The Curricula with New Courses: CCNP • CCIP • CCDP
CCNP—the New Curriculum
CCNP is the most widely-spread certification on the Professional level. Cisco has scrutinized both the process and the contents of this certification and shifted the focus clearly to enterprise networks. Instead of four exams, only three will be required in future. They are called ROUTE (Implementing Cisco IP Routing), SWITCH (Implementing Cisco Switched Networks), and TSHOOT (Troubleshooting and Maintaining Cisco IP Networks). You can immediately book them along with the corresponding courses at ExperTeach.
All exams of the current CCNP curriculum will be offered until July 31, 2010. Afterwards, only the new exams will be available. Cisco provides a generous interim solution for students who have already begun the old curriculum. The BSCI and BCMSN exams will remain valid for up to three years even after July 31, 2010 to allow the students to finish the CCNP curriculum—in combination with new courses. However, the overall period of three years must not be exceeded. Otherwise, the first exam will become invalid. From August 1, 2010, the exam TSHOOT becomes a compulsory component of CCNP. Within the interim period, the old and new exams may be mixed arbitrarily.
The new courses ROUTE and TSHOOT follow the approach of blended learning—they combine the traditional classroom training with e-learning. The students can study the e-learning material on a Windows PC either prior to or after the classroom training, completely independent of the latter. The exams will verify all contents together. The major difference between ROUTE and BSCI is that ROUTE does not treat the routing protocol IS-IS. The lab share has in turn been increased. SWITCH has changed only little compared to BCMSN. TSHOOT involves the most comprehensive changes: instead of treating the multifaceted topics of ISCW and ONT, it focuses completely on troubleshooting procedures in an enterprise network.
Effects on CCIP and CCDP
The curricula for CCIP and CCDP have included BSCI or BSCI and BCMSN so far. The rules are the same as with CCNP:
ROUTE replaces BSCI, SWITCH replaces BCMSN. The BSCI and BCMSN exams as well as the composite exam will only be accepted for three years after passing the exam for a CCIP or CCDP certification.
