Focus on Cloud Certs or CCNP?

Posted by ElectricOne55@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 6 comments

I recently switched from a Windows system admin to cloud focused role. I have a CCNA, but it expires in a year and a half. So, I'm debating if I should recertify the CCNA, or test for the CCNP ENCOR or ENARSI, even though I don't work with any Cisco networking products in my current role. Or if instead I should focus on GCP or Azure certs? I currently utilized mainly Google cloud with some Azure. Which certs between Cisco or Google Cloud will be better in the long run, or better for my situation?

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6 Comments

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EatTheRichNZ@reddit

As someone who was in a simillar situation e.g. in a networking role, ccna, half way to ccnp, I stopped and focused on cloud and it has been the best investment.  I think cloud certs will be better in the long term, you already have the foundational 'networking' knowledge from ccna, and it's vendor specific, which won't help that much as you progress into cloud, continue to invest in cloud as the demand is only increasing, unlike networking IMO, at least from my experience.

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ElectricOne55@reddit (OP)

I found that not that many companies let you touch networking equipment, or if they did they didn't even use Cisco. A lot of system admin roles I did were windows or Linux based with some form of devops starting to be mixed in. Some people I worked with in my past role didn't even know what the ccna was I was like wtf lol. I have found that networking roles are harder to get or they want crazy amounts of experience. So, even if I got an interview for a networking job, they would grill me on the questions.

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EatTheRichNZ@reddit

I haven't looked back since getting x 2 AWS associate certs, even when I was half way through CCNP, I refunded my exam for ENARSI for the AWS solutions architect associate, fast forward 3 years later and my cisco certs are expired, and that's okay.  I've personally gotten a much better return on investment from cloud certs and increasing my knowledge in a day to day role, rather than vendor specific networking which isn't as in demand as it was 5 - 10 - 15 years ago etc.

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AmiDeplorabilis@reddit

Test for the CCNP because it'll supplant the CCNA. But don't ignore the cloud direction.

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ElectricOne55@reddit (OP)

What resources do you recommend for the CCNP? Is the Kevin Wallace course good?

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AmiDeplorabilis@reddit

Honestly, I couldn't say today... I missed my CCNP cert (2 tests, 3h... and I really don't like tests) by 1 question each 20y ago. But the skill set lays the foundation for any career in networking.