As we summarized in our previous article about CCNA training , this spring saw the debut of new Cisco courses and exams with a significant update. Continuing our review of these, let's take a look at the highlights of the first new Professional certification, ENCOR (Enterprise Network Core Technologies).
Although the new system does not require the CCNA exam to obtain Professional certifications, in our opinion, equivalent knowledge is absolutely necessary to continue, which is possible in several directions.
The most popular of these is the CCNP Enterprise degree, which requires completing two topics: a mandatory one – ENCOR – and another, the so-called concentration exam, which can be chosen from six different topics.
We recommend starting with the ENCOR material, the difficulty of the topics is between the old CCNA and the old CCNP ROUTE/SWITCH materials, so you don't have to jump into deep water right away. The training also includes detailed coverage of several topics covered in the new CCNA training: without claiming to be complete, e.g. Spanning Tree versions, FHRP protocols or EIGRP and OSPF-based dynamic routing.
The curriculum is, as usual, extremely comprehensive (32 modules), following the manufacturer's new training concept. It consists of 5 days of instructor-supported, classroom or LVC (Live Virtual Classroom) training, plus 3 days of self-study, which can be arranged according to individual needs, supported by the familiar, cloud-based, virtualized practical environment accessible from anywhere.
The target audience of the training can be all network professionals who work in today's modern corporate networks and are interested in operation, support, basic network security and VPN solutions, would like to become familiar with current network virtualization technologies, have SD-Access and SD-WAN in their sights, and are interested in network automation options.
Of course, our existing certifications will remain valid for three years from the date of acquisition, and previous exams of the ongoing, not yet complete CCNP degree can be supplemented/migrated to the new certifications (see Useful Links section).
The Training360 Training Center offers many options for successful preparation, in addition to the instructor-led classroom or LVC (Live Virtual Classroom) format, our complete 5+3-day ENCOR course e-learning curriculum in Hungarian, including the self-study chapters, will soon be available, which is also available in a lab environment.
And finally, just for fun: from now on, the successful ENCOR exam coded 350-401 has become the entry point for the CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure and CCIE Enterprise Wireless practical labs, but it also comes with a separate Enterprise Core Specialist certificate.