Are CCNP exams likely to go through some changes?

Certification: Cisco CCNP Routing and Switching - Cisco Certified Network Professional Routing and Switching

CCNP Certification is one of the best certifications in the world in the field of routing and switching. This certification has been carefully designed keeping in mind the most modern skills and knowledge which candidates require in the field of network. In fact, this certification ensures that the gets the most modern and useful skills which let them enhance their abilities and augment their standards. This certification comes with three different exams which the candidate must clear in order to acquire this certification. In this regard, it is important to study all of the topics in depth and understand all of the concepts quite well. Keep in mind that this is a technical certification which will require a good amount of effort on part of the candidate.

Cisco makes sure that the skills it teaches the candidates are most recent and up to date. You need to realize that CCNP is a job-related certification which tries to endow with the best and most modern practices in the field of routing and switching which will help you perform your job in a better way. This is the reason why there are changes in the exams and in the content of this certification to cater to the latest techniques and skills. Due to this reason, Cisco has decided to make certain changes in the exams it is offering with this certification. In fact, the CCNP certification is going to be renamed as the “CCNP Routing and Switching” certification as the recent focus of this certification will be on the techniques of routing and switching. 

All of the changes in the CCNP certification will be in effect from 30^th January 2015. Following are the main changes which will be made in the CCNP exams.

The “642-902 ROUTE” Exam will be replaced by “300-101 ROUTE” Exam

This is one of the most major changes which will be made in the CCNP certification. The “642-902 ROUTE” exam which is related to Implementing Cisco IP Routing will be replaced. This exam will be replaced by the most recent “300-101 ROUTE” exam which will be catering to the most modern technology and techniques involved in the process of IP Routing.

There are a number of things which have been added to this new exam while some outdated things have been eliminated. In this regard, the most important addition to this exam is the implementation of the latest Cisco routers and other routing devices. In addition to this, there has also been an inclusion of the latest security threats regarding these devices and the ways in which they can be avoided. There has also been an addition of the latest routing technologies as well as protocols. These protocols include OSPF (Open Shortest Path First), EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol), VLANs etc. This shows that the Cisco CCNP routing implementation exam has gone through a good deal of changes to accommodate for a number of new concepts and technologies.

The “642-813 SWITCH” Exam will be replaced by “300-115 SWITCH” Exam

This is also one of the most major changes which will be made in the CCNP certification. The “642-813 SWITCH” exam which is related to Implementing Cisco IP Switched Networks will be replaced. This exam will be replaced by the most recent “300-115 SWITCH” exam which will be catering to the most modern technology and techniques involved in the process of IP SWITCH Networking.

Just like the changes in the routing exam, there have also been a number of considerable changes in the switching exam. A number of modern technologies, devices and protocols have been added while some of the outdated ones have been eliminated. In this regard, there has been an addition of the latest Cisco switches and related devices used in the process of switching. There has also been an addition of new technologies including VSS (Virtual Switch Services), Cisco StackWise etc.  This exam will basically comprise of three different types of topics:

1. Layer 2 Technologies – 65%
2. Infrastructure Services – 15%
3. Infrastructure Security – 20%

As you can see, most of the emphasis in this exam has been laid on the Layer 2 technologies. However, there have also been a considerable amount of emphasis on the Infrastructure security and many new measure and techniques for security have been introduced.

The “642-832 TSHOOT” Exam will be replaced by “300-135 TSHOOT” Exam

The “642-832 TSHOOT” exam which is related to Troubleshooting and maintenance of Cisco IP Networks will be replaced. This exam will be replaced by the most recent “300-135 TSHOOT” exam which will be catering to the most modern technology and techniques involved in the process of Troubleshooting and maintaining of Cisco IP Networks.

In the new exam, a good amount of emphasis has been laid on the most recent troubleshooting techniques. There has been a keen focus on the ways in which the problems with the modern technologies can be resolved. Furthermore, there has also been an addition of a number of new topics. Previously there were only 2 topics from which the topic of “Troubleshooting Multi-Protocol System Networks” carried over 94% of the weightage. However, the new exam accommodates a number of new technologies and methods which will improve the skills of the candidates. Following topics have been included in the new exam:

1. Layer 2 Technologies – 40%
2. Layer 3 Technologies – 40%
3. Network Principles – 5%
4. VPN Technologies – 5%
5. Infrastructure Security – 5%
6. Infrastructure Services - 5%

It is clear from the above list that the topics have been broken down into smaller categories. This helps to pay attention to each topic separately and study it in detail. Also note that there has been an addition of a number of new technologies in this exam.

Related IT Guides

1. CCNP Certification Requirements & Prerequisites
2. CCNP Route for any Brilliant Future
3. CCNP vs. MSCE, which one to choose?
4. CCNP: Which topics to focus on?
5. Cisco CCNP Modifications - A New Layered Approach to Achieving the CCNP
6. How to get CCNP self study resources online
7. How to obtain the best score in CCNP exam?
8. Latest developments in CCNP Certifications
9. The 5 Hardest Topics for CCNP ROUTE Exam and how to tackle them
10. The essence of CCNP exam why and for whom