry
certification be it Juniper, Microsoft or Cisco. The effort required to
prepare for and pass these exams is considerable and we would all hate to
see that legacy diminished in any way.
The role that certification is going to play in our industry is clearly
entrenched and will not go away. The current Juniper certification program
is brand new and just beginning to evolve. I mention all of the above
opinion so that people who are concerned with their fate and careers can
advise Juniper , cisco, Microsoft the direction they want to see the
program evolve. Lets look at the current state of CCIE,
1. $1250 US a day (2 day same price)
2. No Feedback or little
3. Notification via email no personal touch,
4. If you want a re-grade $250 but no additional feedback
5. Closing labs around the place
6. What s next
Clearly Cisco management (share price $14.00) in particular are making
decisions under pressure and clearly it has affected their judgement, lets
just pass the damn exam and move on, there is sure to be something better
soon, juniper, lucent , microsoft who knows
Dave
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