From: Josef A (josefnet@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Mar 15 2007 - 06:28:26 ART
Hey Darby, I live in NYC and happen to know quite a few Publishers...Apart
from Networking, I also work part-time as a literary agent, linking
Publishers to potential Authors...my fees are very low..really low..so
please, please call me ;-) ;-)
On 3/15/07, Darby Weaver <darbyweaver@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Patrick,
>
> I think I can speak intelligently on the subject,
> before I call it a night.
>
> Seeing that you work for Dimension Data, a prominent
> Cisco Gold Partner, you probably have some skills that
> are quite noteworthy.
>
> So...
>
> You mentioned 2 Worksbooks, I'm going to ask you to
> look a little further and at least consider 4
> Workbooks, Mock Labs, and Instructor Lead Training.
>
> Obviously I work for none of them. I am client or
> have an account with all of them. I have been a client
> for most since about 2001. I think I have a pretty
> good vantage point. To top it off, I spend the day
> giving advice, working my issues using their combined
> materials, and solving problems at work using their
> techniques and ideas I learned under their care.
>
> In no particular order but since you started with
> IPexpert and InternetworkExpert.
>
> 1. IPExpert - long time leader in the industry and
> gained popular support after the title was changed to
> IPExpert and even more so after they gained the
> esteemed persona of Scott Morris, the effective voice
> of IPExpert. Anyone remember Solutions Labs. Scott
> also taught for Mentor Technologies as well as I seem
> to recall. Scott also maintains humility as well - he
> boasts an impressive home office and rack that awes
> many and is the subject of many discussions across the
> net. Martin G. also helps quite a bit on GS and has
> shown his superior knowledge as well.
>
> IPExpert's materials are very good. As you say
> everyone has errors. They offer a wealth of materials
> in the form of Audio, Videos, ILT, Workbooks, Proctor
> Labs and Student guides. Easily worth the money.
> They are not necessarily the cheapest but a survey
> will show that many people have used IPExpert to meet
> thier goals and have done so successfully. They have
> a forum and very good cutomer service that is very
> responsive from my own experience. I will admit
> although, I do have access to most if not all of
> IPExpert's offerings I have not used them as
> frequently in my own studies - I will admit I used
> them initially with a study buddy to master Frame
> Relay. And a local study cluster I peer with swear by
> IPExpert. This means they took advantage of ILT,
> workbooks, videos, and audio. One double CCIE came out
> of IPExpert from this group.
>
> 2. InternetworkExpert - the sheer number of passing
> CCIE's is impressive and lately the highest as well it
> would seem from visitng their web-site and others as
> well. All of their products are very nice. Their
> newest and long awaited technology labs help tie
> things together. They have an impressive
> Class-on-Demand that I admit I use frequently for both
> topics and lab strategy. Their labs very closely
> resemble the difficulty level as presented in the
> actual lab per my own estimation. Their forum does
> not always get a lot of attention and if you will
> search the GS Archives you will likely find that many
> people come to GS to get their questions answered.
> Brian Dennis has taken strides lately to corral people
> back to his site and back to IE customer service as
> well. This is a good thing. Sometimes they do not
> always meet thier product deadlines - I imagine they
> are very busy with both product development and
> teaching classes etc. They have recently offered
> one-on-one training as well. I have had encounters
> with their customer service and this past week has
> been one as well. I will tell you that they will do
> whatever it takes to make it right. My account(s) (a
> dinosaur) had gotten a little mixed up over the past 6
> or so years and needed to be "mended" both Brians came
> to my rescue and their excellent staff worked with me
> in a truly professional manner to get everything
> straight to my complete satisfaction. That means
> something. I have used their COD and Mock Labs, in
> fact, just signed up for their latest Mock Labs (2
> iterations of each), so I am speaking from experience.
> I did once sign up for the Mock Labs and was not able
> to do the week due to my work commitments. I emailed
> and was given another week to do them at my
> convenience. Since then they now offer a two year
> protection plan. So I guess they do this for
> everyone. They are great. Respnse time is not always
> the 24 hours you might hope for unless the email you
> get with your ticket number count. I expect this may
> improve at some point, but currently is leaves
> something to be desired. A cursory visit to
> Groupstudy's archives will reveal that of all vendors
> and maybe the only vendor - IE gets a lot of fan mail
> for this one. But I would suppose they are busy doing
> what they do to get more people over the line.
