Heavy Networking 527: New Ideas For A Network Certification Program

Today’s Heavy Networking explores ideas for designing a new networking certification program. The concept is built around a network design challenge that  focuses on broad, systems-oriented knowledge.
The general idea is that a small team of testers would design a challenge, which is presented as a scenario-driven concept. Candidates would solve the challenge, and be scored based on a rubric. The challenge would include a written response and perhaps diagrams.
This program isn’t intended to replace traditional vendor certifications, but rather develop a new approach to testing an engineer’s capabilities and problem-solving ability. The goal is to encourage networkers to develop a deeper understanding of key protocols and networking concepts.
Our guests are Russ White, a network architect, author, and instructor; and Scott Morris, a 4x CCIE, consultant, and trainer.
We discuss:

* Whether the industry needs yet another cert
* Limitations of current certification programs
* Who this certification targets and why
* Preparation and study issues
* Governance and implementation of the certification
* Questions around test design, implementation, and scoring
* More

Sponsor: ThousandEyes
Join ThousandEyes on July 16th for the State of the Internet, where ThousandEyes will unveil its latest research on Internet Performance — a measurement-based study of the availability and performance of the Internet and key app delivery networks, including public clouds, CDNs, and DNS providers. Hear from experts and leaders in Internet and application delivery including Geoff Huston from APNIC and David Belson of the Internet Society. Sign up at thousandeyes.com/state-of-the-internet-2020 to save your spot, or register for the on-demand recording to watch at a later date.
Sponsor: InterOptic
Fortune 500 companies choose InterOptic to maximize IT savings and minimize the risk of network failures. InterOptic devices are 100% compatible with Cisco, Juniper, Extreme, Arista, and other switches, and we spend thousands of hours testing devices to insure they work seamlessly in your environment. As your network gets more complex, you want to work with the optics experts at InterOptic! Find out more at interoptic.com/packet-pushers.
Show Links:
Rule 11 – Russ White’s blog
Russ White on LinkedIn
Scott Morris on LinkedIn