Talk:Cisco certifications

Direction of page
I have to question the entire direction of this page. If people are searching for definitions of the Cisco certifications available, this page serves as a confusing mess. How about a revamp of the page - how about some separate entries for each cert and then perhaps another page that defines the career certifications in an overview format. Lets have neutral language, state the facts. This is a dictionary not an advertisement. There used to be separate pages based on each certification, we need to go back to that. There can still be a page for defining Career Certifications but that would be a whole other page.

The Master Merge was a bad idea, it is just way too much information. If you want a definition of CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE you have to wade through the entire page. Lets make a fundamental change here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tomkhlong (talk • contribs) 08:40, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

This is currently one of the worst articles on wikipedia that I am aware of. The master merge was an awful idea and should be fixed. Separate pages for each cert with a link back to a master Cisco Career Certifications page with overview information. Yes? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dubnium (talk • contribs) 02:03, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree. I think this article is too large and should be split. Zell Faze (talk) 23:07, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Training is not required to sit for CCNA
Why does the CCNA section specify training? In the US, there are no prerequisites to sit for the exam. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.165.24.236 (talk) 19:27, 9 November 2008 (UTC)


 * CCNA 103.47.181.106 (talk) 13:26, 23 May 2024 (UTC)

While there are no prerequisites for CCNA, some people do like to prepare for a big exam by studying and having an instructor help them do so. Different types of training can help present materials for study in a way that explains networking principals and practices clearly and explains the equipment settings, protocols, configurations, etc. 67.170.165.169 (talk) 22:47, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

The problem with the previous CCNA portion was that it was worded to give the impression that training was required. I see that's been fixed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.165.24.237 (talk) 07:53, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

New Entry Level Exam - CCENT
The Cisco CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) certification validates the skills required for entry-level network support positions, the starting point for many successful careers in networking. Candidates should have the knowledge and skill to install, operate and troubleshoot a small enterprise branch network, including basic network security. CCENT certification is the first step toward achieving CCNA, which covers medium size enterprise branch networks with more complex connections.

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le45/learning_certification_level_home.html

master merge
I created a new article about the entire Cisco Career Cert program and merged all the cisco certification program articles here. &mdash;Quarl (talk) 2006-01-12 11:52Z 

Why? This seems to have been a major mistake. Each Cert should have its own page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.88.96.130 (talk) 18:37, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

removed stuff
I removed the text below. &mdash;Quarl (talk) 2006-01-12 11:52Z 

CCNP Exams
642-801 - Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) 642-811 - Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks (BCMSN) 642-821 - Building Cisco Remote Access Networks (BCRAN) 642-831 - Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting (CIT)

duration
on avg how long does it take to learn the material to be able to pass the test? can a person study for a month and pass the test? --Anything is possible. One month is unlikely unless you already have a fair understanding of what is on the test. Subnetting, routing protocols, frame relay, isdn, asdl, etc. etc. It would really be nice if someone were to create an in depth section for the particulars of each test. (It is likely these things DID exist, until quarl merged all the exams.)

Does this reference qualify?
hi, while going through Cisco Career Certifications page, I felt that a link to an external reference CCNA Network Simulator would benefit visitors. Can some one experienced on this see if it qualifies for inclusion under "Tools For Study"? thanks. --Asoft 11:06, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

WAY non-neutral-POV
This entire article is an advertisement. It needs to be rewritten or removed.


 * This seems to have a NPOV to me... To call it an advertisement is very extreme. It tells you about each of the certifications and what is required to obtain them, which is very useful information. It does not make any claims to the validity of the tests or encourage / discourage you from taking them. --Michael 15:12, 1 September 2006 (UTC)


 * This is an important article. These are professional certifications that many technical colleges and universities basis their majors on.  These are important certifications that people in the Networking and Information Technology uses to further their career. This is not an advertisement, but important information about Information Technology certifications. --Mattwj2002 01:27, 4 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I also disagree with this claim. The majority seem to agree. I will be removing the POV banner. EricNau 01:06, 8 September 2006 (UTC)


 * The article does have some issues, such as a few POV claims, reads like a list in places and is just not a good article. I have removed the huge amount of links to self study and yahoo groups. Take a look at WP:EL and WP:RS for the reasoning. Links should only be used as:
 * Direct References - so a link to a page about a claim made
 * If they contain information that improve the articles content but which cannot be incorporated or needs to eventually be incorporated


