Certification - December 2008 - (Page 48) INsIdE CERTIFICATION Cisco Updates Provide Up-skilling Required in Today’s Networking space JEANNE BElIVEAU-dUNN Whether it’s a farmer checking crop prices on the Internet, a small business working with remote suppliers or a huge corporation conducting business worldwide, local and global economic growth depends on networks. In fact, by enabling communication, collaboration and automation, networks have become so essential that the demand for IT professionals who can build, manage and update them is growing exponentially. The worldwide gap between skilled networking professionals and available networking jobs of all types is expected to reach nearly 3 million by 2012. Further, an IDC white paper found 60,000 new IT professionals will be needed each year for the next three years in North America alone. The roles and needed skills of networking professionals are changing as well, as networks are changing to deliver new capabilities. In fact, as more and more critical business functions move into the fabric of the data center, entirely new job roles are emerging. The next generation of IT workers will be able to specialize more quickly than their predecessors and focus on new technologies such as voice, security and wireless mobility. And employers increasingly will look to hire such specialists. A worldwide study by Forrester Consulting found that more companies expect to add dedicated jobs for network security, voice and wireless LANs within five years. Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents to the Forrester survey said professional certifications will become essential for candidates who want jobs involving advanced networking knowledge and skills. To better prepare the architects of the networked economy for today’s challenges, Cisco has aligned its portfolio to these new job roles and has updated a number of its certifications, increasing the pathways that IT professionals can take to develop their careers. Cisco CCENT: Expanding the Entry-level Workforce Cisco’s newest associate level certification, Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT), validates the skills required to successfully install and verify small routed and switched networks. Students who attain this level of certification have developed 8 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE December 2008 http://www.ciscolearning.org/files/evaluation_resources/networking-skills-in-north-america.pdf http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le45/learning_certification_level_home.html http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le45/learning_certification_level_home.html
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