For years, the coveted Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) was the highest, most difficult rank a network professional could achieve. No more. On Monday, Cisco announced a new certification, the Cisco Certified Architect, which will become the rank above CCIE. The CCA will attempt to marry the networking engineering know-how of the CCIE with the business acumen of a MBA.
As the highest level of accreditation available by Cisco, the CCA will train candidates to work with C-level line-of-business executives to translate business needs into effective IT systems. "Our research shows that companies will waste $100 billion in buying the wrong technology and services," says Cisco spokesperson Fred Wieller. The source of that wasteful spending is the divide between those who deeply understand the business requirements and those who understand IT architecture. This certification, modeled after a traditional PhD, will train CCIEs in how to bridge the divide.
It won't be easy, nor will it come cheap. The certification will cost $15,000. The CCIE or the Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) is a prerequisite. Additionally, the candidate must also have at least 10 years of industry experience. Candidates must apply and be accepted into the program. Once accepted they will propose an architecture solution to a set of business requirements. The certification will be administered as a board exam and like a PhD, the candidate will be asked to defend and modify the proposal, live, in front of this board which will be composed of distinguished engineers and other subject matter experts from within and outside of Cisco.
"This certification will encourage the business to view 'network architecture' as a job function in itself and not as 'part' of a job," says Wieller.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/200...architect.html
Cisco Announces its highest level certification...
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