CISCO Design Track: Roadmap to Become a Network Architect

Jennifer Balsom
4 min readFeb 12, 2019

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Cisco is the name that is more than enough in the networking field. It holds a lot of importance and value in this industry allowing candidates to work efficiently on a different aspect of networking and job opportunities. However, the Cisco certified network architect salary figures are something that intrigues candidates, also due to its increase in demand, the average salary for Cisco Network Architect has been consistently high. In addition to this, engineers work on the evolved demand to ensure that things are falling into place as per their convince level.

According to PayScale Salary Surveys, the average salary for a Cisco CCDA certified professional in the USA ranges between $88,000 to $90,000.

Cisco Certified Network Architect

Here is the main roadmap that must be followed up by a candidate in order to be a Network candidate.

· An engineering student is usually the one that opts for networking. However, it is not limited to it as other students might also participate in networking training. There are many networking training or certification courses that can lead to having a secure networking career.

· The certification on the associate level is one of the main steps that is taken by students. This type of certification includes the CCDA part as well that works for a total of three years efficiently. There are the proper practice and written exam that is performed by candidates in order to achieve it.

· The next step includes total learners part that opens up the doors of the Cisco universe and job opportunity in the network architecture field. The network arch certification can be achieved with the help of a single exam of Cisco Certified Design Professional — CCDP.

· After the certification, the students usually opt for a networking job. This adds value to their already intensified career growth. But there are students that opt for other certification such as CCNP, CCArch, CCDE, etc.

Network Architecture aspirants usually go for Cisco Design Track which includes the following certifications — CCDA, CCDP, and CCDE. These three certifications hold a lot of value over the network architect career.

· CCDACisco-Certified Design Associate that is taken for the associate level to learn about switching and routing of network design. This is a basic level for that works for the broadband services, WANs and LANs.

· CCDPCisco-Certified Design Professional works for the professional level that covers CCDA with advanced networking information such as addressing implementation and designing. In addition to this, it also covers up the complex network routing that works well for the multi-layered enterprise infrastructure.

· CCDE — Cisco-Certified Design Expert works well for the advanced and large architecture for networking. This type of networking includes the expansion and growth rate of the customer that will include integration, security, and optimization.

There are no prerequisites for any of the courses and each of them can be done anytime. The best part is that even without any CCDP or CCDA certification, one can opt for CCDE certification. However, the basic knowledge of both — CCDP and CCDA — is essential while preparing for CCDE.

Career Options after Cisco Network Design Certification

There are a majority of companies that offer the job to the professionals that have a certificate of Cisco to support the profile. There can be different Cisco network architect job description as per the qualification and experience of an individual.

This certification adds value to the networking scope and range. It also helps the professionals to work on different aspect depending on their total experience. The certification helps the candidates to opt for a different position that includes network engineer, system engineer, senior network engineer, solution architect, senior system engineer, etc. It can differ for candidates as per their education, qualification and total experience.

There are different layers that are covered up by the Cisco network architect certification to polish up the skills and knowledge of an individual. It also works in a structural manner of layers that includes the profession, entry, experts, associates, architect, and etc. level. However, when it is about the associate level, then the total name of certification might differ in terms of certification level. Some of them include collaboration, cloud, design, data center, wireless, security, industrial, service provider, routing and switching,

How To Become a Cisco Network Architect?

This question is one of the essential parts of the networking field. To be a network architect, one must have a deeper knowledge of networking. For that deep and extensive knowledge, either student opts for an Engineering degree or can also get Cisco authorized network training to get Cisco certified. This helps in getting Cisco network architect jobs easily to ensure that students are not lacking behind.

With the evolution of industries, IT professionals will only improve their quality in terms of scalability, availability, and performance. This can be achieved with the help of proper certification in networking to have a bright future.

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Jennifer Balsom
Jennifer Balsom

Written by Jennifer Balsom

Product Manager - Cybersecurity CompTIA, EC-council & (ISC)2. For more info. visit, https://www.netcomlearning.com/vendors/CompTIA-training-courses.phtml

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