Re: New Developments with Cisco 360

I don't think anyone could honestly question the quality of the material. I think what alot of us question is the cost. Now I would have to think that is set by Cisco themselves. This is what hurts the program in the long run I believe.

CIERS Basic Package (CIERSBASIC) is $4500.

IPX: Blended Learning Solution $1500
INE: End to End $2500
Narbik: $2500 and free retakes, even after you pass your lab for refreshers!

If I had to start over today with all my material the cost and value associated with that cost would knock the 360 program right off the list :(

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Bruce Caslow" <abcaslow_at_netmasterclass.net>
To: ccielab_at_groupstudy.com
Cc: "Andrew Bruce Caslow" <abcaslow_at_netmasterclass.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 6:31:43 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: New Developments with Cisco 360

Hi Everyone,

There have been some recent discussions on the Cisco 360 program on
GroupStudy. I wanted to take a minute and briefly discuss some new
developments with Cisco 360.

[X-post: http://blog.netmasterclass.net/?p=36 ]

CISCO 360 IS UNBUNDLED

 All of Cisco 360 products have become unbundled. This means you can
purchase only the Cisco 360 component you need when you need them. With
this said, one can begin purchasing individual components of Cisco 360 for
just a few hundred dollars. As you go through the Cisco 360 program, you can
pay as you go if you'd like. And of course, you can use your Cisco Learning
Credits to pay for Cisco 360 products and services.

This unbundling provides lots of flexibility for students with limited
funds. Not only does it provide purchasing flexibility, it allows for CCIE
students to mix and match Cisco 360 purchases with other vendors CCIE
learning products such as InternetworkExpert and Narbik's workbook. I think
we all agree, no one has a monopoly on great ideas. The "open architecture"
of Cisco 360 allows for students to purchase only the components they want
from Cisco 360 at the time they want. Students then have the option to use
whatever other CCIE learning resources they want.

CISCO 360 HAS 25 CCIE INSTRUCTORS AND MENTORS

Furthermore, these individual components can be bundled with training
courses and on-line mentoring services to create a complete end-to-end CCIE
preparation program. One very exciting aspect of the Cisco 360 program is
that there are now 25 Cisco 360 certified instructors and mentors spread all
over the world. And I must say, each one of them is a world-class instructor
and mentor dedicated to delivering the very best in CCIE training and
coaching. It has been a real pleasure working with these 25 instructors and
mentors. Many of these new instructors were trained by Bob Sinclair, who
has been a frequent contributor to GroupStudy over the years. It is my
opinion that Bob is the very best CCIE instructor in the world and Bob
speaks very highly of the many Cisco 360 instructors he has trained in the
US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Bob will be going to Japan in a week
to train seven more Cisco 360 instructors.

With the unbundling of Cisco 360 products and the large supply of 25, soon
to be over 30, Cisco 360 instructors/mentors, the price of quality CCIE
training should be falling. While many grey market CCIE companies provide
excellent products and services, none of them have 25-30 CCIE
instructors/mentors. This will dramatically change the CCIE training
landscape. Currently, there are only a handful of CCIE instructors and no
structured CCIE mentoring services in the CCIE marketplace. With Cisco 360,
the pool of instructors and mentors is dramatically increased and this will
give anyone that is pursuing their CCIE many more training and mentoring
options. Competition and choices among learning solutions is a very good
thing for CCIE students!

CISCO 360 GRADED ASSESSMENT LABS

A suggested starting point in using Cisco 360 products is to purchase the
Cisco 360 graded assessment labs individually or in bundles. These graded
assessment labs provide an excellent measurement for one's level of
readiness to attempt the actual CCIE lab. They also provide voluminous
feedback to maximize the learning experience. These graded assessment labs
are most certainly not "unproven technology". They apply the former CHECKiT
lab technology of NetMasterClass. This technology has been deployed and
developed over the last five years. To my knowledge, no other CCIE training
company has the level of experience in developing graded assessment labs as
Val Pavlichenko and his software team at NetMasterClass. This team now is
working for Cisco to develop a full range of graded assessment labs. This of
course includes all Cisco 360 graded assessment labs. Currently, there are
12 graded assessment labs available in the Routing and Switching Cisco 360
program. Many people perform several of these graded assessments to
establish a "trend of performance" to help indicate their level of readiness
to attempt the actual CCIE lab. Many like to combine this with Cisco 360
mentoring services to obtain coaching and guidance along the way. Mr. Bill
Burns of RackTimeRentals is one of these Mentors! Great job Bill! : )

To get a good understanding of the new a la carte purchasing options
available with Cisco 360, go to the following NetMasterClass link:

http://netmasterclass.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY
<http://netmasterclass.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=NMC
_Store&Category_Code=Cisco360> &Store_Code=NMC_Store&Category_Code=Cisco360

If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to
contact me directly.

Thanks!

All the best,

-Bruce Caslow CCIE #3139

 Cisco 360 Master Instructor

 NetMasterClass, LLC

www.netmasterclass.net

Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
Received on Thu Jun 11 2009 - 20:26:14 ART