SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - June 25, 2007) - Cisco® (
NASDAQ:
CSCO) today announced the
addition of a new entry-level certification, CCENT™ (Cisco Certified
Entry Network Technician), to its Career Certification Program, along with
significant enhancements to the popular Cisco CCNA® associate-level
certification. Simultaneously, Cisco also plans to localize both the
curricula and certification exams to meet the worldwide demand for
networking skills.
As networks continue to drive economic growth, collaboration and human
interaction, the need for networking talent grows in importance. IDC is
predicting as much as a 40 percent gap between the demand and supply of
technical networking skills by year 2012. To address these needs, Cisco is
making significant investments in its education and certification programs
to equip more people for successful careers in networking.
CCENT presents a new point of entry to those just beginning to build a
career in networking. As an optional stepping-stone to CCNA, CCENT
validates the skills required to successfully install and verify basic
networks -- a requirement for most entry-level network support positions.
At the same time, Cisco's foundational CCNA curriculum has been revised to
include a greater breadth of networking topics and more focus on
performance-based skills to differentiate Cisco certified applicants in the
IT job market. The CCNA curriculum will be released in English on July 26,
2007 and the exams will be released in English on August 1, 2007.
Additional languages will be announced as translation plans are finalized.
"Cisco is committed to transforming how people interact and share
information across the world. By powering the human network, we will
enable a new approach for our customers to work in the global marketplace,"
said Wim Elfrink, chief globalization officer and senior vice president of
customer advocacy at Cisco. "We are dedicated to leading worldwide
development of the right technical expertise, in the right place and at the
right time, to make sure our customers and partners have the best possible
experience with our technology. The introduction of CCENT and localization
plans for our foundational curricula, underscore our commitment to
accelerate the learning curve for technical talent across the globe."
Laying the groundwork for more rigorous certification, CCENT validates the
knowledge and skills needed to configure and verify small routed and
switched networks, including the ability to configure IP addressing,
implement basic security measures and understand the concepts of wireless
networking.
A comprehensive understanding of networking fundamentals is the focus of
CCNA. Certification at this level validates the knowledge and skills
required to install, operate and troubleshoot a small to medium-sized
routed and switched network, including the ability to implement and
troubleshoot protocols to manage addressing and authentication, as well as
establish and troubleshoot connections to service providers over a
wide-area network.
The CCENT learning path includes:
-- Required Exam: ICND1 640-822
-- Recommended Course: Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices, Part 1
The CCNA learning path includes:
Required Exams:
-- ICND1 640-822 and ICND2 640-816 or
-- CCNA 640-802 composite exam
Recommended Courses:
-- Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices, Part 1
-- Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices, Part 2
The CCNA Prep Center (
www.cisco.com/go/prepcenter) is available to anyone
with a Cisco.com login to help candidates prepare for the CCENT and CCNA
exams. The CCNA Prep Center provides certification candidates access to a
wide variety of resources to accelerate learning including, practice
questions, labs, games, simulations, tips, expert advice, success stories
and peer discussion forums.
"Career opportunities in networking are abundant and span a wide array of
experiences from software applications and systems design to
troubleshooting global networks that span all business, government and
person-to-person communications," said Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, senior
director for Learning@Cisco. "Networking offers people a broad opportunity
for career advancement while learning about the world, about business and
about ways to improve human interaction. The Cisco training and
certification program provides network designers and engineers with a solid
foundation on which they will change how people collaborate and communicate
in the future."
"Networks underpin nearly every industry today, including travel, fashion
and entertainment, and their presence is not likely to be diminished in the
future," said Christopher Cugno, senior network engineer for DreamWorks
Animation SKG. "Holding a Cisco certification enabled me to enter the
career of my dreams, and now I have the opportunity to work for one of the
most recognized production studios in the world."
To learn more about the Cisco certification programs, please visit:
http://www.cisco.com/go/getcertified
In a related announcement, the Cisco Networking Academy® today announced
the introduction of the new CCNA curriculum. The CCNA curriculum now
consists of two tracks, CCNA Discovery and CCNA Exploration, that target
different student segments based on their academic experience and goals.
Additional information is available at:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2007/prod_062507c.html
Training and Availability
Authorized Cisco training is available from a global network of Cisco
Learning Solutions Partners and the Partner E-Learning Connection. For
complete details about the training and exam requirements for the
Specialist and other certifications, visit:
http://www.cisco.com/go/certifications.
Cisco Press, the leader in CCNA self-study products, will offer a
comprehensive set of materials for the new CCNA exams, including CCNA ICND1
Exam Certification Guide (1587201828), CCNA ICND2 Exam Certification Guide
(158720181X), and the CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack (1587201909).
All products will be available for purchase at:
http://www.ciscopress.com/ccna
About Cisco Career Certifications
The widely respected Cisco Career Certifications bring valuable, measurable
rewards to network professionals, their managers and the organizations that
employ them. Cisco offers three levels of general certification:
Associate, Professional and Expert in various tracks such as Routing and
Switching, Network Security and Service Provider. A variety of Cisco
Specialist certifications are also available to show knowledge in specific
technologies, solutions or job roles. For Cisco Career Certifications
information, visit:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/learning.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco (
NASDAQ:
CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms
how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco
can be found at
http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to
http://newsroom.cisco.com.
Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems, CCENT, CCNA and Networking Academy
are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its
affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other
trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective
owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership
relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco
Public Information.
For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit "News@Cisco" at the
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Contact Information: Press Contact:
Cara Sloman
Cisco Systems, Inc.
831-440-2411
csloman@cisco.com