- Exam Details and Trouble Spots
- Preparation Hints and Recommended Study Resources
- Where to Go from Here
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Where to Go from Here
Completing ICND2 should complete your journey to CCNA (assuming you already passed ICND1). As a result, you have some big choices to make. You can go wide go deep with your next step in Cisco certifications.
To go wide, you would choose another Cisco technology area, and pursue a CCNA certification in that technology concentration. All you need to do is pass one additional exam for that technology. As of the writing of this paper, the CCNA concentrations are:
- Security
- Voice
- Wireless
- SP Operations (Service Provider)
You can also pursue the Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA) certification. As the name implies, this cert focuses on design. Like the CCNA concentrations, CCDA requires CCNA as a prerequisite and requires an additional exam to attain CCDA.
Finally, you can also choose to go deeper into routing and switching. Two such options currently exist: CCIP and CCNP. CCIP has a decidedly Service Provider bias, while CCNP is more Enterprise-oriented. Although both require CCNA as the only prerequisite, the much more popular option between these two is to pursue the CCNP certification.
While all these options have benefits, the decision at this point is possibly the most important choice to make regarding the first few years of pursuing Cisco certifications. This is a great point at which to seek out advice, both from people you know and great online resources, such as this blog post at NetworkWorld.