Re: OT: is this true? I am worried about studying for CCIE R&S

Thought I'd chime in here, not to takes sides or say anyone is particularly right or wrong - but to maybe offer a bit of perspective.

I teach UC. Have since 2003 and taught the CCIE Voice exam since early 2005. I've used an IP phone maybe all of 6 months aggregate during the last 7 years. And sure, I travel a lot, but I've also sat in a cubicle/office a lot during that time, too. I don't have a home phone and I don't pickup too many things to communicate that cannot be quickly and easily transported with me anywhere and everywhere I go.

Cisco knows this all too well. You probably won't find too many published whitepapers from them on the topic - but even they have been predicting the demise of the handset for many years now as well. Not the demise of the UCM, but the traditional handset is going the way of the elevator operator. Not today, or tomorrow, but in 10 years the landscape will be a very different one. The fact that it's not called "CallManager" anymore wasn't just incidental or a marketing push - rather a very strategic one. Cisco knows that the industry is very much demanding to communicate 'with anyone, from anything, and from anywhere'. Not just from IP Phones and Cisco Cius tablets (may they rest in peace). It is very much the impetus behind the BYOD initiative. So the focus isn't nearly as much on handsets as it is on true unified communications and all that goes with that (presence, video, soft clients in all forms, SDK integration from every platform - twitter, FB, email, IM, RSS, etc). But!
  while I should be able to communicate with anyone from anywhere- if it is business related, they should be able to account for that centrally, and in many countries and industries - regulate for that centrally as well.

While the certifications take a while to update (and we're all hoping for an update to the CCIE Voice being announced here in a few weeks at CLUS to reflect the current marketplace), they are still very relevant. SIP isn't going anywhere. In fact it's future is brighter than ever. It just won't be a desk phone that triggers that call in 2020. So be it. People will still communicate, and a certification in UC will still be very valuable.

I do also tend to think that what others have said that the network (and UC) engineer of the future will also have experience with app-dev skills, are dead on in their analysis (again- net engineer of the future). I see this more and more in the industry, especially in UC. If you can't program some basic scripting languages such as Perl/Python, PHP, Lua, TCL/Tk/Expect, (at the very least RegEx and SED or equivalent), then I would highly recommend some beginning courses (see w3schools.org or lynda.com). You may or may not need them today. But IMHO you will need them or at least the same foundational programming/scripting knowledge over the next 10 years or longer. I realize that not everyone will (or has) agree(d) with this over the course of this thread. That being said, ask yourself (be honest with your answer to yourself - not the group) how many quick little problems you ma have been able to solve over your career with a simple small script.

Again, this thread started out and largely is still talking about the role of the future engineer, not necessarily the exact current situation. Also keep in mind when contemplating people's opinions stated here or responding to anyone, that people are here from all over the world and offer a truly global perspective- and consider that the situation where you work (your specific company the country you work in) may be quite different.

/offsoapbox

Kind Regards,

Mark Snow, CCIE #14073
(Voice, Security)
Instructor
INE.com

On May 26, 2012, at 16:11, Lindsay Hill <lindsay.k.hill_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> "You don't give cells phone to your cube workers"
>
> Actually, I see this all the time. My current role is in consulting, and I see
> a lot of different businesses. Specific functions such as call centres may not
> be issued mobiles, but every other person within those businesses has a
> mobile. Even though most staff sit in the same place every day, they use
> mobile phones. Standard calling plans offer free calling within a business
> group, or maybe effectively unlimited calling, so why bother with a desk
> phone?
>
> As for signal issues - are you based in the States? The USA has a very
> different telco industry, for various historical reasons. What goes on there
> does not really reflect the rest of the world at all. This is part of what
> Greg is getting at. You're right that Greg has his own agenda - but then we
> all do.
>
> On 26/05/2012, at 11:10 PM, Dark Fiber <darkfiber08_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Cell is only viable for mobile workers. You don't give cells phone to your
> cube workers... That article was so off base and bias. Then you have signal
> issues which no one ever thinks about. My cell barely works at my desk.
> Ethereal has an agenda and always writes to that agenda.
>>
>> On Saturday, May 26, 2012, Mohammed Naviwala wrote:
>> hi
>>
>> That article was written 2 years back and we still dont see that happening.
> keep studying guys.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 5:37 AM, Lindsay Hill <lindsay.k.hill_at_gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> For many people, mobiles already have replaced VoIP systems.
>>
>> I do not have a desk phone now, nor do I expect to ever have one during the
>> rest of my career. If I ever do get issued one once again, I will find it
>> somewhat quaint, and it will probably just sit on my desk gathering dust,
>> probably not even plugged in.
>>
>> There are some parts of the world where, for economic or cultural reasons,
>> deskphones will hang on, but there are also large parts of the world where
> the
>> economics don't stack up.
>>
>> See this: http://etherealmind.com/ip-telephony-over-no-cisco-voice/ for
> some
>> more on it. For those who say "But there's plenty of demand here for Voice
>> engineers!" - check the comments too. Certain places will retain demand,
> but
>> the long term outlook for it is not great.
>>
>> Back to the R&S angle, I think the point is that you need to be aware of
>> industry trends. No, OpenFlow won't change everything overnight. But the
> point
>> is, networking will probably change dramatically over the next 10 years,
> and
>> if you plan on staying in this industry for another 20-30 years, you need
> to
>> stay on top of those changes. In many ways networking was pretty static for
>> the last decade, but now there's a whole heap of pressures forcing change.
> You
>> need to both look at the long term direction of your career - e.g. do I
> study
>> CCIE R&S, or move towards application development - and the short-medium
> term,
>> where you read enormous amounts, and stay on top of changes, so you don't
> want
>> to get left behind.
>>
>> Sometimes I meet engineers who have gotten painted into a corner, where
> they
>> know something really well, but they've gotten stuck, and the pool of
>> potential employers is rapidly shrinking. OK, maybe they've got a good job
>> now, but what happens if they have a falling-out with their employer? Not
> many
>> options.
>>
>> Times change. But good engineers will adapt with those changes. Find a
> field
>> that interests you, learn all you can, but keep your eyes open to change.
>>
>> - Lindsay
>>
>>
>> On 26/05/2012, at 4:49 AM, Dark Fiber wrote:
>>
>>> Remember when cell's phones were going to take the place of voip
>>> systems?
>>
>>
>> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>>
>> _______________________________________________________________________
>> Subscription information may be found at:
>> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Thanks and Regards
>> Mohammed Naviwala
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html

Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
Received on Sun May 27 2012 - 08:25:16 ART