For the past year (sadly), I’ve been working on getting my CCNP. I started this road when I arrived at my first networking role. I was a Network Operations Center (NOC) analyst for a US based company at the time. I had no idea what Cisco was or even what subnetting was for, but I did have a desire to learn. I started by going to a Cisco Learning Center at Collin County Community College here in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. I learned so much about networking and as I went along, the more I loved IT in general. I finally achieved my CCNA in July of 2007, a year and a half after I started my role, and a full year after I started my CCNA training.

Now I have passed both my SWITCH and TSHOOT exams, with just the ROUTE exam left to go. I’m studying heavily on EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, IPv6, Redistribution and Path Selection in preparation for this exam which I have in December. I kept slacking on my ROUTE exam preparation because I had quite a few things going on in my life ranging from new responsibilities I was having to take on at church to my new role as a network engineer. With my studies I have gained a few insights about why I feel the entire Cisco certification program is such a strong certification to hold for anyone in the IT industry.

Cisco knows networking thoroughly. They don’t just sell a product, they love their product. They love their profession and what it stands for. Tomorrow starts here is not just their company slogan, it is what drives them to innovation. Cisco has provided so much innovation in the field of networking that they have truly revolutionized what networking is from the days of thicknet to today which is the age of wireless and the Internet of Everything.

Since Cisco loves what networking is all about, they throughly understand it. That is great for people like us who are trying to learn networking and expand our horizons. They teach you the principles of networking before they teach you the product and how to configure it. I’ve been through many other certification exams for other products and they entirely focus on their product and nothing more. Ranging from Check Point to Juniper, they don’t truly teach you the principles behind networking or security to help you understand why their product is necessary.

CCNA and CCNP are always in the top IT certifications both from a market need perspective, to a paying perspective. That is yet another reason why you should at least get a CCNA, no matter what you do in IT.

I’ve attached some references for you to look at, which may also lead you to think about what other certifications you might want to get. I know I have my list which I want to get here in the next year.

15 Top-Paying Certification for 2014
What Is the Value of a Cisco Certified Employee