Celebrating 30 years as a CCIE

30 years ago, on October 19, 1993, I earned my first CCIE certification.

After two grueling days, I walked out of a conference room In Mountain View, California which was jam-packed with a rack of noisy Cisco gear, a nest of cables, and a mischievous examiner (hello, Imran!). I successfully navigated what the team at cisco (lowercase 'c' at the time!) believed to be the most realistic simulation of the issues that our customers faced every day in real-world networks, thereby earning for myself CCIE #1034, the 10th ever issued.

Contemporary certification programs of the era like Microsoft’s MSCE and Novell’s CNE focused on a learn-and-recite style that lent itself to quick-cram studying and?producing a high volume of “certified” professionals. The inadequacy of the certification curriculum relative to actual customer situations led to blistering barbs among serious practitioners like, “MCSE: Must Consult Someone Experienced.”??

Cisco set out to change that, and for somewhat selfish reasons. We didn’t need an army of people with a low quality certification; we needed people that knew how to think about design, deployment, and diagnostics. Rather than making the test product-centric and brimming with marketing trivia, we made the test problem-centric. The number of certified people was not nearly as important as having people who really understood the issues broadly and could demonstrate that knowledge. A test alone was not enough; the lab of the era started with a box of parts and cables, a specification of what needed to happen, and the grim solitude of knowing that it was all on you. Tick tock, good luck.

A CCIE community formed and bonded around this experience, and they all found each other quickly, even in those pre-web, pre-social-media, pre-broadband-home-access days. The cisco TAC welcomed the introduction of the CCIE. A CCIE number granted the holder “front of line” privileges since clearing that certification gauntlet assured us that the caller had likely already worked through the fundamental problems and likely were facing something more serious Issue.?They may have even consulted among each other before calling in a case - it was something of a point of pride.

As Cisco grew, the program evolved to add certification tracks for different areas. I was proud to be the first person certified in the first new track in 1998, the now-retired ISP-Dial certification. This achievement also made me the first multiple CCIE holder. I dutifully recertified in various tracks up until my 20th anniversary, where my distance from day-to-day network operations kept me just below the passing grade needed on the recertification test. I accepted the title of CCIE Emeritus, afforded to those who had a decade of certification behind them.

Over the years, the program has evolved in countless ways to reflect the changes in the industry. I could write a book about that, but this post is already getting too long. Suffice to say that the team still remains dedicated to preparing the incoming generation of network, security, data center, collaboration, service provider and wireless professionals, with an unwavering dedication to excellence. I’m proud of that team.

Does the CCIE still matter? I believe so. Since the introduction of the Continuing Education certification path, I have reactivated from Emeritus to full certification even though I haven’t been personally responsible for a production network for years. I’ve been able to keep a broad and deep understanding of the technology and design principles, which keeps me conversant in the relentless evolution of communications technology. I brought myself up to date this past cycle with 120 CE credits in network automation, evolving network design best practices, Python programming, advancements in network forensics, and principles of scaling SD-WAN design. Most classes included an extensive hands-on lab component that made the knowledge more real than any multiple choice question test could have.

Innovation happens in the intersection of ideas, the constant re-evaluation of core principles, and keeping your thinking close to the day-to-day real world experiences. Everything moves fast and continuous learning remains indispensable for making all manner of digital experiences better. I’m happy that the CCIE program continues to be part of my ongoing learning and growth.??

If you made it this far, congratulations! Feel free to comment and suggest things you’d like to hear more about. As a board member of the Center for Cisco Heritage , I have many stories of how Cisco and the industry as a whole landed the way it did. I remain optimistic that things are only going to get better.

#CCIE #CCIE30 #cisco #CiscoCert