Introduction
Cisco is a renowned name in the field of networking, and its certifications are highly regarded for validating the skills and knowledge of IT professionals. With a wide range of certifications available, it can be difficult to understand the different Cisco certification types and which ones are right for you. In this blog, we will explore the diverse landscape of Cisco certification types, from entry-level to expert-level, and help you navigate through the options to find the best fit for your career goals.
Whether you’re looking to start a career in networking or looking to enhance your existing skills, understanding the various Cisco certification types will help you to make informed decisions and set yourself on a path towards success in the dynamic world of IT.
So, let’s get into the Cisco certification types and discover the possibilities they hold for your professional journey.
Cisco Certification Types
Cisco certification types can be understood in two simple ways.
First, there are levels, such as entry, associate, professional, and expert. It tells you how advanced the certification is.
Second, there are tracks, such as automation, cybersecurity, AI, enterprise, and data center. It tells you what type of work it supports.
There are basically 14 tracks in which Cisco offers its certifications. These Cisco certification tracks are:
- AI
- Automation (formerly known as DevNet)
- Enterprise
- Data Center
- Security
- Wireless
- AppDynamics
- Collaboration
- Cybersecurity
- Design
- Field Technician
- Meraki
- Service Provider
- Support Technician
It is important to note that out of all these tracks only Enterprise, Automation, Security, Data Center, Wireless, Service Provider, Design, and Collaboration have expert-level certifications.
Cisco Certification List
At present, Cisco has three levels of certification programs, each designed to build a strong foundation and highlight the importance of Cisco certification in the IT industry. The Associate-level certification helps a person find a career in networking and IT technologies. Similarly, the professional-level certifications train professionals for today’s job roles in IT technologies, covering the core concepts that span a technology area while also allowing flexibility to choose a focus area.
Finally, the expert-level certifications help professionals learn advanced networking and administration skills covering the end-to-end lifecycle of complex networks, from designing and deploying to operating and optimizing. In the following section, you can find details on different levels of Cisco certification like tracks, their core exams, and their concentration exam.
Associate Level Certification
The associate level also includes three types of certification programs. Candidates have to undergo a 120 minutes examination to obtain the following certifications.
- CCNA 200-301: The certification is suitable for a person interested in learning network access, network fundamentals, security fundamentals, IP connectivity, network automation, and many more. The certification helps network professionals acquire arrays of networking technology and software development skills.
- 200-901 CCNAAUTO (formerly DEVASC 200-901): CCNA Automation focuses on software development. Candidates do not need to qualify for any prerequisites. However, Cisco recommends the program for people familiar with software development and Python programming. The certification intends to investigate your skills in maintaining the applications developed on the Cisco platform.
- 500-420 CAAPA (Cisco AppDynamics Associate Performance Analyst): This is an associate-level Cisco AppDynamics exam for people who want to understand application and business performance. It is a good fit for beginners who want to monitor apps, find performance issues, and move toward app performance monitoring or observability roles.
- 500-425 CAAA (Cisco AppDynamics Associate Administrator): This is an associate-level Cisco AppDynamics exam for people who want to work with the AppDynamics platform. It helps you learn how to configure, manage, and improve monitoring tools in cloud and on-premises setups, and it moves you toward AppDynamics administration or observability operations roles.
- 200-201 CCNACBR (formerly known as CBROPS 200-201): This is a Cisco cybersecurity associate exam for beginners who want to start in security operations. It teaches security basics, monitoring, host and network analysis, and incident handling, and it leads you toward a junior SOC or cybersecurity analyst role.
Professional Level Certification
Cisco has seven technological tracks under its professional-level certification. Each track has its core exam and concentration exams. To earn CCNP certification in a respective track, one must pass its core exam and one concentration exam of their choice.
