Cisco Collaboration Certification Overview
In February, Cisco announced an overhaul of its Video and Voice certifications. The two paths are being combined, resulting in new Collaboration certifications. These certifications are intended to sharpen learners' skills in provisioning and support of collaboration solutions, as well as design, deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting. Cisco specifically identifies network video engineers, collaboration engineers, IP telephony, and IP network engineers as the target learners for these certifications. Collaboration is fundamentally about the convergence of voice and video skill sets, along with the introduction of new collaboration tools.
CCNA Collaboration
Trainer Jeremy Cioara is already hard at work developing Cisco training courses for the new CCNA certification! Jeremy's Cisco online training will prepare learners for success with the CCNA Collaboration. You can see Jeremy's progress on the new CBT Nuggets course. But what exactly are the differences between CCNA Voice ICOMM 640-461 and the new path? Cisco has produced a helpful overview you can download from their website, but here's a quick snapshot comparison:
Topic Comparison | |
CCNA Voice ICOMM | CCNA Collaboration |
Overview of: -admin and end-user interface in Cisco Unified Communications Manager -Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express -Cisco Unity Express -Cisco Unity Connection -Cisco Unified Presence | Overview of: -admin and end-user interface in Cisco Unified Communications Manager -Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express -Cisco Unity Connection -Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service |
Administer users in, and enable most commonly used features in: -Cisco Unity Connection -Cisco Unified Presence | Administer users in, and enable most commonly used features in: -Cisco Unity Connection -Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service |
Hardware and Software Comparison | |
CCNA Voice ICOMM | CCNA Collaboration |
Cisco Unity Express | The Cisco Collaboration (CICD) certification does not include Cisco Unity Express |
Two 2800 routers, each with T1/E1 | Two 2900 routers, each with T1/E1 |
Cisco UCS or bare metal servers | Cisco UCS server to run mandatory VMs |
Three Cisco Unified IP Phones 7965 | Two Cisco Unified IP Phones 9971 with cameras and one Cisco Unified IP Phone 7965 |
Inline or POE-capable switch | POE-capable switch |
For CCNA Voice ICOMM, learners were required to earn the CCENT as a prerequisite. However, the CCENT is not required ahead of CCNA Collaboration! It's important to note that although learners don't need the CCENT, the certification is made up of two exams. CCNA Collaboration includes the Implementing Cisco Collaboration Devices (CICD) and Implementing Cisco Video Network Devices (CIVND) exams.
CCNA Exam Migration
Cisco has developed a CCNA Collaboration Exam Migration Tool that can help learners identify which combinations of exams result in the CCNA Collaboration certification, including the soon-to-be-retired ICOMM (640-461) and VIVND (200-001) exams. This tool is an invaluable resource for figuring out where you stand on your certification pathway because CCNA Voice and CCNA Video certification exams can be applied toward the CCNA Collaboration certification.
CCNP Collaboration
For the CCNP Collaboration track, four exams are required: Implementing Cisco IP Telephony & Video, part 1 (CIPTV1); Implementing Cisco IP Telephony & Video, part 2 (CIPTV2); Troubleshooting Cisco IP Telephony & Video (CTCOLLAB); and Implementing Cisco Collaboration Applications (CAPPS). CBT Nuggets will be developing Cisco video training for the CCNP Collaboration certification in the future, so check often to see our progress toward providing these courses for you!
CCNP Exam Migration
Similar to the CCNA exam migration tool, Cisco also offers a CCNP Collaboration Exam Migration Tool for determining exams needed to earn the Collaboration certification.
The CBT Nuggets Cisco training courses that mapped to the retiring certifications will continue to be available because they retain value as IT resources to organizations continuing to use older technology and products.
Next week, we'll spend some time digging into whether learners should be pursuing Voice or Video Cisco certifications before they are officially retired in August and September 2015 respectively.
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