Yesterday Cisco announced changes to their Certification Program, a certification program that many consider mature since it’s been around for a number of years. As I look at this program it occurs to me that it really hasn’t changed much. In fact, in my 9 years as a Cisco Instructor nothing has changed except that equipment is no longer shipped and the instructors have less access to material now than ever before. Aside from that, the program hasn’t really changed. There are still Associate, Professional, and Expert level, however Expert Level is just a tag phrase now since the mighty “Architect” certification sits high above it. Many think that Cisco is “too big to fall.” Doug Gourlay of Arista Networks questions if they are actually “too big NOT to fall.” Regardless of either opinion I am a Cisco Trainer, and I’ll never tell you NOT to learn Cisco Products. But that doesn’t mean I won’t tell you to branch out.

In this economic time one would be foolish to put all their hope and trust in one company right? The safe bet is probably on making yourself as marketable to a potential employer as you possibly can.

Introducing HP ExpertOne

It’s obvious that HP and Cisco are on a crash course. And since this blog is dedicated to studying for network certifications I think it appropriate to discuss the new certification that was announced by HP just moments ago. To begin with HP touts this certification as the industry’s most complete certification program. How did HP come to this conclusion? Well it’s easy to look at how todays certification programs develop skills for yesterdays IT environments. Anyone that’s taken a class from most vendors today will agree that they are learning material related to code that is already out dated. I should qualify that I have no idea if anything HP makes will be up-to-date with current versions of software and hardware. What I will say is that there are a few interesting points that I really like.

What I Like About The HP ExpertONE Program

I like that HP is pushing Open, multivendor learning, as well as multiple delivery modalities. Certifications are supposed to focus on job role and will span the entire HP product and solution portfolio. Here you can have a look at the high level design of the portfolio.

As you can see in the figure, the portfolio includes Fast Track Cross Certifications for IT professionals. What this means is you can skip all the remedial certification mumbo jumbo and jump right to where you should be. I appreciate that HP is taking into account that fact that there are already knowledgable people in this industry and forcing them to sit through the entry level material is not necessary. Here is a look at the certification path:

In total there are 14 certifications introduced across 5 skill levels. At the entry level there is the Accredited Integration Specialist (AIS). This level has focus areas in Network Infrastructure, Network Security, and IP Telephony. This level is the equivalent to the CCNA.

Up a level is the Accredited Systems Engineer (ASE). This level is the equivalent to the CCNP and includes Network Infrastructure, Wireless Networks, Network Security, and IP Telephony.

And above the ASE we have the MASE or Master Accredited Systems Engineer. This would be the equivalent to the CCIE. At Present it appears there is no Security or Voice equivalent, but considering that HP doest have a Firewall at present this doesn’t surprise me. Give it time….

Of course there are sales and pre-sales certifications if that’s what you’re into.

Wrap Up

From the overview I got on the certification program, and knowing who HP has towing the reigns I think that HP has the opportunity to be very successful. I look forward to seeing where this goes and hopefully having an opportunity to see first hand the material that is presented to students and assisting you in studying for network certifications.

**Images Provided by HP.