>
> I am eagerly waiting to see the CCIE SP materials that
> the Brians and Petr are working on. They got Petr and
> he is going to be a very valuable asset - testaments
> to his extreme level of detail is simply legendary on
> GS. Another Brian in the process, they are going to
> change his name I hear.
>
> 3. NLI or CCBootcamp - I have been a customer since
> like 2001 or 2002 as well. I have bought their
> workbooks for quite a while as well. They were among
> the first to offer solutions and in the day they were
> the clear leader - anyone remember "Lab 8". Brad
> Ellis and Narbik Kochans are who I tend to associate
> with NLI. Thier support forum is plainly the best
> supported of all the vendors. It is active and it is
> moderated. I have had conversations there and found
> it provacative. I think their labs are very good, not
> too hard and not too easy and lately if you have not
> seen them you should. They offer them in 5 labs per
> $99.00. Very bite-sized. They offer ILT. I'm looking
> forward to attending this summer - I've heard some
> very good things and I loved Narbiks video on OSPF. I
> think I could benefit in my more complete mastery of
> topics from such an instructor. They bought Trinet or
> parts of it (which was formerly Hello Computers).
> They have a few products which I value very very
> highly: the workbooks with their clear explanations
> and diagrams - I read each of the 30 labs
> cover-to-cover before I go to the lab and before I go
> to any other training - yes they cover everything and
> things I have not seen in other materials - maybe I
> missed it? Not likely. I love their Golden Labs or
> Technology Labs and at about 1200 pages or so, is just
> enormous. I also have seen the Soup-to-Nuts, which is
> a PHENOMINAL Prep tool for very up to date lab topics
> or at least topics that are current events at GS.
>
> They acquired another up and coming asset in the form
> of Victor C. and if you have been watching GS lately
> you can see from his work, he's no slouch. I've seen
> him work and he is impressive no doubt there. He
> shows a great deal of promise and I expect customers
> of NLI will be benefitting from this as well.
>
> I am currently reviewing/labbing out the BGP section
> of one of their upcoming updates and let me tell you
> it is concise, well-documented and appears to be a
> pretty much "ALL-YOU-NEED" to learn each aspect of the
> subject. Now if Narbik can do this in just 138
> pages... You see my point. I'm not finished with it
> yet, but it is why I'm up till 3:30am this morning.
>
> Overall I cannot wait to attend an ILT this summer
> with NLI and I expect to be favorably impressed. I
> also would like to try their graded mock labs, and
> since they are now offering a one-on-one training
> session, I may opt for this as well even if I pass the
> CCIE RS by then. They are still on my list of I gotta
> get trained by them. Besides if you noticed I do not
> like to leave gaps in my knowledge you can see why.
>
> Customer Service and Response - I'll tell you from
> first-hand experience on each and every single
> occasion no matter what these guys have responded
> quickly and efficiently every single time without
> fail. Without mentioning names, another vendor on
> this list could benefit much from watching how NLI
> approaches customer service.
>
> 4. NMC - Bruce Caslow - The Man! - The guys behind
> the scenes are awesome from India who works to make
> everything right. She even called me once from home
> and way after hours to ensure everything was perfect.
> Val is Mr. CheckIT and is purely a genius - if you
> ever watched Rocky and saw the "Russian" and recall
> people referring to him as a machine - this is Val.
> He's calm, cool, unemotional, very thoughful in both
> his words and in his approach towards students. And
> did I mention thorough. I do not think he loses. He
> is simply precise in thoughts and diction and he is
> examining you the entire time you are in class, he
> takes the time to chat with students one-on-one and
> offer critique. Yep, he will size you up and let you
> know what you do not know.
>
> Then there is Mr. Bob Sinclair, seemingly laid back,
> relaxed, and just easy going. Till he starts talking
> the man presents information in a non-pressured kind
> of way. He watches you, he examines you, he visits
> you and walks the room to ensure you got it. He does
> not miss telling you in a very conversational tone
> what you need to know to get from A to Z. Simple as
> that.
