How to Become a CCIE | Step-by-Step Guide

By DM

May 27, 2024

Networking Blog...

If you want your career graph to move upward in the communications and networking domains, it is a must that you bag the CCIE certification. You would not have to look back if you had successfully obtained this valuable certification issued by Cisco Systems of the USA.

In the IT job market, the supply of CCIE certification is much below demand. Besides, this demand for CCIE is growing as an increasing number of companies are going digital. As the CCIE exam is quite difficult to crack, only a handful of candidates obtain this certification in a given year.

Subsequently, you always find a CCIE certification demand-supply mismatch in the IT job market.

A Step-by Step Guide to Become a CCIE

Obtaining a CCIE certification on your first attempt may be quite difficult, as it is not easy to pass the written exam and the lab tests. Due to this, the question of how to become a CCIE lingers in the domain of networking education.

To become a CCIE, you must devote quality time to mastering all the answers to written tests and getting familiar with routers, switches, and other Cisco instruments in the lab. Regular exposure to the lab and all other tracks of the exam can enable you to crack the exam in a single go.

We are explaining below 7 important steps that you should take to become a CCIE:

Step-I: Realise the Importance of CCIE Certification: The first step in your ambition to become a CCIE is to realise its global importance. This certification is important for any networking professional for the following reasons:

This is a globally valid certification and is considered the highest certification issued by Cisco Systems of the USA.
This is an expert-level certification.
Having this certification means you can design, implement, manage, and troubleshoot an enterprise network.

Step II: Selection of a Track: Cisco Systems offers different tracks for the CCIE exam (and certification in the concerned track). You have to select one as per your desires. These tracks are:

Enterprise
Collaboration
Security
Data Centre
Service Provider
Wireless.

Step III: Meet Admission Criteria: As you know, the CCIE is an expert-level certification. This means you must have already obtained other Cisco certifications. This step necessitates that you have already obtained the following two certifications:

CCNA and
CCNP

Step IV: Create Your Track-Based Study Plan: This is an important step you must take to concentrate on the CCIE track you have chosen. You must study whatever is included in the track syllabus to be able to answer all questions in the exam. The following points are important for your study plan:

Take help from the Cisco Learning Network.
Go for online training courses.
Regularly consult study materials and books.

Step-V: Lab Training: Without being exposed to different Cisco equipment and gadgets and knowing their operational parts, you cannot pass the tough CCIE exam. You must spend quality time in the lab to get hands-on and real-time experience in the use of these gadgets.

Step VI: Bootcamp Options and Self-Study: Besides classroom study, you must also go for bootcamp options and devote sufficient time to self-study. You must do thorough research on the CCIE track you have chosen. For this, live bootcamp-style training can be extremely useful for you.

Step- VI: Create Your Own Exam Blueprint: For this, you must gain sufficient knowledge of the format of the exam—both written and lab-tested—before appearing in the final exam. For this, it is important that you pay attention to the following points:

Exam scheduling
Duration
Number of questions and
Score criteria for your track.

These are vitally important steps that you must take to become a CCIE.

How to become a CCIE

How to become CCIE in India

You have to crack both the written exam and lab tests to bag the certification and become a CCIE in India. What is most important for you is to select a networking training institute that has expert faculty and a well-equipped lab with all Cisco instruments.

In every Indian city, you can find several networking training institutes that impart CCIE training. But this will not solve your question of how to become a CCIE in India. The reason for this is that not all such training institutes can prepare you for the exam, as many of them don’t have expert teaching staff and labs equipped with all Cisco gadgets.

If you select an institute like the Network Bulls of Gurgaon, NCR, you can be well assured of cracking the exam. An award-winning network training institute, the highest number of students passing the CCIE exam in their first attempt is attributed to Network Bulls.

CCIE course

The CCIE course has several tracks. This is due to the fact that Cisco changes its course of study as the technology changes to enable the passed-out candidates to handle any situation while working in the IT department of an enterprise.

Currently, your exposure will be made through the CCIE course in the following tracks:

DevOps practices in network operations
Programming languages like Python and tools like Ansible
Cloud technologies (hybrid and multi-cloud technologies)
Next-generation firewalls
Intrusion prevention
Endpoint security
5G technologies.

CCIE training

Your chances of cracking the exam completely depend on your CCIE training. This directly means you should do proper research about the reputation of a networking training institute, as there has been a mushrooming growth of such institutions in all cities.

If you want to be trained properly and be able to crack both the theoretical and practical lab exams, you should consider joining Network Bulls. The training module of Network Bulls is extremely balanced: a unique balance in imparting both theoretical knowledge to crack the written test and thorough training and exposure to Cisco gadgets in its lab to well easily pass the practical tests on routing and switching.

Download PDF How to Become a CCIE | Step-by-Step Guide

CCIE lab exam

Your lab practice and thorough exposure to different Cisco instruments can go a long way in enabling you to crack the CCIE lab exam. You have to give a lab exam mainly in the following three tracks:

Troubleshooting
Diagnostic

You have to prove your knowledge of the use of different gadgets and instruments (Cisco products), including routers and switches.

CCIE R&S

The CCIE R&S is an expert-level and highest-level certification issued by Cisco Systems. It enables you to use different types of routers and switches. You must gain thorough knowledge of end-to-end solution points and a complete understanding of a network’s lifecycle.

This certification is much in demand. The demand scenario arises because CCIE R&S is considered globally to have the highest level of certification in the routing and switching track issued by Cisco Systems. It includes:

Routing protocols
Switching
Network security and
Network management.

CCIE security

The enterprise demand for CCIE security is growing fast, as companies are getting extremely concerned about securing their computer networks to foil attempts by cybercriminals to steal their corporate data.

You have to clear two theoretical and lab exams to obtain CCIE security certification. These two exams are:

Step 1: Pass the qualifying exam, SCOR 350-701, and
Step 2: Pass the lab exam to prove your hands-on expertise in handling Cisco products and also clear CCIE Security v6.0.

Conclusion

CCIE is extremely important for any network professional. This certification is valid globally. As a result, you can work anywhere in India and abroad if you have obtained a CCIE certification. For more information, please contact us at 1800-313-2545.

Also Check