Cisco is enhancing their certification program to bring you:

• Streamlined and updated certification paths, such as
• Consolidated and updated associate level training and certification for networking engineers -one course, one exam covers the fundamental topics for all network technologies.
• Specialist certifications to validate your skills in line with your job role and interests.
• Your choice of concentration exams at the professional level that allows you to tailor your certification to your preferences.
• CCIE achievement that validates core knowledge on end-to-end practical skills through the entire network life-cycle of designing, deploying, operating and optimizing complex network scenarios.
• New DevNet certifications at the associate, specialist and professional levels to validate your software development skills.
• The ability to start where you want -no prerequisites to start earning your associate, specialist, professional or expert level certification.
• Continuing education credits for recertification and ongoing development available for CCNA, Cisco Certified Specialist, CNNP and CCIE.
• New Emeritus lifetime tenure for CCIE certifications maintained continuously for 20 years.
• Badging for completing training courses.
• No more continuing education administrative fee, as of February 24, 2020.

Certification technology tracks for CCNP and CCIE are being consolidated to Enterprise, Security, Service Provider, Collaboration and Data Center, which now include relevant topics from retired programs. You will see the topics from retired certifications reflected in new concentration exams. New DevNet certifications will include Cisco Certified DevNet Associate, Cisco Certified DevNet Specialist and Cisco Certified DevNet Professional.

For:	You get:
Successfully completing training	Training badge
Passing the CCNA exam	Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Passing any written, proctored exam, with exception of the CCNA exam	Cisco Certified Specialist
Passing the Cisco Certified DevNet Associate exam	Cisco Certified DevNet Associate
Passing any DevNet written, proctored exam, with exception of the Cisco Certified DevNet Associate exam	Cisco Certified DevNet Specialist
Passing one core exam and one concentration exam in the same technology	Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
Passing one DevNet core and one DevNet concentration exam	Cisco Certified DevNet Professional
Passing one core exam and the corresponding lab in the same technology	Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)

Cisco has designed the new training and certification program to be customizable. For example, CCNP includes more options than ever before, with a concentration exam of your choice. And you can earn training badges for completing training and Specialist certifications for passing written, proctored exams in technologies and skills that relate directly to your job, interests, and aspirations.

It will depend on each learner’s path. Cisco’s goal is to make it more convenient for learners to become certified and enable them to customize learning to best meet their needs. At the associate level, users will take a single comprehensive exam. At the professional level, users will need to take a core exam and their choice of concentration exam in the same technology track. At the expert level, users will need to take a core exam along with a corresponding lab exam. Specialist certifications will be awarded for passing any written, proctored exam, with the exception of associate level exams.

As Cisco enhances their program, their intent is to maintain and strengthen the integrity and rigor that Cisco certifications have today. At the CCNA level, Cisco has broadened the topics within the exam to cover the range of skills required to manage digital networks. They’ve also embedded knowledge from across technologies into their associate level exam, making it more comprehensive than ever. At the CCNP and CCIE levels, they’ve increased the rigor of exams. The new core exams will cover essential knowledge for job roles within the network domain. And by offering concentration exams that cover depth of knowledge in specific topics, they’ll be validating your specific skills even more rigorously than in the past. Finally, CCIE exams will cover the entire network lifecycle of designing, deploying, operating and optimizing complex network scenarios.

Cisco has consolidated the CCNA program into a single comprehensive exam that covers entry level networking skills across technologies including basic IP fundamentals, network access, IP connectivity, basics of automation and network programmability, and security fundamental skills because a breadth of skills are needed when first entering networking. They’ve also refocused their CCNP and CCIE programs to align with the five principal technologies, including Enterprise, Security, Service Provider, Collaboration and Data Center.

Retired programs have been consolidated into these technology tracks. For example, Cisco has consolidated Wireless into the Enterprise track, as wireless skills are critical in any enterprise deployment. For areas where subject matter fit into more than one potential track (i.e. Automation and Programming), it became a concentration exam available to CCNP candidates across multiple technology tracks. Your current certification is still valid and will be active until its expiration date

Cisco is expanding the Networking Academy to train students for the new CCNA certification and for the new DevNet Associate certification. As a result, the the program will now extend beyond developing networking professionals to also include developing software professionals for Cisco’s partners and customers.

For CCNA, Specialist and CCNP: Your current certification is still valid and will be active until its expiration date. When the new program goes into effect February 24, 2020, your current certification will be transitioned to an equivalent in the new program.

For CCIE: If you are an active CCIE, your suspended year will be converted to an active year. For example, if your active CCIE would have been suspended beginning April 21, 2020, you will sustain active status until April 21, 2021.