>
> I've been to NMC-1 twice and NMC-1 once (CheckIT Labs)
> and I'm telling you I could go two more times and I'd
> still be learning enough to justify the trip.
>
> Bruce breathes QoS. Their facilities are methodical
> and efficient. They have staff assistants who handle
> everthing. So they are teaching and at a 3 to 7 or
> less ratio - you very nearly receive 1-1 or 1-2
> instruction. Worth the price. As a returning student
> I got a special deal to come back this year, so I will
> be spending at least one week them again this year and
> if I can somehow manage it 2.
>
> The CheckIT Labs and the verification TCL scripts are
> unique to everyone's offerings and are simply awesome.
>
> The most (VERY MOST) extensive and thorough Video from
> ANY vendor to date is produced by NMC. They are long
> but they are simply the BEST. They only have 2 at the
> moment - Frame and IPv6, but they are second to none.
> Labs are included per technology and so are quuizzes.
>
> Now for the downers: The Videos are pricey - I guess
> for such quality they must be. But the cost is hard
> to swallow and so may preclude many purchasers from
> the purchase. I expect this will change once they are
> out but as of this writing, this will challenge many
> buyers.
>
> The forum is moderated but it is was not as current
> since the last time I visited. So it was not of
> optimal value for my personal usage and a lot of the
> answers given said go back and either read the section
> again or something to the effect. It was not
> maintained by Bruce, Val, or Bob and one can tell the
> difference.
>
> The tech library section - while it has THE POTENTIAL
> to be the best resource this reader has seen of its
> kind, is unncessarily burdened by spelling errors and
> repeats, trust me I tried to read the who thing. IT
> IS AWESOME, but needs a bit of editing to be PEFECT -
> I believe this so much that I would contract out to do
> it myself - it has that kind of potential. It can be
> purchases a la carte as well by ssubscription. Worth
> the price even in the state I last saw it in. It is
> just so worthwhile, I hate to see such a resource not
> be what it could be.
>
> Overall, I have rated and still think that NMC offers
> the most advanced training available. Not that good
> for beginners or maybe it is, but they say "Drinking
> from a Firehose" as India will tell you and they do
> mean it. So when you go to class you need to be ready
> for anything, since they are going to challenge you
> with everything.
>
> You will get a call back from NMC or an email. India
> Teller is a dream for accounting and customer service
> and I have the distinct notion she remembers
> everyone's name, each and every one, and whatever you
> may have shared with her about yourself.
>
> The whole team is tier-1 even the "University of
> Moscow" guys and lady M. at the front desk. They try
> hard and it shows.
>
>
> If you have more specific questions than I have
> offered here, please let me know.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- Patrick Galligan <Patrick.Galligan@didata.com.au>
> wrote:
>
> > A few years I used the IPExpert to study for CCIE
> > Security. I didn't end
> > up passing it and haven't attempted again for
> > various reasons. My
> > current job sees me doing less security and more R&S
> > so I want to do
> > CCIE R&S. Can anyone here objectively compare the
> > workbooks from both
> > companies? I found the IPExpert workbook to be very
> > good, but many
> > people have said the same about InternetworkExpert.
> >
> >
> >
> > I know there are people on this list from both
> > companies. I welcome your
> > comments, but obviously you will be less objective J
> >
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Patrick
> >
> >
> >
>
> *****************************************************************************
> > *
> > - NOTICE FROM DIMENSION DATA AUSTRALIA
> > This message is confidential, and may contain
> > proprietary or legally
> > privileged information. If you have received this
> > email in error, please
> > notify the sender and delete it immediately.
> >
> > Internet communications are not secure. You should
> > scan this message and any
> > attachments for viruses. Under no circumstances do
> > we accept liability for
> > any loss or damage which may result from your
> > receipt of this message or any
> > attachments.
> >
>
> *****************************************************************************
> > *
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________________________________
> > Subscription information may be found at:
> > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sun Apr 01 2007 - 06:35:51 ART