Cisco Offers Certified Internetwork Expert Program
MENLO PARK, Calif., Sept. 27, 1993 -- Cisco Systems has inaugurated a program to identify individuals within its customer and partner organizations who can effectively diagnose and resolve the problems inherent in today's large and complex internetworks. The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) program recognizes the `best-in-class' engineers who possess the technical knowledge and skills to troubleshoot internetworks, and creates a special relationship between these experts and Cisco's support team. "The CCIE Program begins where other vendors' certification programs leave off," said John Chambers, Cisco senior vice president. "It can be compared to completing a university course versus taking college entrance exams. Prospective CCIE candidates must be highly qualified just to enter the program, and then, after taking an intensive troubleshooting course, must pass a rigorous hands-on lab test conducted by senior support engineers. This very stringent set of requirements ensures that only the best professionals are selected." Eligible candidates for the CCIE program include high-level engineers and systems analysts who have an extensive background in internetworking and a solid understanding of TCP/IP, OSI and client-server architecture, and who have completed Cisco product-specific training courses. Joe Obermeier, GE Computer Service network engineer and one of the first to complete the CCIE program, said, "Cisco's unique hands-on approach to certification was a true test of my practical networking knowledge. The `real life' scenarios I was asked to construct in the lab tested my ability to not only design a network on paper, but also to assemble the hardware, configure the software and then debug the entire network." The three-part program consists of a written CCIE Qualification Test, a four-day `hands-on' Network Troubleshooting Class, and a two-day Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert Certification Lab. The Qualification Test can be taken at Drake Training & Technologies locations worldwide; the class and the lab are offered at Cisco headquarters in California and, beginning in first quarter 1994, at Cisco's Brussels, Belgium, office. On successful completion of the program, the candidate receives a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert registry number, certificate and award. Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts are given special direct access to second-level support at Cisco's TACs (Technical Assistance Centers) and to specialized on-line forums on Cisco's Cisco Connection Online (CCO) system. Certification is maintained and updated annually through continued training and evaluation of adherence to CCIE procedures. The CCIE program expects to certify approximately 300 students during its first year. Costs of the program are $100 for the CCIE Qualification Test ($150 outside U.S. and Canada), $1700 for the Network Troubleshooting Class, and $1000 for the Certified Internetwork Expert Certification Lab. For more information, CCIE candidates can contact Scott Edwards, CCIE program manager, by calling 415-903-8892 or sending e-mail to sedwards@cisco.com.