 * As the links to material for learning comes under commercial links, I removed them. Also yahoo groups does not add anything as it is a forum.-Localzuk (talk) 12:51, 16 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree fully that this is an important article. However, from the article: "Regarded as the highest level of Cisco certification on the hierarchy of Cisco networking solutions and implementing professional training, CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) certifications are highly desired by IT professionals. Prestigious and extremely popular worldwide" The article is sprawling with "... a prestigious ..." "... highly sought-after ..." advertisement-style wording. It is quite true, that these certifications are prestigious and highly sought-after, but that doesn't automatically imply the POV is neutral. For example, it's true that "Kids love the delicious taste of Kelloggs Coco Pops" is true - kids do love the delicious taste. but it's far from a NPOV Snickkers 08:21, 3 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Agreed. I've removed that entire section; it was added by  . —Quarl (talk) 2006-10-12 09:02Z 

Case in point "the starting point for many successful careers in networking" is a sales pitch not a statement of fact. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.130.117.234 (talk) 04:37, 14 September 2007 (UTC)
 * That particular section was a copyvio copied straight from a cisco website. Its been removed until someone can rewrite.--Crossmr 13:11, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

My I suggest a section like "Why IT professionals may choose CISCO certification"? The part I was looking for on this article was the "Why", and I didn't find it. As discussed, if I wanted to know the curriculum, pre-requisites, etc. I would have gone to Cisco. Instead I looked in Wikipedia because I had a professional curiosity about vendor-driven training programs. MS and Cisco must have thousands of "certified professionals". How many? What is the impact on innovation? How does this compare with open source movements? I don't have the answers, so I can't edit the article, but I thought I'd make the suggestion. Best regards, - PDS —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.37.32.162 (talk) 09:31, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Copyright issues
A link was removed with this edit summary: "The copyright notice on that page says we need written permission to distribute it". Linking to a page is not distributing it. Uploading the page to Wikipedia would be distributing it. It may be deep linking, which some people don't like, but it is legal and in either case doesn't fall under copyright law. (I'm not arguing to keep any specific external link - there are probably other reasons for deleting them - just noting that there are no copyright issues with including external links.) —Quarl (talk) 2006-09-30 00:45Z 
 * I would argue that it is a grey area. The link is straight to a document without any prior information of where. This, in my eyes, could be seen as distribution. I would be happier for Wikipedia's sake that it weren't linked to directly.-Localzuk(talk) 10:14, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I would argue that some of the info. under the CCNA header may be proprietary, such as the number of questions, the passing score, etc. and, as it is subject to change anyway, should be removed. What do you think?  38.100.34.2 00:13, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Based on the fact that it is highly likely to change without any real notice and it not having a reference to back it up I agree that it should be removed. However, if a reliable third party source could be found for it, I would be happy to let it stay as it is not material that is copyrightable (anyone can know how many questions are in a test...)-Localzuk(talk) 00:23, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Specialist Certifications
There is a whole category of Cisco Certifications not mentioned in this article. You've talked about what Cisco refers to as their "General Certifications". More Certifications exists under the title "Specialist Certifications" (see http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/learning_career_certifications_and_learning_paths_home.html) Snickkers 08:07, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, the other CCNA level certifications should be added including CCNA Security, Wireless and Voice. -Anonymous June 24, 2008

References 4 & 5 wrong?
References 4 & 5 appear to be pointing to the same place, I'm guessing its #5 thats wrong, but don't know where it should be pointing —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.86.117.11 (talk) 10:51, 5 April 2007 (UTC).