Cisco Certification Exams
Here is a list of all the Cisco certification exams for the professional level.
| S.No. | Track | Core Exam | Concentration Exam |
| 1 | Enterprise | 350-401 ENCOR (Implementing Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies) | 300-410 ENARSI (Implementing Cisco Enterprise Advanced Routing and Services) |
| 300-415 ENSDWI (Implementing Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Solutions) | |||
| 300-420 ENSLD (Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks) | |||
| 300-435 ENAUTO (Automating and Programming Cisco Enterprise Solutions) | |||
| 300-440 ENCC (Designing and Implementing Secure Cloud Connectivity) | |||
| 300-445 ENNA (Designing and Implementing Enterprise Network Assurance) | |||
| 2 | Automation (formerly known as DevNet) | 350-901 AUTOCOR (Designing, Deploying and Managing Network Automation Systems) | 300-435 ENAUTO (Automating and Programming Cisco Enterprise Solutions) |
| 300-635 DCNAUTO (Automating Cisco Data Center Networking Solutions) | |||
| 3 | Collaboration | 350-801 CLCOR | 300-815 CLACC (Formerly known as CLACCM) (Implementing Cisco Advanced Call Control On-Premises) |
| 300-820 CLHCT (Formerly known as CLCEI) (Implementing Cisco Collaboration Hybrid and Cloud Technologies) | |||
| 300-830 CLCCE (Implementing Cisco Collaboration Cloud Customer Experience) | |||
| 4 | Data Center | 350-601 DCCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Data Center Core Technologies) | 300-610 DCID (Designing Cisco Data Center Infrastructure) |
| 300-615 DCIT (Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Infrastructure) | |||
| 300-620 DCACI (Implementing Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure) | |||
| 300-640 DCAI (Implementing Cisco Data Center AI Infrastructure (300-640 DCAI)) | |||
| 300-635 DCNAUTO (Formerly known as DCAUTO)(Automating Cisco Data Center Networking Solutions) | |||
| 5 | Security | 350-701 SCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Security Core Technologies) | 300-710 SNCF (Securing Networks with Cisco Firewalls) |
| 300-715 SISE (Implementing and Configuring Cisco Identity Services Engine) | |||
| 300-720 SESA (Last date to test: August 26, 2026)(Securing Email with Cisco Email Security Appliance) | |||
| 300-725 SWSA (Last date to test: August 26, 2026) (Securing the Web with Cisco Secure Web Appliance) | |||
| 300-730 SVPN (Last date to test: August 26, 2026) (Implementing Secure Solutions with Virtual Private Networks) | |||
| 300-740 SCAZT (Designing and Implementing Secure Cloud Access for Users and Endpoints) | |||
| 300-745 SDSI (Designing Cisco Security Infrastructure) | |||
| 6 | Service Provider | 350-501 SPCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Service Provider Network Core Technologies) | 300-510 SPRI (Implementing Cisco Service Provider Advanced Routing Solutions) |
| 300-515 SPVI (Implementing Cisco Service Provider VPN Services) | |||
| 300-540 SPCNI (Designing and Implementing Cisco Service Provider Cloud Network Infrastructure) | |||
| 7 | Cybersecurity | 350-201 CBRCOR (Performing Cybersecurity Using Cisco Security Technologies) | 300-215 CBRFIR (Conducting Forensic Analysis and Incident Response Using Cisco Technologies for Cybersecurity) |
| 300-220 CBRTHD (Conducting Threat Hunting and Defending using Cisco Technologies for Cybersecurity) | |||
| 8 | Wireless | 350-101 WLCOR (Implementing and Operating Cisco Wireless Core Technologies) | 300-110 WLSD (Designing Cisco Wireless Networks) |
| 300-120 WLSI (Implementing Cisco Wireless Advanced Solutions) |
Expert Level Certifications
For obtaining Cisco’s expert-level certifications, you need to undergo two challenging examinations, the qualifying exam and the lab exam. There are seven certifications under the expert level, and the qualifying exam acts as the prerequisite to appearing in the CCIE lab exam.
