There have been many changes in the field of Cisco, which has been heard globally already. These changes are made to the certification tracks, which were announced on Monday, June 10th, 2019, at Cisco Live. You might have started working on that current CCNP certification, and it was working fine. But, then the latest changes hit the market on February 24th, 2020, for completing the certification. In this new program, you will get the chance to receive credit for work that you have completed already.
There are some present sets of CCNP certification, which expired already in February. Those are CCNP Collaboration, CCNP Routing and switching, CCNP Wireless, CCNP Security, CCNP Data Center, CCDP, and CCNP Service Provider.
In their places, you are likely to come across some of the new CCNP Certifications. You might want to learn about the first. For that, check this link right here now and get a glimpse or idea of the new set of CCNP Certifications that hit the market last year.
- Cisco Certified DevNet Professional
- CCNP Service Provider
- CCNP Security
- CCNP Data Center
- CCNP Collaboration
- CCNP Enterprise
On the other hand, you might notice the absence of routing and switching, CCDP and CCNP Wireless. These are all retired and will be presented with multiple paths instead to procure the latest CCNP Enterprise certification. Moreover, there will be the new Specialist Certifications, depending on which three tracks that you plan to choose down the line.
For getting some further clarification in this field, Cisco has presented a migration tool for covering the professional exam tracks. You can use the CCNP Migration Tool for gaining access to such tools and the relevant changes that are coming your way.
Granted the new certifications:
All those who had passed the full exam path for CCNP before that February deadline were granted equivalent certification, placed under the new program. In case you passed the CCNP Route, CCNP Switch, and CCNP TShoot before that February 24th, 2020 benchmark, you might have received new CCNP enterprise certification.
That’s not all, as you will be receiving proper Specialist certifications, which were presented by Cisco. Now, in case you are starting fresh and right under the CCNP program, then each certification will need two exams. One is the core exam, and another one is the concentration exam, as mentioned above. In order to know what this might look like for any particular concentration, make sure to visit the professional-level certification page from Cisco.
Qualifying exams, to say the least:
Once you are through with the basic exam and then focusing on the core ones, you will come across some interesting news. The core exams you have chosen for every technology track will work as qualifying exams for the CCIE lab exams. So, these exams are pretty important, to say the least.
- So, it means there will be no more written CCIE exams needed before you opt for the lab attempt.
- So, you are not just going to be granted the CCNP Enterprise certification but will receive the CCNP Certified Specialist – Enterprise Core certification with it as a complete package.
- The CCNP Certified Specialist – Enterprise Core certification is mainly targeted as a pre-requisite for the latest CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure.
- This certification will work out pretty well in place of the written lab exams.
It is always important to check out the Cisco Expert certification Updates to learn more about such hidden gems while focusing on the new CCNP rules and regulations.
Taking the right step forward:
All these changes are too much for you to handle, to be honest. But these changes are meant to be going in the right direction over here. The main goal of Cisco is to streamline the current certification process and to make things accessible with the fewer tests needed for completing specified concentrations. From what you have seen so far, these changes are surely going to work out in your favor.
The validity note to address:
The validity associated with CCNP certification is for a period of 3 years. Renewal will need the certification holders to register for and then pass the higher or same level Cisco recertification exams in every 3 years’ time.
Also Read: Check Out What Awaits You With CompTIA A+ Certification In Your Pocket
