Apologies Vik I believe you have perhaps taken one comment out of context: I did not say
'the purpose of the CCIE is to make the journey as short and pain free as possible.' What I did say was from each individuals perspective I believe the goal is to make the journey to ACHIEVING CCIE as short and pain free as possible. The true 'purpose of CCIE' is an entirely different questions which we could debate the merits of for some time. As for the booking system there has been a massive change since the 90 day payment window came into effect. I realize that now you have passed you can not view the system but I can tell you there are pretty much 0 short notice slots which come available. Add to this the dramatic increase in numbers of people wanting to take the voice lab and you have a very different system to 2 or 3 or even 4/5 years ago when you took the lab. I do not really want to get into something of a debate with you. You made your points and I have a different and I believe pretty impartial view and one which reflects the very latest situation within the CCIE voice system. All the best. On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 9:20 AM, Vik Malhi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't share the view that the purpose of the CCIE is to make the journey > as short and pain free as possible. Some people will be able to pass the > exam with only a few weeks of preparation behind them. Others will take > several attempts over the course of many long hard months. And there will > inevitably be some who never pass. Everybody comes out a better engineer for > the experience. > > I do take your other points and I would only encourage those in the middle > of their preparation to pursue the exam in its current format. Now the > question is how do you know where the middle is unless you have passed? I > would suggest that the individual make that decision based on the investment > ($ and time) made to date on the lab exam in its current format as well as a > number of other factors which include comfort zone with training material > and posts on this and other forums. I think most people know where they are > at if they are honest with themselves but there is certainly no concrete > threshold to mark the middle. > > Sitting the lab already will also be a good indicator to a candidate- there > are several people who have passed on the first attempt but I believe this > to be the exception and not the rule. Performance in previous attempts of > the lab can also be used to determine how close they are to passing. > > If you have the momentum of many hours of studying and previous lab > attempts, the time and investment from your employer and family then I would > take it since the same offer may not present itself in 6 months time. If I > had no lab attempts and no lab preparation behind me I would wait. > > I know there are plenty of people out there who are on their 2nd/3rd/4th/etc > attempt- I would encourage this type of candidate to get it nailed before > July. Whether that has to come down to a single take it or leave it attempt > or a couple of attempts can be squeezed into that timeframe- I can't answer > that question since I'm not searching for lab dates on a daily basis. I do > know that the system has been overwhelmed for the past 2 or 3 years so that > specific hurdle has existed for some time but lab dates have always been > freed up. > > There will inevitably be some people who will be caught up in the middle. I > don't think the learning that has taken place will be a waste of > company/personal money. I think the more a candidate learns during the > course of their preparation, the more the company and the individual > benefits. And it's not as if you are learning Mandarin only to have to > switch to Spanish. Three of the most troublesome areas to date on the lab > have been Gatekeepers, QOS and IPCC-X customized scripts all of which will > not be radically changed in the new lab. > > Over the past couple of years there has been roughly 15-20 new CCIE-V's > produced every month- going by these stats there will be around 120 new > CCIE-V's between now and the upgrade. So there will be a significant number > of new CCIE-V's produced between now and "D-Day" and several of them will be > asking themselves the question "should I start building my new lab for CCIE > 3.0 or should I stick with CCIE 2.0". > > -- > Vik Malhi CCIE #13890, CCSI #31584 > Senior Technical Instructor - IPexpert, Inc. > > Telephone: +1.810.326.1444 > Fax: +1.810.454.0130 > Mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Join our free online support and peer group communities: > http://www.IPexpert.com/communities > IPexpert - The Global Leader in Self-Study, Classroom-Based, Video-On-Demand > and Audio Certification Training Tools for the Cisco CCIE R&S Lab, CCIE > Security Lab, CCIE Service Provider Lab , CCIE Voice Lab and CCIE Storage > Lab Certifications. > > > > > > > >> From: jonny vegas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 08:11:39 +0000 >> To: <ccie_voice@onlinestudylist.com> >> Subject: Re: [OSL | CCIE_Voice] CCIE Lab v3.0 is live from mid-July 2009 >> >> A somewhat different and impartial view, from an existing CCIE >> currently doing the Voice track. >> >> With the backlog in available lab seats it is surprising to see advice >> encouraging people to continue with the current exam. Why would one >> want to add to an already overwhelmed system? The idea with is to make >> this journey as short and pain free as possible, for the individual, >> company and family. All suffer while one pursues CCIE. >> >> Being someone in the loop at the moment I would perhaps amend the >> advice to say unless you feel you can realistically pass the exam with >> one more attempt don't bother. Enjoy your Christmas, start building >> your new lab and researching the new products and get ahead of the >> game. >> >> There will probably be lots of slots with the new exam as people get >> up to speed. I would go for 1st attempt as soon as the new exam is >> launched and keep going every 30 days. Treat the first couple as >> reconnaissance and look to nail it 3rd or 4th time. >> >> It is my feeling the very detailed and specific knowledge you gain in >> order to pass the current exam has become so specific to the exam that >> it will not be of much relevance to the new exam. Sure the >> fundamentals need to be in place but you don't need to waste your >> companies or personal money covering these. >> >> For those whom are now trapped inside the 90 day payment window I >> encourage you to approach Cisco and try to free slots for those whom >> are almost there and move your payment to a future date in July. I am >> sure if there is momentum Cisco will provide support and be >> reasonable. At the end of the day there are some understanding people >> within Cisco whom work within the CCIE program. >> >> How does one gauge if you can realistically pass on your next attempt? >> Firstly have you been 2 or 3 times already? Next can you read pretty >> much read every question and see the answer in your head from previous >> papers, workbooks, email list and boards. Next can you see the tricks? >> This last point is where you pass or fail on the current exam, in my >> opinion. And this is the knowledge which I refer to earlier as being >> so specific to the current exam it will probably become irrelevant in >> the future. >> >> It is also worth noting the current exam is on dated platforms, taking >> the new exam is going to put you right at the front of the game in >> terms of what is available to the marketplace. This is of far more >> benefit to you and your company. >> >> >> On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 11:07 PM, Vik Malhi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> Interesting analysis from everybody. >>> >>> Please see my post here for a few other thoughts on CCIE-Voice 3.0. >>> >>> http://ipexpert.ccieblog.com/ >>> >>> -- >>> Vik Malhi CCIE #13890, CCSI #31584 >>> Senior Technical Instructor - IPexpert, Inc. >>> >>> Telephone: +1.810.326.1444 >>> Fax: +1.810.454.0130 >>> Mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> >>> >>> Join our free online support and peer group communities: >>> http://www.IPexpert.com/communities >>> IPexpert - The Global Leader in Self-Study, Classroom-Based, Video-On-Demand >>> and Audio Certification Training Tools for the Cisco CCIE R&S Lab, CCIE >>> Security Lab, CCIE Service Provider Lab , CCIE Voice Lab and CCIE Storage >>> Lab Certifications. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>> From: Christian Hennrich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>> Date: Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:24:06 +0100 >>>> To: Alex <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>> Cc: CCIE Voice Maillist <ccie_voice@onlinestudylist.com> >>>> Subject: Re: [OSL | CCIE_Voice] CCIE Lab v3.0 is live from mid-July 2009 >>>> >>>> So some not so much liked parts will fall away, but others like presence >>> >>> >>> > > >