Find those Cisco certifications track, qualifying exams, and lab exams below.
| S.No. | Track | Qualifying Exam | Lab Exam |
| 1 | Enterprise | ENCOR 350-401 | CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure Lab Exam v1.1 |
| 2 | Automation (Formerly known as DevNet) | 350-901 DEVCOR | DevNet Expert-level lab exam |
| 3 | Wireless | WLCOR 350-101 | CCIE Wireless Lab Exam v1.1 |
| 4 | Collaboration | 350-801 CLCOR | CCIE Collaboration Practical Exam v3.1 |
| 5 | Data Center | 350-601 DCCOR | CCIE Data Center Lab Exam v3.1 |
| 6 | Design | CCDE written exam v3.1 | CCDE practical exam v3.1 |
| 7 | Security | 350-701 SCOR | CCIE Security Lab Exam v6.1 |
| 8 | Service Provider | 350-501 SPCOR | CCIE Service Provider Lab Exam v5.1 |
This is the Cisco Certification list of all certification that are offered by Cisco.
Cisco Certification Overview and Background
Cisco Systems Inc. specializes in communications and networking services. The company is globally known for manufacturing routing, switching products for computer networks. Businesses can direct voice, data, and video traffic using these products from Cisco. Additionally, the company offers unified communication, storage networking, collaboration, and many other applications for seamless cloud and data center management.
Cisco launched its Certification programs to educate IT professionals to render technical support to the customers for Cisco products. From an entry-level to the expert level, Cisco has introduced different levels of certifications for the network professionals. You need to pass the certification examinations to obtain one or more credentials. A person with multiple Cisco credentials is regarded as an expert in underlying networking hardware and software.
Benefits of Cisco Certifications
Cisco Certification is beneficial for both employees and employers. So, how can the certifications benefit both of them?
Benefits of Employees:
According to Pearson VUE’s 2023 Value of IT Certification Candidate Report, 37% of IT professionals received a salary increase after earning their certifications, while 27% also reported job promotions. Thus, acquiring Cisco certifications will fetch better rewards in terms of revenue for the networking professionals. Beyond the salary hikes, a person can increase the chance of getting a job through such certifications.
Benefits for the Employers:
Hiring Cisco certified professionals help employers obtain standard and professional services from network professionals. Cisco certification confirms a person’s skill in a particular segment of computer networking. A person with multiple certifications is competent in numerous fields of computer networking. Hiring such individuals will bring productivity for the employers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How many Cisco certifications are there?
Cisco offers a wide range of Cisco certification catering to various levels of expertise and specific technology areas including, associate-level (CCNA), professional-level (CCNP), and expert-level (CCIE).
Q2. Can I take CCNP without CCNA?
Yes, it is possible to go for CCNP certification without having CCNA Certification. However, if we talk from training perspective, it is not possible to go for CCNP Training without first learning CCNA.
Q3. How many levels is CCNA?
There is only one certification level, but learners can choose different tracks, i.e., CCNA, CCNA Automation, or CCNA Cybersecurity specializations.
Q4. What is CCNA salary?
The average salary of a person having CCNA knowledge in India is 3 to 6 LPA. However, it depends on various factors such as place, company, knowledge, etc.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Cisco offers a comprehensive range of certification types catering to various levels of expertise and technology domains. From entry-level certifications like CCNA to expert-level certifications like CCIE, each certification represents a significant milestone in an IT professional’s career. By understanding the different Cisco certification types and choosing the ones aligned with their career goals, individuals can enhance their skills, validate their knowledge, and unlock a world of opportunities in the dynamic field of networking.
Whether you are starting your journey in networking or aiming to advance to higher levels of expertise, Cisco certifications provide a clear path for professional growth and serve as a recognized validation of your skills in the ever-evolving world of IT.
Choose the right certification path and get hands-on training with industry experts. Whether you’re preparing for CCNA, CCNP, or automation roles, the right guidance can make all the difference.
