Hi Marko - Great Blog . Did you mention whether you passed the written or not?? :)
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jay McMickle Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 11:31 AM To: IPExpert Online Subject: Re: [OSL | CCIE_RS] Cisco Live 2012 – CCIE R&S News Marko, Thanks for the info, and it was nice to meet you as well at the Hard Rock Bar. Good write up. Regards, Jay McMickle- CCIE #35355 (R&S) > After 4 days of incredible technical sessions, social events and > overall great fun, another Cisco Live has come to an end. Let’s see > what’s new, if anything for those pursuing the CCIE R&S certification. > > I will divide this post in three sections. I will dedicate one to the > CCIE R&S Written test, one to CCIE R&S Lab and the last one to the few > hints and updates about future of the CCIE. > Written Exam > - No blueprint changes. > - No format updates. > - Opinion: The best Cisco certification test I have ever seen! > Let me tell you a short story of my CCIE recertification. > > As every year, I took the opportunity to recertify my CCIE at Cisco > Live, since the exam is included with the full conference pass. A > couple of days before taking, I expressed my concerns to Cisco’s CCIE > Program Manager explaining how I feel – which was that I would be > spending two hours of my life looking at misspelled questions, blurry > diagrams and dealing with the overall pain that IT certification exams > unfortunately are. Instead of a defensive response, he smiled and told > me to take the exam and let him know I feel after taking the test – > having added that HE took the quality as almost a personal goal. > Knowing whom I’m dealing with there, I got instantly scared – > wondering if I’d pass or not (I have great respect for that particular > man – after all, you can’t be a nobody and run the CCIE R&S program!). > > I went to the test, started going through it and half-way through it > hit me. This was probably the best ever Cisco certification test I > have ever taken! All the diagrams were crystal clear and not only that > – they had a consistent look and feel. Questions were tough and > challenging. > > After the exam, I took of to look for the said Program Manager and the > only thing I could bring myself to say was “Well done!” I was > positively surprised! > Lab Exam > - No blueprint changes. > - No format updates. > - Opinion: This blueprint is here to stay for at least a year. > It’s really difficult to write an essay about something that has not > changed since the last time I wrote about it. The best thing I can do > is to link to my previous year report from CCIE R&S Techtorial at > Cisco Live. Here is the link to that article: Cisco Live 2011 News and > Updates: CCIE Routing and Switching. Everything said in the linked > article pretty much remains the same, but let me also add a few things > that were emphasized this time around. > > The presenters emphasized heavily the quality assurance part of the > exam process and explained the several steps in the lifecycle of the > exam and associated blueprint. The goal is to create a high quality > lab exam that is able to certify a minimally qualified candidate for > the job role of a routing and switching network engineer. It’s > interesting that there is even a separate multi-step process that > deals with defining that job description and mapping technologies to > it. It’s much less ad-hoc than most people think and contrary to > popular belief, exams are not written by Proctors themselves. > > Another heavy emphasis was on the importance of the task dependencies > in the configuration section of the test. While we are all aware of > this importance, I have to stress out that some of the dependencies > students encounter when being tested are not exactly obvious. In the > presentation an extreme (for the lack of better word) example was used > that got us all up in arms, but after some reflection, I believe they > are absolutely right in using it as an illustration outlining > unexpected behavior that could result in a loss of points. As an > instructor, I also have to emphasize the importance of dependencies in > the configuration section, obvious and not-so-obvious ones. This is, > in my humble opinion, something that causes most people not to pass > the test. > Rumor Mill > Let me clarify and reiterate the subtitle here: Everything you read > below thins point may or may not happen. These are only bits and > pieces hinted at the Cisco Live in public presentations, conversations > I had in the Certifications Lounge between various engineers and > Program Managers, and my direct interactions with Mr. John Chambers > (Cisco CEO), whom I had the pleasure to briefly meet, as well as Ms. > Jeanne Dunn (Vice President of Learning at Cisco), who was kind enough > to provide me with some nice answers to my questions. None of these > are confirmed news or plans. > > As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I had the unique pleasure to > meet with Mr. John Chambers during Cisco Live NetVet CCIE/CCDE > reception and ask couple of questions. Since he is a very busy man, I > had to carefully consider what I thought was of importance and one > thing was extremely obvious to me. I really wanted to know when and if > we can expect to have an officially sanctioned IOS emulator from Cisco. > We all know it exists (IOU), but Cisco is not selling it to us. I was > surprised to hear that not only are they committed to it, they even > have an internally set date for the release of the product that will > be an update to the existing Learning Labs. The updated product will > allow customers to model their own virtual topologies and test their > functionality. I have a feeling that this will be an amazing > replacement for an aging unofficial emulator, GNS3 that served us > faithfully for years. No information about pricing was given. I was > referred to another Cisco eExecutive for further follow-up on this > subject, which I will do soon and if the news are so interesting and > exciting as I hope they are, I will update you! > > Lastly, I want to talk about the new CCIE R&S version 5 blueprint… > Yes, it’s coming, but not for a year at least. There are not even > internal dates set, but work processes have started and this time next > year, I will most likely be writing about the changes in the exam. > What they will be is also not quite clear at this point and I can only > speculate, which I will refrain from doing. Those of you who are > planning on becoming CCIEs this year have no concerns about what happens > after that! > > Oh – Also – thank you to all who walked over to me to introduce > yourself and of course to those of you whom I already knew. Those who > had CCIE ribbons – you know how proud I am of you! > > Happy studies! > > – > Marko Milivojevic – CCIE #18427 > Senior CCIE Instructor – IPexpert > Join our Online Study List > Print Friendly > Things you can do from here: > - Subscribe to CCIE Blog using Google Reader > - Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your > favorite sites _______________________________________________ > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, > please visit www.ipexpert.com > > Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out > www.PlatinumPlacement.com > > http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out www.PlatinumPlacement.com http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out www.PlatinumPlacement.com http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out www.PlatinumPlacement.com http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs
