View source for Cisco's new "Cisco Certified Architect" certification

I just received word about a new Cisco Certification that is comming  ...

It's all about the new Cisco Certified Architect certification.

It's strange but I think my unnatural thirst for knowledge and never  ending hornyness of highest level cercification sensors are running on  100%. My brain is heating up right now and my heart is running faster  ... I am wondering if I should give this a go or not... If I do so it  means that I have to forget about the University plans that I had, but  eventually I think the Cisco Certified Architect will be more of value  to me. Let's think about this and aquire some more information about  this new beast. I already decided to go for my fourth CCIE (Voice) the  only thing is that my brain and time does not know yet ... so will I  continue to follow the Cisco path in a much higher level and forget  about the University and the VMware ESX certs and Juniper Certs, of will  I continue as planned ...

I believe things are going to change :-)  ... God it's already  starting to run trough my toughts ... CCIE Voice (my fourth one) CCDE  (which is the prerequisites for the Cisco Certified Architect  certificate) and 10 years of working expierience ow oops I forgot I also  have to apply for this as I apply for a new job and they (the Cisco  masters board) will decide if you can actually can start or if I have to  come back another time...

The following piece of text is taken from the Cisco website [http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/prod_062909.html itself]:

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 29, 2009 – Responding to strong customer and  market demand to recognize the architectural expertise of network  designers, Cisco today introduced the Cisco Certified Architect, the  highest level of accreditation achievable within Cisco® Career  Certifications.

<h3>Key Facts/Highlights</h3>
<ul>
	<li>Advanced technologies such as Cisco Unified Communications, Cisco  TelePresence<sup>TM</sup> and mobility are converging and  increasing the opportunities for innovation and collaboration while  adding to the complexity of enterprise networks.</li>
	<li>According to IDC, "With many existing certifications focused on  point technologies, architect-level certifications bring together  project management, business needs analysis, and IT elements into a true  solutions framework and validate a candidate's ability to address  planning, design, interoperability, and connectivity issues." *</li>
	<li>Gartner reported in its 2008 IT market compensation study (U.S.  based), that "IT organizations continue to have difficulty in finding  skilled IT professionals, especially enterprise architects, network  architects, project managers and Web application programmers." **</li>
</ul>

<h3>Cisco Certified Architect</h3>
<ul>
	<li>The Cisco Certified Architect certification recognizes the  architectural experience and competency of network designers who can  support the increasingly complex networks of global organizations and  effectively translate business strategies into evolutionary technical  strategies.</li>
	<li>Cisco channel partners play a critical role in enabling customers to  deploy advanced new technologies supported by professionals with the  skills required to use these innovative solutions.</li>
	<li>The certification stands above the expert-level CCIE® certification  in terms of difficulty, with an emphasis on expertise in network  infrastructure architecture and a proven ability to work with  executive-level customers to ensure that business requirements are  incorporated into successful designs.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Certification Process</h3>
<ul>
	<li>The Cisco Certified Architect certification will be administered as a  board exam.</li>
	<li>Candidates will propose and defend an architecture solution to a set  of business requirements, and the candidates will be asked to modify  their proposals "on the fly," based on additional requirements presented  by the board.</li>
	<li>Prerequisites include a CCDE<sup>TM</sup> certification, approximately 10 years of industry experience, and  acceptance into the program via an application process.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Supporting Quotes</h3>
<ul>
	<li>"It's exciting to see Cisco raising the bar at the high end of  its certification program for IT professionals," said Zeus Kerravala,  senior vice president, Yankee Group. "Organizations will be encouraged  to view architecture as a defined job role rather than as a component of  a job role. For individuals, this new certification provides a level of  expertise that will be attractive to CCDE and CCIE holders as a way to  advance their careers."</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li>"Architecture is not just another name for 'design' – it's a  different perspective and set of skills," said renowned author and  networking expert Terry Slattery, CCIE® #1026. "The Cisco Certified  Architect demonstrates a breadth and depth of knowledge and perspective,  incorporating technology with the trade-offs required by real-world  business requirements. It provides individuals with a clear path through  their professional development. This new certification recognizes that  an architectural view of network design is far more efficient than  tackling network problems after implementation."</li>
	<li>"We applaud Cisco for taking an architectural approach and  mapping it to the organization's business requirements," said Robert  Stephens, vice president of the Revere Group. "As a partner, we spend a  great deal of time looking at the network from a global perspective.   The new Cisco Certified Architect affirms the need to look at business  drivers and validates that an individual possesses not only the expert  technical acumen but can communicate the strategic business value of new  technologies to senior business executives."</li>
	<li>"The Cisco Certified Architect designation was developed to meet  the demands of global organizations for specialists with the advanced  design skills to support increasingly complex networks and effectively  translate business strategies into evolutionary architectural  implementations," said Jeanne Beliveau Dunn, general manager,  Learning@Cisco. "This prestigious certification represents an exclusive  group of architects who possess the hard skills to support complex  network design and the soft skills to articulate the value of the  technology to their colleagues."</li>
</ul>

[[Category:Cisco]]
[[Category:Networking]]