From: alasdair gilchrist (alasdair_gilchrist@yahoo.co.uk)
Date: Tue Feb 01 2005 - 13:37:05 GMT-3
The problem is not the knowledge you need to implement Cisco solutions, for example VOIP.
It is wether it is the correct solution. Cisco IOS in the past few years has expoded with new features, some good,some not so good. The point is sometimes we prefer to stick to inbuilt cisco features when it is certainly not the best ( or cheapest) solution. Take VOIP for example, how long does it take a technician to become skilled in implementing a Cisco Solution. To m horror, this rep from another company, (I will not advertise there name out of sheer spite). Came to us took an E1 link from our PBX plugged it into a proprietery box (TDMoIP) connected it to our MPLS IP network and mirrored the install at the egress. It worked perfectly in five minutes flat. The box was as plug and play as you could hope for. We had Full PBX functionality and perfect voice quality. It would have taken hours to configure cisco routers to do this, and it still would have been inferior.
So I think what the article in question is refering to is that for solutions other than simple R&S Cisco is not always the best solution. There are plently of alternatives that have become far easier to configure / administer than a blanket cisco solution. Take security, in most places, the only Cisco security box you will find is a PIX. The complementery kit will come from a wide range of suppliers ISS etc.
As a closing note, look at how many jobs require a CCIE, as opposed to 3 years ago. Now most employers IMHO, want a wide spread of knowledge across several vendors. ISS, Juniper, Nortel, the list is endless the more arrows you have in your bow the better off you are.
Lets face it if you can only do Cisco, and ironically the better you are,the more you are limiting your options.I have interviewed many newbie CCIE's for contract positions, and ALL they know or want to know is Cisco. They seem totally blinkered to the real world, and will not even entertain the possibility of an alternative solution.
Cheers
Look at it this way, Cisco just released the CCVP (Cisco cert Voice
Pro.) cert. Is that getting any easier? You take a look at what you
have to learn to get that cert, then you'll get that there is not end to
learning. And if this ever happens, you'll end up working for Cisco as a
TAC, because someone would have to support these "idiots".
-----Original Message-----
From: Roy Dempsey [mailto:roy.dempsey@gmail.com]
Sent: 01 February 2005 15:11
To: ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Slightly OT: Any truth in this?
Came across this article, don't know anything about the source. However,
as someone who's been studying for this for a long time, I hope its not
accurate.
Quote :
"I was interested to see that RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) was
listed in slot 3 of certifications IT professionals want to get.
CCIE ( Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) is at the top, which I think
shows tremendous short-sightedness. Folks, networking, routing and
firewalls are still "hot" skills, but that's not going to last. All this
stuff is going to be packaged up into teeny little hardware bundles that
any idiot can configure - in fact, it is close to that point now and
really is already for the home user. Yes, corporate networks demand a
bit more, but not all that much more. In a few more years, you won't
need any high-cost certified type to control even a fairly complex
network.
But OS support and administration has longer lasting legs. Any random
idiot can't necessarily install and configure a server or maybe even a
desktop PC if it is part of a larger network. Not yet, anyway - though
zero brain configuration of desktops is often possible, servers are a
long way from that. Will it stay that way forever? Of course not -
that's one reason I'm glad to be getting close to retirement age:
servers are already starting to become appliances, and the trend will
continue, requiring less and less knowledge and intelligence at the
point of use. If I were in my twenties or thirties, I would have to be
thinking realistically that the market for my skills may be slowly
drying up. We old geezers and young whippersnappers alike can count on
at least another decade of being needed, but my crystal ball gets cloudy
after that. "
Link (watch the wrap):
http://www.webpronews.com/it/itmanagement/wpn-18-20050131LinuxCertificat
ionGainingGroundbutCiscoStillonTop.html
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