CCENT or CCNA?

Introduction

In this short article I hope to share with you some of the differences between the CCENT and the CCNA exams and help you to decide if you should tackle your CCNA studies via the two or the one exam route.

The CCENT

Cisco launched the CCENT early 2008 in response to feedback from their customers. The CCENT stands for Cisco Certified Entry level Network Technician. In order to become a CCENT you need to pass the Cisco 640-822 ICND exam (interconnecting Cisco network devices).

You have always had the option of taking your CCNA via the two exam route but until recently you had to pass the second exam (ICND 2 640-816) in order to have a formal qualification. Now, once you pass the ICND you can proudly call yourself a CCENT which means you can use the Cisco logo as well as add the qualification to your CV/resumee.

The CCENT is basically half of the CCNA syllabus. You can view the CCENT syllabus by visiting Cisco's web site covering this exam:

www.cisco.com/go/ccent

The CCNA

Your other choice when wanting to pass your CCNA is the one exam route which is currently called the CCNA 640-802. Once you pass this exam you are a fully certified Cisco Certified Network Associate. The CCNA is probably the most popular and widely recognised IT certification available in the industry today. While other certifications have waned in popularity or lost their credibility, the CCNA has retained its kudos over the years.

Pros and Cons

We are often asked which is the right route to take, the CCENT first and then the CCNA or do it all in one go. The answer is always the same. It all depends.

I have seen complete beginners to IT and networking turn up on our CCNA weekend and pass the exam two weeks later. Others have come and taken a long time to pass (usually due to distractions in their work or personal life). If you choose to do the CCENT first you benefit from only having to learn half of the CCNA syllabus. This means you will be under less pressure and can really learn the subject matter in more depth before moving onto the second half of the syllabus.

The flip side to this is that during your CCENT exam there is a good chance that you are really going to be tested in depth on that half of the syllabus. If it was the CCNA, Cisco could only ask you a limited amount of questions in the same 90 minutes. You also have to pay for two lots of exams and go through the exam nerves and pressure twice rather than getting it all over with.

If you have been out of a learning environment for some time, don't have an awful lot of spare time and prefer a more relaxed approach then the CCENT may be the right thing for you to do. If you want to get it over with as quickly as possible and don't mind putting the hard work in up front then perhaps the CCNA is the way forward for you.

My View

I always tend to recommend the same thing when asked. I say to people who want advice as to which path to take that they may be better served taking the full CCNA first and if they find it too much to cope with, they can always go back home after their course and concentrate on the CCENT topics. The other areas they learned will still be there by the time they have passed the first exam.

Most high street IT training companies tend to divide the CCNA into two areas already. This is because most of them are doing this to make you come for two weeks so they can charge you more money. Since most companies use their HR managers to choose the training provider for some insane reason then the company paying for the training has no idea they are being ripped off.

Networks Inc. Boot Camps

Obviously I am a little biased because I own my own IT training company but the way we have designed or weekend course is that you can come along and do the CCENT if you prefer. As the weekend progresses you may feel that you want to tackle the CCNA part two subjects as well. If it all feels too much you can stick with the CCENT syllabus and then come back for free and do the CCNA subjects at a later date.

The bottom line is that you must choose what is right for you. I have seen many people come through our CCNA weekends and then pass the exam. There have been a few who are very tight for time, who struggle to learn and wanted to take the CCENT first.

Here is a rough outline of the pros and cons:

Two Exam Route (ICND 1 and 2)

Pros	Cons
Less to study	You have to pay for two exams
Can learn subjects in more depth	Takes longer to pass the CCNA
Less pressure on yourself	Less people have heard of the CCENT
Still get a qualification when you pass	You can't apply for CCNA roles
	You are asked more in depth questions during the exam

About Paul Browning

Paul Browning owns Networks Inc. Ltd who have been teaching Cisco courses in the UK since 2002. Customers include BT, Shell, British Army, Jaguar, Ford and many many more. Paul also owns the worlds only complete end-to-end CCNA training site www.howtonetwork.net which is one of the fastest growing training sites in the world. Paul believes that anybody can pass their Cisco exams if they are prepared to put the work in and follow a proven successful study method. He is the only person in the UK to have authored his own Cisco CCNA study guide - CCNA Simplified.