I received word of the new Cisco Certified Architect – CCA certification via Twitter from two different sources including @LearningatCisco. This certification ranks above the CCIE and CCDE. Here is a link to the Cisco announcement. You can read more on the Cisco Learning Center CCA page too.
Based on the announcement, the requirements for the CCA are:
- The Cisco Certified Architect certification will be administered as a board exam.
- Candidates will propose and defend an architecture solution to a set of business requirements, and the candidates will be asked to modify their proposals “on the fly,” based on additional requirements presented by the board.
- Prerequisites include a CCDETM certification, approximately 10 years of industry experience, and acceptance into the program via an application process.
What’s the Value to You?
- Who really needs this certification? Other than the cert junkies, and maybe the Cisco Partners who benefits from this cert?
- How different is this from the CCDE certification?
- As Steve Chambers pointed out to me via Twitter, this is still almost totally network centric – where is the integration piece with servers, virtualization, and the services that the network supports?
- How do you CCIEs and multiple CCIEs feel about this?
- Are you going to pursue this certification?
- If you’re an employer, do you want a CCA on staff? If so, how much would you pay them? 10% above a CCIE? 20%?
