2020 has entered the stage with some drastic changes in one of the IT certification programs. To align with the ever-evolving technology terrain, the vendors are constantly reviewing their programs to reflect the changes in the industry. And this time, it was the turn of Cisco to bring a new way of accrediting the specialists. Since February 24, 2020, the company has made the remarkable changes to all its certification paths. One of them is the CCNP track. In this guide, our focus will be on the Exam-Labs.com badge and its exams.
What do we have now after these changes?
CCNP Enterprise is one of seven new professional-level certifications that the candidates can pursue. Two of them are DevNet Professional and CyberOps Professional, while all the rest are from the CCNP track. Four of which cover the Data Center, Security, Collaboration, and Service Provider domains, and the fifth is CCNP Enterprise with its own specialization areas that you can explore. Most of the old CCNP badges, including Routing & Switching and Wireless, have been incorporated into the new CCNP Enterprise path.
The new Exam-Labs Cisco CCNA Premium – 200-301 credential is designed to validate the specialists’ skills and knowledge in the ever-changing enterprise network technology landscape. It covers core technologies as well as enterprise domains of your choice. This means that the applicants should take the core exam to get the required basic knowledge and then they can choose the area of specialization based on their career prospects. Another perk of this certificate is that they will earn one badge for each successfully passed test. Thus, after taking the core exam (350-401 ENCOR) and one of the concentration tests, you will also obtain two expert-level certifications, besides CCNP Enterprise as the main one.
What are the requirements for obtaining Cisco CCNP Enterprise certification?
There are no prerequisites for earning Cisco CCIE 350-401 ENCOR File . This fact removed a lot of bottlenecks for the experienced professionals. However, most individuals have three to five years of work experience. This level of expertise gives them a huge boost, but it is nothing without good studying of the exam topics. So, if you don’t have these years behind your back, don’t worry and focus on mastering the domains.
You can also go through the details of the exam objectives if you want to develop competence in them before attempting your core test. Or even get this badge first. Of course, don’t forget to use the relevant study materials Cisco offers on its official website. The training course that the company recommends to take covers all these topic areas. There are also different resources on other online platforms that you can use for your study. Search for some reliable guides, video courses, and practice tests. The latter type of preparation tools gives you the perfect opportunity to explore the exam questions before you are ready for the actual test. A lot of students appreciate this format of learning because it helps them identify their level of knowledge and avoid possible retakes and loss of money.
What is Cisco CCNP Enterprise core exam?
If you are ready to start, you need to know what you will encounter. Please note that you should pass two exams in order to earn CCNP Enterprise. One of them is Cisco 350-401. This core test evaluates your knowledge of enterprise infrastructures, such as security, network assurance, dual-stack (IPv4 and IPv6) architecture, infrastructure, virtualization, and automation. It is also a qualifying test for the expert-level credentials: CCIE Enterprise Wireless and CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure.
As for the exam structure, you will have to deal with 100 multiple-choice questions, and you will be given 2 hours for answering all of them. The test costs $400 and you should register via Pearson VUE to take it. It is also important to mention that you can choose to pass Cisco 350-401 in Japanese or English.
What are Cisco CCNP Enterprise concentration exams?
The concentration exams cover emerging and industry-specific topics, such as network design, SD-WAN, automation, wireless, and others. There are six of them in total:
- Cisco 300-410 or ENARSI;
- Cisco 300-415 or ENSDWI;
- Cisco 300-420 or ENSLD;
- Cisco 300-425 or ENWLSD;
- Cisco 300-430 or ENWLSI;
- Cisco 300-435 or ENAUTO.
- 200-901 Premium
The details of each exam can be found on the official page. Cisco recommends its training courses for each of them and, of course, you can use other sources to find study materials on your own for your preparation process. But surf carefully and use only reliable resources so that you will be sure that the tools you use are updated and relevant.
Conclusion
Indeed, the CCNP Enterprise certification positions the professionals for better career opportunities. It validates their skills and competence in enterprise networking solutions and provides them with various senior job roles in the IT industry. If you are still thinking whether you should pursue this professional-level credential or not, the answer is clear.
