Cisco Systems has announced enhancements to its premier professional certification, CCNP. The course and exam updates help ensure that a growing number of networking professionals have the knowledge, skills and credentials necessary to deploy and maintain fully integrated network infrastructure services and applications, while providing a clear career path in today's market. To assist networking professionals preparing for the CCNP certification, Cisco has announced the availability of the CCNP Prep Center.

"Networks are evolving from closed infrastructures to integrated systems that enable organizations to work more closely with users worldwide by connecting and automating business processes and applications," said Zeus Kerravala, vice president at Yankee Group. "Bringing applications and services such as security, voice and wireless to the Internet has had a dramatic impact on the network, how it is used and how productivity and profitability are maximized."

To meet the need for today's skilled network professionals, the new CCNP program goes beyond core routing and switching to applications deployed on the edge of the network, such as wireless, security and voice. In addition to topics such as converged networks, quality of service (QoS), virtual private networks (VPNs) and broadband technologies, the CCNP program maintains its focus on the advanced skills required to manage the routers and switches that form the network core.

The CCNP integrates next-generation Cisco Integrated Services Routers (ISRs), engineered to provide wire-speed delivery of concurrent data, voice, video and wireless services with optimized security. A CCNP certification validates that a network professional has the ability to install, configure and troubleshoot converged local and wide area networks.

CCNP course and exam enhancements include:

Course (Exam)
BCMSN (642-812) Campus Switch Networks Wireless LAN
BSCI (642-901) Routing Protocols at Campus Edge
ISCW (642-825) Implementing Secure Converged WANs
ONT (642-845) Optimized Converged Cisco Networks

Open to Cisco Certified individuals, the CCNP Prep Center provides CCNP certification candidates access to a variety of resources, including practice questions, tips, expert advice, success stories and peer discussion forums. The CCNP Prep Center also allows networking professionals to easily access information and formal training from Cisco Learning Solutions Partners.

To determine the current status of a CCNP certification, see www.cisco.com/ go/ certifications/ login.

The Cisco CCIP and Cisco CCDP professional-level certification programs have also been updated to include the newly revised Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) exam and recommended training. Network professionals pursuing CCIP and CCDP certifications will benefit from these curriculum updates, which provide and validate the up-to-date knowledge required to install, support and optimize ISR routers, using Cisco IOS 12.4 routing protocol, routing authentication security, multicast routing and IPv6.

Authorized Cisco training is available from a global network of Cisco Learning Solutions Partners and the Partner E-Learning Connection.