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Blog: Cisco Announces New CCIE Learning Program…Why didn’t they Partner?
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Cisco has just announced a new Cisco 360 Learning Program for CCIE® Routing and Switching. CCIEPursuit has an excellent post on it, and a few of the guys on groupstudy were buzzing this morning discussing it. It got me thinking. Why didn’t Cisco partner with one of the existing CCIE training providers like IPexpert, InternetworkExpert or Micronics? They certainly deliver the bulk of successful CCIE candidates.
NetworkWorld claimed third-party boot camps designed to prepare candidates for the exam are not always up to par. Fred Weiler, Cisco marketing director claimed “There was a very diverse level of quality” in the third-party exam preparation programs. He also goes on to say that “The third-party courses often trained Cisco pros well enough to pass the exam, but not well enough to become true experts”. “It’s not to train to the test. It’s training to become an expert,” Weiller said.
Like CCIEPursuit, I call bullshit. You cannot pass that exam unless you are an expert. I went through that whole process using third party training vendor material. So did a lot of existing CCIE’s. It has not only made me a better instructor, but a better engineer. Saying that the existing vendors only train you enough to pass the exam is marketing FUD.
Cisco delivers its official course material through its Learning Partner program. Cisco structures its Learning Partner program into three tiers. At the top we have CLSP’s (Cisco Learning Solution Partners). The middle tier is where the CLP’s (Cisco Learning Partners) sit, and the bottom is where SO’s (Sponsored Organisations) sit.
A CLSP is allowed to deliver only Cisco authorized materials using Certified Cisco System Instructors (CCSI). Having a certain number of certified staff members is a requirement. CLSP’s are allowed to customize courses but are required to report and pay royalties on all derivative works to Cisco.
There are only a handfull of CLSP’s in the world and each has a specific region (or theatre) they look after. Its like a giant pyramid scheme with CLSP’s sitting at the top. CLP’s and SO’s must purchase kits (training manuals etc) from CLSP’s and get any derivative works approved. Cisco gets a cut from these derivative works.
What does all this have to do with the Cisco 360 CCIE Learning Program? I suspect that only the high end CLSP’s will be allowed to deliver this training. The problem for Cisco at the moment is that there are these great CCIE training companies out there who provide training and create CCIE’s, but Cisco doesn’t get a cut from any of that.
Why didn’t Cisco partner with one of the top CCIE vendors? In short, I think its because of derivative works. If a CCIE vendor aligned themselves with a CLSP as a SO or CLP, the CCIE vendor would be able to accept Cisco learning credits. Cisco partners get Cisco Learning credits that they can redeem with a Cisco Learning Partner. If a CCIE vendor aligned themselves with a CLSP as a SO or CLP, I suspect Cisco would then demand a cut from the CCIE material. Cisco would want it to be considered a derivative work. But they didn’t have a CCIE training program for it to be “derived” from. They do now.
I think that IPexpert and Internetwork Expert at one stage accepted Cisco Learning Credits but I can’t find anything on their webpages on whether they still accept them. I’m thinking out loud here, but put yourselves in the shoes of IPexpert and Internetwork Expert etc. You align yourselves with a CLSP so you can take Cisco learning credits and then you have to pay Cisco royalty fees on something you created all on your own as a “derivative work”. I know I would hate that.
It will be interesting the see how this effects the CCIE vendors now. I think CCIEPursuit is correct in that you will have more candidates taking the Cisco courses because it has the Cisco logo attached.
Does that mean, that the existing CCIE vendors training material is suddenly substandard? Hell no! I have used both IPexpert, and Internetwork Expert’s training material for CCIE preparation. I have seen Narbiks training material. I honestly believe that you could use any of the CCIE training material from any of the top CCIE vendors and pass the exam. So in terms of the actual material, I think they become a commodity
What really matters? The Instructor.
At the moment, what I believe distinguishes the third-party vendors (or the so called grey training market) with the official Cisco courseware, is the person delivering the material. The instructor. The official courseware for CCNA, CCNP etc is great (I know, I deliver it every day as a CCSI working for a CLP). I have used both IPexpert, and Internetwork Expert’s training material for CCIE preparation. I have seen Narbiks training material. I honestly believe that you could use any of the CCIE training material from any of the top CCIE vendors and pass the exam. What differentiates them is the Instructors.
I always say people remember two things about a training course they attend: The Instructor and the food :). Im sure all of us at one time or another has been to one of those training courses. You know the ones. The instructor gets up and starts reading the slides word for word. Death by powerpoint. You ask him/her any questions and they retort with “I’ll get back to you”.
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
I want to know: who will be teaching these Cisco 360 CCIE training courses? What instructors? Are they as good as Jared, Scott, Narbik, and the Brians? Are they as inspirational as these guys? If all the CLSP’s are getting the same material then what makes you choose one over the other? I’m sure the material will be great. What I care about is who will be guiding me through this material?
Unless Ivan (who works for NIL, one of the largest CLSP) or someone of his calibre at a CLSP teaches it, I think I’ll stick to the third party vendors for my CCIE material.
Resources:
- Check out the Cisco Learning Partner FAQ here
- CCIEPursuit’s comments on the new Cisco’s CCIE 360 Program here, and here.
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8 comments for “Blog: Cisco Announces New CCIE Learning Program…Why didn’t they Partner?”
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Arden you are absolutely right about this,those guys are really inspiring. I think CISCO has finally realized the potential of CCIE training as a business asset or they are trying to balance or reshape the market. !!
Well, you definitely got one part absolutely correct: It’s about money.
While it’s nice to look at Cisco “developing” this training program, they aren’t. It is Netmasterclass. It is repackaged, sold and offered through a larger platform in order to make Cisco money.
Someone was very smart to realize there was a lot of “untapped talent” at these evil third-party (whence prior to Nov.1 there was no “other” party to be third to) training partners. More importantly, there was a lot of money based on years of successful companies that Cisco wasn’t getting their share of.
Cisco Learning Credits are another scam. Training Partners get $90 out of a $100 credit. AND they have to pay royalties still for the “derived” work. The attitude is that anything with “Cisco” in the materials is “derived”. No matter who dreamed it up.
This is a business move. It’s not to better the training. It’s to try to scale training that already existed.
If the CLSP’s that offer this class have the same instructors they’ve used for other classes I’ve been in, God help us all!
You can give great materials (assuming they are great) to a mediocre or crappy instructor and the outcome will still be mediocre or crappy at best.
I would be interested in knowing what bonus the manager/director who came up with this idea is getting for it? But make no mistake. Training and certifications at Cisco have turned into a profit center, not a learning center.
BJ
See the details i posted in my blog about the 360 program:
http://ccieguru.wordpress.com/
[...] Arden Packeer posted an excellent blog entry about this new program which gives nice look inside the Cisco training hierarchy and explains what the hell is a CLSP? [...]
This new program has nothing to do without quality control. Cisco is trying to create another revenue stream. NMC is already repackaged their original offerings under this new program but with a higher cost.
Basically, Cisco will add additional cost to CCIE level training.Greed and arrogance are becoming the hallmarks of Cisco.
[...] Arden Packeer’s in-depth analysis concludes, “I think I’ll stick to the third party vendors for my CCIE material.” [...]
An interesting post.
Though, I think official study guides are not as smart as authored books.
[...] biggest downside is that the training is very expensive and you must be a Cisco Learning Partner (Arden Packeer has a great explanation here). Wayne Lawson seemed pretty underwhelmed by the whole deal in this post. Does this recent [...]