CCIE Enterprise is one of the expert-level certification paths from the Cisco program. It is available in two versions, which cover the Infrastructure and Wireless paths. Depending on the certificate you choose, you can get the skills in working with complex enterprise infrastructure solutions or complex enterprise wireless solutions.
Each option requires that you meet certain prerequisites to be eligible for a certificate. You will need to pass one core exam from the professional-level track and deal with one lab test. There are no strict requirements that you have to fulfill before going for the CCIE Enterprise certification paths, but you will need to have a thorough understanding of exam topics in order to succeed. It is recommended that you possess more than 5 years of experience working with enterprise networking or wireless technologies and solutions. You will need to know how to design, deploy, operate, and optimize them.
Exam Details
Cisco 350-401 is a core written exam that you need to pass for any of the CCIE Enterprise paths. This is a 2-hour test from the Professional level of the Cisco certification program that contains about 100 questions. It can be taken in English or Japanese and costs $400. To nail this exam with flying colors, you need to know the following topics:
- Security – The potential candidates need to know about the components of network security design. Also, they need to be able to verify the infrastructure security and wireless security features along with device access control as well as know how to configure them;
- Virtualization – This area is all about device virtualization technologies as well as network virtualization concepts. This means that you need have knowledge of virtual switching, virtual machines, VRF, VXLAN, and LISP. Being able to configure these technologies and verify them is also important;
- Architecture – The next domain is all about the working principles of Cisco SD-Access and its solutions. It is vital to know about various design principles and how to use them in enterprise networks. Having some level of expertise in working with software switching mechanisms, hardware switching mechanisms, on-premises infrastructure deployment, Cloud deployment, as well as the concepts of wireless or wired QoS is essential for the potential candidates;
- Automation – Here, you have to know about REST API response codes, results in payload, Cisco DNA Center, and RESTCONF. You should also be able to use the basic Python scripts along with components;
- Infrastructure – This section is all about IP services, Layer 3 & Layer 2, as well as wireless;
- Network assurance – As for the last topic, you need to know how to diagnose network problems. Therefore, the students have to know about SNMP, ping, debugs & conditional debugs, syslog, as well as trace route. Besides that, it is important to have knowledge of ERSPAN, Flexible NetFlow, IPSLA, SPAN, NetFlo, and RSPAN.
Those individuals who clear the written exam should proceed with one of the lab tests depending on the path they want to take. If you want to earn the CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure certificate, you need to deal with the 8-hour lab exam that covers the details of infrastructure automation, services, programmability, and security. It also includes the topics about network infrastructure, transport solutions and technologies, as well as software-defined infrastructure. To obtain the CCIE Enterprise Wireless certification, you are also required to complete the 8-hour lab test. However, it consists of the following domains: wireless security management, automation, radio frequency, enterprise wired campus, assurance, wireless identity management, enterprise wireless network, wireless business apps, radio standards, and wireless business services.
Further Career Path
To help you keep up with the current world, Cisco offers to recertify triennially, and this process is the same for the CCIE Enterprise certificates. It doesn’t matter which path you choose because you need to renew your certification after 3 years to be relevant for the industry. There are several options available on the Cisco Continuing Education Program webpage that you can go for. Thus, you can retake both the written and lab exams or choose some other options that include using of the CE points. It all depends on what resources you have and how you personally want to recertify.
