What’s New in Cisco Certification Program and How Can Its Changes Affect Your Career in 2022?

Cisco is one of the popular companies that help transform business through technology. It knows everything about networking, security, Cloud, collaboration, and data center. Thus, its certification program is one of the best options for the individuals interested in enhancing their skills in these areas.
Each year, various technologies change because of how many new features and opportunities appear. To keep up with the pace and help you stay relevant, many certification vendors change their programs by retiring their old exams, offering new ones, and revising some of the paths. Thus, the providers can offer the updated versions of the certificates to allow the IT specialists to boost their careers. Cisco is not an exception, so it has some changes that will also come in 2022. Therefore, if you hold any certification of this vendor or plan to obtain one, you need to know about all the current transformations of its program.

Major Changes to Cisco Certification Paths

There are not so many changes in the program, but you should not ignore them. If looking at the certification paths, you will find the following transformations:

• CCDE

First of all, it is important to pay attention to the changes that are happening to the Cisco CCDE certification path. It is one of the most respected certificates in the IT industry. It is intended for those individuals who want to land an expert-level job role in network architecture and designs. This means that you need to be able to integrate various networking elements into manageable, scalable, and sustainable architecture, which supports the ever-growing needs of enterprises and customers. The certification contains two exams that you should deal with, including Cisco 400-007, which is a written test, and one practical exam. This is a third version of the certificate, which means that both tests are also updated. The new version proves that you have an understanding of network design and technologies, business strategies, as well as translation of business and technical requirements.

• Cisco Certified DevNet Expert

This is a completely new path, which is now available in the new DevNet track of the Cisco certification program. After the release of this new track, Cisco has offered only the associate- and professional-level certificates. Now, all the interested candidates can proceed with the Expert level and earn the most prestigious certification in the technology industry. Just like with most of the expert-level options of this vendor, this one offers the written exam from the previous level and adds the lab test. Thus, you need to pass Cisco 350-901 and deal with the 8-hour hands-on exam that will be available from May 2, 2022. The practical test evaluates your skills in planning, designing, developing, deploying, and maintaining the software solutions within complex automation-driven network environments.

Main Changes to Cisco Certification Exams

Besides the updated version of the Cisco 400-007 exam from the CCDE certification path and the brand new Cisco Certified DevNet Expert lab test, there are also other changes to the qualification tests of this vendor that you need to know about. If you are interested in the partner/channel exams, you should know about the following:

• Cisco 700-840

This exam is from the Cisco IoT Advantage for Systems Engineers certification path, which will retire on November 23, 2021. This means that it will no longer be available for taking in 2022, so you need to consider passing the Cisco 700-841 test instead. The exam is 90 minutes long and available in the English language only. It proves that you know about distribution automation, extended enterprise, manufacturing solutions, secondary substation solutions, and industrial security. It also shows that you understand roadway/intersection solutions, IoT operations dashboards & asset vision, data-edge intelligence & IOx, as well as Cisco’s ultra-reliable wireless backhaul.

• Cisco 700-845

This exam is from the Cisco IoT Advantage for Account Managers certification path and its retirement date is the same as for Cisco 700-840. Cisco 700-846 is a new qualification test for this certificate, which will be relevant in 2022. After taking this exam, you will be able to prove that you have knowledge of the Cisco IoT strategy, industry specific sales plays, and IoT products. It is available in English and lasts for 90 minutes.

• Cisco 500-440 and Cisco 500-450

These two exams were part of the Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise Specialist certification path and are no longer available in 2022. To obtain the certificate, a potential candidate needs to deal with Cisco 500-442 and Cisco 500-443, which are now the new versions that are provided to the interested individuals.

Conclusion

Each year, the vendors change their certification programs to help the potential candidates learn the relevant skills and gain proper knowledge. Moreover, this can even happen several times a year if there are some transformations that are undergoing in the industry. Cisco also wants to help the IT professionals, which is why the company revises its certain paths and adds new ones.
To know what changes are happening in the program and when exactly, it is important to know where to obtain the needed information. Thus, the very first step you should take is the exploration of the official website. The company offers to subscribe to its newsletter and also shows the latest news in the What’s New section on the main webpage. It is convenient to see all the latest changes and future transformations of its program and know what the organization wants to do in the near future.

Being updated on the news that is important to you and following changes is what a successful IT professional needs to do to be relevant for the industry. Following them right now can help you boost your career and become a valuable employee in 2022. So, stay tuned to the latest news of Cisco and you will be able to update your skills and level of expertise when it is time.

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