A nice email with this information may have gotten to your Mailbox today. The email opens up a new methodology called agile, wich will be used going forward.
What do these changes mean?
For what I read so far and what I have been able to research, means that there will be minor revisions every year, these revisions will bring at least 20% of changes with what you are being asked in the test. Also, there will be major changes to blueprints and actual exams every 3 to 5 years, such changes should reflect between a 50% to an 80%
Why is Cisco doing this?
Cisco has always been criticized for the lack of updates on their certification exams. This looks to me like an effort to keep their Certifications and the material more up-to-date and aligned with the always evolving technologies (No pun intended).
When is Cisco Starting to make changes?
At this point it seems like the guinea-pig is the CCIE Service Provider, looking at a revision number from 4.0 to 4.1, for what we can see on Cisco’s website
These new exams (4.1) can be scheduled as of now and will take place as the definite and ultimate option starting June 21st, now, last but not least candidates can still test on the 4.0 blueprint until June 21st.
The details can be all found here: Agile Blue Prints – And for more information on the 4.1 version for the CCIE Service Provider, follow this link.
Why you should care?
If you are in the early stages of studying for your CCIE, no matter the flavor you choose, it means that changes may come your way, which sounds very exciting and makes things more interesting.
Also, programmability seems like is where everything is going, which is also a good thing. I remember a few years ago that Programmability was in no way change Collaboration technologies. Today, to my response Cisco Spark made its debut and with it, I had to change my mind.
What to look forward to?
We should start seeing few things that I consider to be relevant:
- Blueprints will align with Written and Lab Exams (Something that started happening since last year)
- More relevant content, aligned with latest and greatest technologies
- Exams will be more challenging (Which makes them more exciting, IMO)
About the Author:
Andres Sarmiento, CCIE # 53520 (Collaboration)
With more than 13 years of experience, Andres is specialized in the Unified Communications and Collaboration technologies. Consulted for several companies in South Florida, also Financial Institutions on behalf of Cisco Systems. Andres has been involved in high-profile implementations including Cisco technologies; such as Data Center, UC & Collaboration, Contact Center Express, Routing & Switching, Security and Hosted IPT Service provider infrastructures.