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Hello all,

I need some guidance on getting my hands on some certifications. I was given an opportunity to advance in my role, but I need Cisco, MS, and VMware certification to prove my dedication. My company will reimburse these exams fees :slight_smile:

My biggest shock the last few hours is that Cisco has just recently revamped their certification path, and Microsoft will be retiring the infamous MCSA/MCSE less than a year from now.

My question is:

  1. CCNA: What’s new? What changed? I have been reading CBTnuggets articles regarding the changes, and I think I got the gist of it. CCNA now becomes an all-for-one kind of cert. I’m guessing this means a lot more studying and digesting of knowledge as well as its value spike.

  2. Microsoft: This gives me a bit of a headache. Should I be studying for Azure or start at MCSA then upgrade to Azure a few months after. My point is, Azure and O365 certs seem rather new. I am not sure if there are enough study and testing material available or not.

2.1) Microsoft - (disclaimer: I haven’t read the whole articles yet). Is the study guide on Microsoft Learn enough or should I seek additional learning material as well. Any learning material, bootcamp, and study course is out-of-pocket for me ( Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals - Certifications | Microsoft Learn )

  1. VMware… Don’t even know where to begins. I’ve been surviving on VMware’s article and its community for how-tos and quick-fixes.
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They are all very different disciplines.

The question is, what do you WANT to do? Don’t say “whichever pays the most” 'cos there is no right answer to that question.

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Hey OP, wanted to let you know about a webinar this Thursday that will discuss the new Cisco Certifications and share some better tips than I myself could give on the subject - specifically the new exam formats and best practices. Hope this helps a little for the Cisco portion! Feel free to PM me if you still need some answers and I can reach out to my contacts at Cisco directly!

@Cisco

@duckling

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I was told to get these certs because my previous manager has these 3 certs. To fill his position, I got the opportunity advance my position to his position. What’s concerning me is I’m not sure if there’s more than what meet the eyes or can I go blindly and get CCNA cert exam as-is.

I haven’t taken CCNA exam before, but I did took CCENT a few years back. I just want to make sure I’m taking the correct path per current certification path.

Microsoft and VMware certs will be a new territory for me.

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can I go blindly and get CCNA cert exam as-is

No way for anyone to gauge that on a forum. There are plenty of free “practice test” questions out there to have a look at to test yourself. They can be quite useful to gauge whether it’s worth spending the money for the exam.

To fill his position, I got the opportunity advance my position to his position.

Do you want to fill his position? If so then make sure that these certs are required.

Microsoft and VMware certs will be a new territory for me.

Microsoft certs have changed recently as well. And you say these will be new territory. Do you mean the certs, or actually being knowledgeable in the skills required to do the work and pass the exams? If you have the skills then the exams may be easy. If not they could well be a lot of effort.

From my own experience, I have been a Cisco guy for a little over a decade. Adding MS and VMWare to my list of certs would be a significant amount of work that would take me many months. When I started out I was torn between MS and Network (Cisco) certs. I went Cisco (obviously…) and have not had cause to regret it, nor do I feel the need to add to my certs. There’s still plenty to do in networks, especially with the advent of automation and orchestration, “Cloud”, SDN and SDWAN.

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Thank you for the insight.

I’ll have to study for these certs regardless. When I meant go in blindly, I meant there isn’t another CCNA path to take. Similar to how CCENT can advance one step further to CCNA, or went straight to CCNA (prior to Cisco cert path change).

It’s assuring to hear that if my promotion didn’t go through there are other routes to take with the CCNA/CCNP certs alone.