CCIE Loses Its Voice



Name That Tune



Hitting the Wrong Notes



It Ain’t Over Until…



Tom’s Take


8 thoughts on “CCIE Loses Its Voice

    • Okay, I’ll bite:

      If they do decide to change the CCIE R&S to the CCIE SDN or something else…does that make me any less of a CCIE? Sure, I’ve been keeping up with the tests to recertify. Just like Brian Dennis still claims his CCIE ISP Dial from back in the day because he’s kept up with it. Just like I’m still a Novell MCNE6. The key is not getting wrapped up in the title. It’s the knowledge that you’re just as smart the day before you become a CCIE as the day after. What you call it isn’t important.

  1. Tom,
    I appreciate your point of view and understand why non-Voice IEs aren’t as bent out of shape as Voice IEs. The grandfathering question is actually a tough one. I am sure there are people with the Voice IE that don’t currently work on Cisco UC/Collaboration solutions. The cert is 10 years old, so there are bound to be some folks out there that are FXS/FXO/POTS gurus but don’t know anything about voice and video. What do you do about those guys? What do you do about the guys who got the IE voice but have changed fields?

    It is tough because the topics have changed and emphasis will (I hope) be on more advanced topics. I agree that the focus of the IE Collab will be more experience centric and less device-centric. That is a marked shift. But I’d guess that you can see similar shifts in other IE tracks. Maybe not at every blue print change, but most certainly there are dramatic shifts in there somewhere. So, I agree there will be a change in the “feel” of the lab but I don’t agree that warrants putting existing IEs out in the cold.

    There are many of us “voice” IEs that are much more than voice guys. Particularly those of us that have passed the IE in the past 2-3 years. I suspect that many “voice” engineers have been doing video/telepresence, UC on UCS, WebEx, and IM/Presence for a few years. I know I have and talking to some of my colleagues I know I am not unique. So, the needs of the industry have evolved and many of us “voice” guys have evolved with them. Actually, we are one of the reasons WHY Cisco is gaining ground in these collaborative spaces.

    My point is that aside from the name change/branding motive this new blue print change is no different than a blue print change in any other IE track. It is an evolution in technology. Cisco currently handles the challenge of keeping IE’s current by having them take an IE written exam every 2 years. Everyone seems to be OK with that process. Why is this different? Put the “Voice” tag aside and look at the blue prints. How is one so drastically different than the other?

    I highly doubt IEs in other tracks would be so cavalier about being asked to retake their IEs when a blue print changed. Particularly when the new blue print is easily recognized as an upgrade to the previous one.

    Everything you are saying about evolution of the technology, changing the name, re-branding, being more than voice, etc. is spot on. Where I disagree with you is that I don’t think it is appropriate to measure the “voice” IEs differently than Cisco measures other IEs. Just because of a brand change. It would be different if the Collaboration blue print represented more than the natural evolution within a tech vertical with a brand new set of clothes.

    -Bill (@ucguerrilla)

  2. Tom,

    Thanks for the update! I’m still looking forward to the numerous hints for the changes to the R&S exam I’ve been hearing. I.E. finally getting rid of frame relay and adding more MPLS.

  3. Pingback: CCIE Loses Its Voice - Gestalt IT

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