As many of you have heard by now, Cisco has announced their new CCNA Cloud and CCNP Cloud certifications. These certifications are designed to be a focus-based around their “Internet of Things” (IoT) concept, which will also play into the “Internet of Everything” (IoE) transformation that we’ll see happening over the next several years. In addition to Cisco, so many other companies are participating in the IoT concept, at a minimum, the companies listed here.
As a quick summary, the IoT definition refers to the endpoints, devices, and networks that connect to the internet, whereas their IoE definition is more of a “tied in system” that brings networked devices, and endpoints (IoT) together into a much larger solution that will allow the ability to connect people, places, and things in a much more relevant and valuable way than ever imagined. IoE brings people, processes, data, and the connected devices together to form – essentially, in my own words “a connected world”.
For a visual explanation, check out this slideshow and video (which I love) developed by Cisco.
Top IoT Trends and Their Impact on the Internet of Everything
Cisco’s Internet of Everything | Circle Story
As I read into Cisco’s announcement, it’s my opinion that they’re beginning to produce “Cloud Training” geared for the IoT, which ultimately, I believe the CCIE Cloud will be more of an IoE certification. The new CCNA and CCNP Cloud certifications are an awesome starting point for learning how to become a connected world, and I would guess that this kicks off a much larger IoE training phenomenon of many more vendors participating in IoE training, such as Facebook (https://internet.org/about) and Google Loon (http://www.google.co.in/loon/). To assist in the IoE training concept, Cisco has partnered with a company called Rockwell Automation. You can see that they offer Cisco’s courses, as well as others. Could it be possible that Rockwell is a key player in Cisco’s future (potential) CCIE Cloud certification? I guess one day, we shall see!
CCNA Cloud at a Glance
The CCNA Cloud certification will consist of two exams. The first is available now, and is titled “Understanding Cisco Cloud Fundamentals” (210-451 CLDFND).
This course will cover the following topics and technologies:
The Understanding Cisco Cloud Fundamentals course is designed to provide students with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) to perform foundational tasks related to Cloud computing. It teaches the characteristics and deployment models of a Cloud network. Upon course completion, students will be able to:
- Describe common cloud characteristics
- Describe and identify the cloud service models
- Describe and compare cloud deployment models
- Identify cloud deployment decision factors
- Identify and illustrate key features of UCS
- Define server virtualization
The second appears to be announced in July 2015 and is titled “Introducing Cisco Cloud Administration” (210-455 CLDADM).
Due to the course not yet being available, I was not able to locate any of the course topics.
CCNP Cloud at a Glance
The CCNP Cloud will consist of four exams. The four exams are as follows:
- Implementing and Troubleshooting the Cisco Cloud Infrastructure (300-CLDINF)
- Designing the Cisco Cloud (300-505 CLDDES)
- Automating the Cisco Enterprise Cloud (300-506 CLDAUT)
- Building the Cisco Cloud with Application Centric Infrastructure (CLDDACI)
Currently there is no information pertaining to these exam topics, and Cisco notes that it should be available in August 2015.
Lastly, I’m also going to list a few additional links that really help explain where Cisco and the future of networking is headed.
- Tomorrow Starts Here
- The Internet of Everything Connects Shoppers
- The Internet of Everything Improves Efficiency in Operations
- The Internet of Everything Transforms Hamburg into a Smart Connected City
- Internet of Everything :: IndustrialInternetNow.com
- ATT :: Internet of Things
- Gartner :: Internet of Things Research
- Gartner Says Personal Worlds and the IoE are Colliding to Create New Markets
- Wiki :: Internet of Things
- Cisco Blog :: How the IoE Will Change the World
So in summary, this is clearly where the IT industry is headed, as well as what should be expected within our worldwide chase for fast data and simplified communications (just to name a few). I suspect that the Cloud certifications from Cisco are going to be one of the biggest initiatives in the certification industry that we’ve seen in the past 10 years. Oh, and to answer your question before it’s asked, we WILL be all over Cisco Cloud training once the full curriculum is posted and we understand what the certifications will cover (all tests).
Thanks for reading! – Wayne