certified CCIE numbers
The section headed Expert-level certifications: Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert include both of the following: "As of April 2, 2007 there are 14,387 people with active CCIE certifications.[4]" AND "As of April 2, 2007 there are 14,387 individuals who hold multiple CCIE certifications." One or the other of these is inaccurate; not all 14,387 CCIEs have multiple certifications. 64.241.120.62 20:26, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Edited section formats
I went through and changed the section title formatting to be a little more reader friendly. Over the next few days I'll some language on retired certifications and take a stab at making the certification detail consistent and add some non-Cisco sources speaking to the career-value of a CCIE cert. Is there anyone else actively working on this article? MkDoyle 21:06, 11 May 2007 (UTC)
 * add some non-Cisco sources speaking to the career-value of a CCIE cert be very careful with that. It would be very easy to head down the path of editorializing, and wikipedia is not a soapbox WP:NOT.--Crossmr 15:51, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Point taken, thanks. I added references to three sources and kept the commentary at a minimum to avoid POV.  The end result is (hopefully) that any reader will grasp that the CCIE has a general 'mystique' unshared by most IT certifications, and this is a significant portion of its 'note-worthiness'. MkDoyle 03:57, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

value of course
people should know value of certification course as well as career opportunities —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rahilrizvi (talk • contribs) 04:33, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
 * We're an encyclopedia, not an employment guide. See WP:NOT.--Crossmr 13:13, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

exams policies and regional test takers
hello.does anyone know how can i find out about cisco certifications offical test takers worldwide?(specially in middle east) does iranian citizens are being prohibited from attending the exams? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Flyer1984 (talk • contribs) 11:18, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Out of date content
I am a Cisco Certified Professional. I am working with Cisco Course and Exam creators to finally get this horribly out of date page fixed. Please stop changing it back to its old out dated and terrible incorrect version. All you need to do is look at the cisco training site and you can see at least a minimum of 25% of the former information is wrong. Just plain wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tobryant (talk • contribs) 14:53, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Hi Tobryant - welcome to Wikipedia. You are by all means welcome to edit the page, and correct errors that you may find. Please do. But you've pretty much deleted the entire article - and deleted a great deal of relevant information (especially the historical stuff) in the process. Much of the information you have deleted is still true and correct. You can't do such major surgery, changing the direction of the article like that, without discussion and consensus on this talk page (not with the guys over at Cisco) - and this is why your edits are being reverted.


 * Cisco course and exam creators are not the authority here - that's not how it works on Wikipedia. There is no requirement, nor is it neccesarily desirable, to make the Wikipedia page a reflection of Cisco's web page.


 * In the meantime, feel free to edit the article and make changes, make sure you provide the appropriate references and citiations as per wikipedia policy, and discuss what you want to delete - the entire article is not up for deletion at this point - that's how things are done here. Cheers! --Commking (talk) 01:37, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

I attempted to update a few items including some out-of-date links so that they more correctly reflect where to find additional information and was sent a message telling me that my changes were removed. Not sure I understand why...67.170.165.169 (talk) 22:50, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Same thing here. I updated several sections that had outdated information (CCNP, CCDA, CCSP/CCNP-Security), only to have it restored to the previous version. In the current article, it even states that the information is out of date as of July 2010. A FULL YEAR has passed, and when I finally update this, it gets bounced back to the previous, even though I updated the links to the current Cisco certifications page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.33.52.111 (talk) 19:53, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Just to be clear, Cisco's current CCNP certification is three exams, the CCDA has been updated, and CCSP has been discontinued, replaced by CCNP-Security. In the case of CCNP and CCNP-Security, updated information is posted, but I don't see the need for information on exams no longer in use (unless you were documenting ALL incarnations of the certification). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.33.52.111 (talk) 20:02, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Credentials
I think this page would be better served if it was list of Cisco Certified Professional credentials that went to pages of there own. The credentials are noteworthy in their own right.So the CCENT page would contain everything you wrote on CCENT and so on. This page is getting to long I think it is confusing to people. --Tobryant (talk) 17:20, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * This needs to be discussed. And 'noteworthy' is not the question, it is 'notable'. See WP:NOTE. Doug Weller (talk) 18:00, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Tobryant, this educational content covers too broad a scope. Can we break it down into seperate pieces? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.110.1.7 (talk) 21:55, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Cisco Certifications help
Several companies these days are asking for certain certifications including CCNP/CCDP. As defined it is a midcareer certification. What are the likely steps for someone starting out...more of an entery career certification?

This article is writen as an advertisement, but the article in itself isn't as helpful as I had hoped for from wiki.

From Google, I looked up some of the different schools that offer different certifications. The price range is a little confusing too. One place was looking for over $1,000USD, while other places were asking around $300-$350USD. Nobody seemed to be able to give a clear response though when asked why one school was charging more than 3x than the others.

