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Cisco CCNP Certification Exam
Tutorial: Making The Most Of Cisco's CCNP Program Changes
As you probably know by now, Cisco's making some sweeping changes in their Cisco
Certified Network Professional (CCNP) program. Two longtime exams are being
retired at the end of the year, two are being revised, and two new exams will be
making their debut in late 2006.
If you're currently working on the CCNP or even thinking about it, the one thing
you must NOT do is postpone your studies. On occasion, some certification exam
candidates postpone their studies when they hear of an exam change. Cisco has
announced these CCNP changes well ahead of time, and you've got plenty of time
to pass some CCNP exams by the end of the year - and they still count toward the
CCNP!
Let's take an exam-by-exam look at the current and future CCNP programs.
The BSCI exam is being updated, with the current exam being retired at the end
of 2006.
The BCMSN exam is being updated, with the current exam being retired at the end
of 2006.
The BCRAN exam is being retired at the end of 2006, and it will be replaced by
the Implementing Secure Converged Wide Area Networks (642-825) exam.
The CIT exam is being retired at the end of 2006, and it will be replaced by the
Optimizing Converged Cisco Networks (642-845) exam.
Any CCNP certification exam you take by the end of 2006 does count toward your
CCNP, so there is no reason to postpone your studies. You never get anywhere by
waiting!
The one thing you can't do is take the current exam version and then take the
new one and have both count toward the CCNP. The CCNP has a three-exam path and
a four-exam path, and here are the four exam qualifications you must fulfill to
become a CCNP with the four-exam path:
Current BSCI (642-801) or Revised BSCI (642-901)
Current BCMSN (642-811) or Revised BCMSN (642-812)
Current BCRAN (642-821) or New ISCW (642-825)
Current CIT (642-831) or New ONT (642-845)
If your choose the three-exam path, just replace the first two exams shown above
with the current Composite exam (642-891) or revised Composite exam (642-892).
Cisco expects to release the revised Composite exam in November 2006.
Whether you choose to finish your CCNP in 2006, or start now and finish in 2007,
hit those books! Never let exam version changes slow your studies - the only way
to progress is to move forward!
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