20 years CCIE certified
I just hit another milestone: 20 years a CCIE
On Mar 30, 2004, I did my first CCIE Lab exam (then Routing & Switching now Enterprise Infrastructure) in Brussels. I received my CCIE number 13084 one day later.
Last week I received an email from Cisco with a message that Cisco is congratulating me on my 20th anniversary.
I write this article to reflect on the time that has passed.
My CCIE Lab exam passing dates
If you have followed me for the past years you also might have noticed that I have passed multiple CCIE Lab exams. This is the summary over time:
| Lab exam | Passing date |
|---|---|
| Enterprise Infrastructure | Mar 30, 2004 in Brussels |
| Security | Sep 26, 2006 in Brussels |
| Service Provider | Jul 30, 2007 in Brussels |
| Voice | Sep 28, 2010 in Brussels |
| Data Center | Apr 23, 2013 in Brussels |
| Enterprise Wireless | Dec 12, 2014 in Brussels |
You can see that it took me 10 years to pass 6 CCIE lab exams.
Questions that I get a lot
20 years ago (and even before that when it was released in 1993) CCIE was the holy grail of networking certification.
During the past 20 years, I have received a lot of questions related to CCIE, and I want to cover some of these questions here.
Why do you have 6 CCIE's why not stop at 1 or 2?
The only reason why I did my first CCIE is because I was young (22 years old) and the industry questioned my networking knowledge. I needed to prove myself. Unfortunately (or luckily depending on how you look at it) I grew up hearing from multiple people in life (school teachers, family, "friends") that I was never good enough and that I did not have what it takes... This is something you take with you in life and because I feel it is NEVER ENOUGH no matter what I do, I do feel the urge to prove myself all the time with whatever I do ... and this results in 6 x CCIE, my bachelor degree and Master degree in Computer Science and loads of other certifications and knowledge.
How many hours did you study per CCIE cert?
This is a difficult question but if you look at the years between the exams it gives you an indication.
My goal was to study at least 2 hours a day. Sometimes I did 4, 8, and sometimes 10, but there were also days that I did nothing because of the well-known curveballs life is throwing you sometimes.
Did you ever fail an exam?
Yes, failing is part of life, and also a good thing because you learn from your failures and mistakes. I failed a CCIE written exam multiple times and the only CCIE lab exam I did multiple times (like 6 times) was the CCIE Voice exam. The other 5 CCIE exams I passed in 1 attempt.
Was passing the CCIE cert beneficial for your career?
This is a definite YES! Not only passing the exams but also the journey towards the exams. In a way you do not only learn the technology, but you also learn, how to learn, you learn how to be structured, you learn how to think in a certain way to be as effective and logical with given time and scenarios. These are soft skills that can be used forever with so many different things also not technical related.
Do you still think CCIE will be beneficial in 2024?
I would say yes! but it depends.
If you are a network engineer/architect who already has 10 years of experience and you know your stuff then you probably have nothing to prove then CCIE will not bring you further, and this will be a personal achievement.
If you are a network engineer/architect that is still learning I would say go for it... And I am not saying do CCIE, but at least look at a track that has the same incentives as JNCIE (Juniper), HCIE (Huawei), or any other "expert level" certification.
Are you using the knowledge that you gained with CCIE in your current role?
I am not using the exact knowledge that was or is on the blueprints of the exams. But the underlying technology and network protocols are the same and the implementation and GUI's are different when looking at VMware's and Oracle's product offerings.
Are you planning to recert your CCIE in the next couple of years?
Last year was the last time that I recertified my CCIE, I wanted to hit that 20-year mark and now I am done. As my career path was Cisco -> VMware -> Oracle there are so many new things to learn and spend time on these days. I mean Cloud Networking is a thing now, and so is Cloud Native networking and there are so many other technologies where networking plays a role, and everything originates from the traditional networking back in the day. I am trying to focus on these new network-related developments and it does not make sense to spend this time on recertifying my CCIE. And besides that when you hit the 20-year CCIE mark Cisco awards you with a lifetime emeritus title.
Do you have pictures of your CCIE lab equipment labs?
CCIE Routing and Switching
Here are some pictures of my first CCIE lab ever!
CCIE Security
I used Lab (Rack) Rentals so I never possessed equipment for this track.
CCIE Service Provider
I used Lab (Rack) Rentals so I never possessed equipment for this track.
CCIE Voice
This is one picture of my CCIE Voice Phones.
CCIE Data Center
This lab was not owned by me, but I managed to build the full CCIE DC lab with spare equipment for the Cisco Data Centers.
CCIE Wireless
Here you see some pictures of my Cisco Access Points and Cisco Wireless Controllers.
How much money did you spend on the CCIE exams over the past 20 years?
So for this one, I needed to gather some old information... Here we go:
| Date | Type of Exam | Subject | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2003 | CCIE Written | Routing and Switching | $250.00 |
| Mar 30, 2004 | CCIE Lab | Routing and Switching | $1,512.50 |
| May 9, 2005 | CCIE Written | Security Certification | $250.00 |
| Sep 26, 2006 | CCIE Lab | Security | $1,512.50 |
| Oct 27, 2006 | CCIE Written | CCIE Voice Certification | $250.00 |
| Nov 13, 2006 | CCIE Written | SP Metro Ethernet Exam | $250.00 |
| Jul 30, 2007 | CCIE Lab | Service Provider | $1,512.50 |
| Jan 24, 2008 | CCIE Written | CCIE Voice Certification | $250.00 |
| Sep 25, 2009 | CCIE Written | CCIE Voice Certification | $250.00 |
| Mar 29, 2010 | CCIE Lab | Voice | $1,694.00 |
| May 11, 2010 | CCIE Lab | Voice | $1,694.00 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | CCIE Lab | Voice | $1,694.00 |
| Jul 19, 2010 | CCIE Lab | Voice | $1,694.00 |
| Aug 26, 2010 | CCIE Lab | Voice | $1,694.00 |
| Sep 28, 2010 | CCIE Lab | Voice | $1,694.00 |
| Oct 22, 2010 | CCIE Written | Wireless Written | $300.00 |
| May 29, 2012 | CCIE Written | Data Center (Beta) | $60.00 |
| Apr 23, 2013 | CCIE Lab | Data Center | $1,815.00 |
| Jul 25, 2014 | CCIE Written | Wireless Written | $350.00 |
| Dec 12, 2014 | CCIE Lab | Enterprise Wireless | $1,936.00 |
| Feb 12, 2018 | Digital Learning | Designing and Implementing Cisco Network Programmability (NPDESI) 1.0 | $487.00 |
| Feb 20, 2018 | Digital Learning | Developing with Cisco Network Programmability (NPDEV) 4.0 | $487.00 |
| Feb 6, 2020 | CCIE Written | Security Certification | $350.00 |
| Apr 21, 2023 | CCIE Written | Cisco Certified Design Expert Qualification Exam | $450.00 |
| Jun 3, 2023 | Digital Learning | Developing Applications Using Cisco Core Platforms and APIs (DEVCOR) v1.0 | $800.00 |
| Jun 9, 2023 | Digital Learning | Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) 1.2 | $1,000.00 |
TOTAL = $24,236.50
Keep in mind that this amount does NOT include the following:
- Time spend studying
- Travel + Hotel
- Lab equipment (bought and rented)
The above is ONLY the cost for the exams (Written and Lab) and the Digital Learning classes that were required for recertification.