Any ideas on what the average instruction time/test time should be along with cost per certification?--Cross78 (talk) 16:46, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Rewrite
I did a major rewrite, removing advertising and unnessesary information. I also hid the chart until it can be be reworked. Sephiroth storm (talk) 05:05, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Article lacks class altogether
Shameless. And sorry for the pun. In the article noise about its rating (that is probably ignored by those who need to read it the most, the text says this is C-class article. I had no idea something this flagrant could be rated so high.

It is a "pretty" page. Congrats to the beautician. At the least it is deceptive. Wikipedia should be getting a deal on security hardware. For the benefit of the public who seeks to learn, and comes to Wikipedia, this needs to be fixed, pronto.

Rather than justify my opinion, Wikipedia is obligated under its own rules, to justify the existing content. I don't believe the justification exists but am happy to edit the article given this caveat. But I also don't want to be banned. Maybe a fan can find neutral sources. A good place to look are websites run by competitive educators who teach non-branded concepts. Another place to look are higher ed institutions that grant graduate degrees in Statistics (and are acredited).

Kernel.package (talk) 08:17, 28 October 2009 (UTC)


 * For a vendor proprietary certification, you won't find a 'neutral' view. This article outlines the Cisco career certifications.  From your own admission here, your opinion may be a bit biased.  The article is finely justified.  I'm not sure where your views are coming from. --Sartan (talk) 18:36, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Please see here. This article is appropriately assessed. If you can provide references to improve the article, feel free to do so. Sarcastic comments are unnecessary. Please remember that these products are aimed towards users of Cisco products, competitor reviews would likely be considered biased. And what does statistics have to do with certification? Sephiroth storm (talk) 20:15, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Required to earn Premier, Silver, Gold, Platinum partner status.
Should there be some mention that CISCO uses the employment of people holding specific certifications as part of the requirements for participating in their various channel partner programs? [| Premier], [| Silver], etc? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.35.230.60 (talk) 02:41, 2 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, I added information of Specialist certifications (and cleaned up a lot of old stuff). Feel free to add details, though I didn't think it particularly necessary since most people pursuing specialist certs are going to be doing so as their partner-status/aspiration dictate, and thus are already going to be familiar with the details (or at least know where to find them). I provided just enough information for someone who is looking for general Cisco cert info and may not be aware of the specialist certs. Also linked the Partner page as reference. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.169.134.103 (talk) 16:28, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Possible copyright issues?
Some of the text of this article is poorly-written, and some of the better-written parts may have copyright issues. I have removed one sentence that was copied from http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le0/le9/learning_certification_type_home.html and have posted this to Wikipedia:Copyright problems/2011 June 8; if that part falls under the fair-use exception for brief excerpts, feel free to discuss either at WP:CP or here. Thanks. 69.251.180.224 (talk) 04:02, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Discuss links here
Editors regularly clean out undiscussed links from this article. Please discuss here if you want a link not to be cleaned out regularly. (You can help!) &mdash; UncleBubba ( T @ C ) 03:47, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

"Both the written and lab tests are USD"
US Dollars? Unavoidably Something Digital? Ultimately Supervisor Deliberated? Using Standard Definitions? Utterly Sick and Depraved? Unsuitable for Someone with Dementia? Undocumented, Subjective and Disputed? Usually Sitting at a Desk? Ssscienccce (talk) 23:54, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

Hello is it possible to change the Cisco certifcations to --> Cisco Certifications ?
Happy to help, I also added caps to the source page on all the certifactions so that it is correct like that in the books I am in the cisco program ccnp r&s and they have always written it this way in the books.

Have a good day mods/admins!

would anyone be interested in a list of cisco products page?
It could be my first real-deal wiki page if there was demand for it I have the sources and facts to back it up tell me what you think!

have a good one fellow editors! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Untissuntiss13 (talk • contribs) 23:56, 27 April 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified (January 2018)
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The summary section of the Cisco certifications
I added the summary section of Cisco certifications; Please feel free to improve it as it was a missing part of this article for several years. Goodtiming8871 (talk) 04:10, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Updates in CCNA certification
In the recent Cisco certification update, Cisco combined all the CCNA exams under one unified exam - "CCNA 200-301". So, this page is serving outdated information which might be bad for the user as well as Wikipedia. Devinder Thakran (talk) 09:53, 8 October 2022 (UTC)