Cisco CCIE - is it worth it?

[yamamma]

In the end above points have made me stop at CCNP level and move out of networking to greener areas of contracting.

I'm in the network contracting field and have been for the past 7-8 years (4 years perm initially). Just curious what greener area you moved to after networking?

[Sysman]

2. Also contracts where you'll be wiring new stuff are mostly developing countries, not much work in Europe and if there is there's plenty of competition.

What happens in developing countries is that they get a shed load of money for the initial implementation which includes several years' worth of spares/supplies/engineers all in one package. If the money has come from the EU / World Bank / Other Similar Body, no more money will be forthcoming for several or many years.

What can easily happen is that you get stuck there using the technology available at the time of purchase, without the opportunity to keep up with the latest developments.

[xchaotic]

It is hard and only worth it if you really want hardcore Cisco equipment it to be your niche.
1. There's a whole world out there including Juniper, Huawei etc and basically the time you spend memorising IOS commands, you could be learning on Huawei junk, which is bound to make a dent in the market.
2. Also contracts where you'll be wiring new stuff are mostly developing countries, not much work in Europe and if there is there's plenty of competition.
3. Finally there's a lot more to the Internet nowadays than just networking most of the traffic is happening over HTTP anyway, so all the VLANs, QoS and lower layer rules don't really matter so much. ISPs don't like it and you won't like it, but consumers want dumb pipes to move their YouTube videos
4. If you're already earning, it's best to find a gig where you can learn on the job, forfeiting 18 months of earning plus equipment is a cost that I don't thing can be so easily recovered with the rate increase.

In the end above points have made me stop at CCNP level and move out of networking to greener areas of contracting.

If you do decide to go ahead, respect and there's loads you can do with emulators and a fast PC nowadays, especially if all you're missing is a switch for passthrough traffic or sth like that. You definitely want some real hardware, but for some learning you might not need all of it.
Finally when you're done, sell it (to your client perhaps?)

[Sysman]

Guy here has just sat CCIE and failed it, despite being in the networks game for 20+ years.

In his words, if you arn't doing it on a daily basis with access to the kit you need to practice on you wont pass. It's not just theory, you actually have to show you can take a requirement, spec it and build it as part of the exam.

He's a team manager now and doesn't get his hand on the kit anymore, which he reckons is what let him down despite studying hard and practicing on the simulators.

Yep. I had a couple of forays into networks in the 90s and unless you do it day in, day out you lose the edge.

Specifically related to contracting, you could have a good run with a big customer but after that you might find it hard to find another gig to keep those skills current.

[oracleslave]

If you need more detailed info try PM Snaw as he is the only poster on here I am aware of who has successfully completed this. See here:

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...-got-ccie.html

[DaveB]

Guy here has just sat CCIE and failed it, despite being in the networks game for 20+ years.

In his words, if you arn't doing it on a daily basis with access to the kit you need to practice on you wont pass. It's not just theory, you actually have to show you can take a requirement, spec it and build it as part of the exam.

He's a team manager now and doesn't get his hand on the kit anymore, which he reckons is what let him down despite studying hard and practicing on the simulators.


But, he's not that bothered because the way the market is going it's going to be full of cut price bobs doing the needful for a fiver before very much longer. He's happy to be a manager now rather than competing with them.

[stek]

You might be thinking of a CCNA. CCIE is an entirely different ball game compared to just learning commands on one switch. It's considered one of the hardest if not THE hardest IT vendor exams. You want at least 5 years exp in a complex network environment and around 18 months study to pass it. Check out detail below:

World’s Toughest Tests and Final Exams

That link has a drunk test on it.

[yamamma]

I got a CISCO Cat here - from the work tulippile - enough to learn IOS or whatever it's called now.

To be honest, based on looking at that and the networking doods I deal with, it's not that hard.

You might be thinking of a CCNA. CCIE is an entirely different ball game compared to just learning commands on one switch. It's considered one of the hardest if not THE hardest IT vendor exams. You want at least 5 years exp in a complex network environment and around 18 months study to pass it. Check out detail below:

World’s Toughest Tests and Final Exams

[stek]

Have been weighing up whether to try to attempt CCIE R&S. I know there are no guarantees I will actually achieve it. 18 months + of hardcore studying and upwards of £10-15K on lab equipment seems like a pretty big mountain to climb. Any recently qualified CCIE's want to share their thoughts? Was it worth all the effort and why? Did the £££ rates go up quite a bit once you were qualified?

I got a CISCO Cat here - from the work tulippile - enough to learn IOS or whatever it's called now.

To be honest, based on looking at that and the networking doods I deal with, it's not that hard.

[yamamma]

Have been weighing up whether to try to attempt CCIE R&S. I know there are no guarantees I will actually achieve it. 18 months + of hardcore studying and upwards of £10-15K on lab equipment seems like a pretty big mountain to climb. Any recently qualified CCIE's want to share their thoughts? Was it worth all the effort and why? Did the £££ rates go up quite a bit once you were qualified?