CCIE 3.0 – The Transitional Study Path for Voice Candidates

It has been a few weeks since the big announcement was released and we’ve all had time to digest where we stand, where we are going and what we need to do.

In a perfect world we would be able to offer you the complete second edition of our CCIE-V Blended Learning Solution (BLS) tomorrow and we would be done with it. That would be a clean simple solution that would suit everybody. Unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world and despite the fact that we have been planning for the transition for some time now – we were not afforded the luxury of knowing in advance what server applications and versions were going to be tested specifically in the updated blueprint, so we, like everyone else, had to wait until the official announcement had been made to do the serious work of updating our hardware, and now rewriting our workbook volumes from the ground up, and thus having practice labs ready for distribution. While these are very shortly forthcoming – being released incrementally as we finish each lab section – I’m afraid you’ll still have to wait until shortly after the holidays for the first labs to arrive.

Now if I were in your shoes studying for my Voice lab exam in this particular time and space, one of the biggest questions I would have would be “where can I find decent and relevant training material to use today that would prepare me for the next version of the Voice blueprint?”. The answer to this question is simple. Neither IPexpert nor any of the companies who operate in the same space have any practice labs for the new blueprint ready today. Again that will be changing very soon, however it is going to take time before anybody can come out and offer an equivalent what we have today for the current blueprint version in our CCIE 2.0 BLS HDD: namely seventeen technology focused labs in Volume 1, ten multiprotocol/mock labs in Volume 2, ten multiprotocol/mock labs in Volume 3 complete with over 120 hours of Video Walkthrough solutions, and forty hours of Video/Audio on Demand classes.

Some candidates might choose to wait for the summer ’09 before commencing their studies and if that is your strategy, well I am not one to say that it is not a fine one. Only problem with that strategy being that you don’t begin your studies until the new blueprint actually goes into live testing. Personally, that seems just a little late to me to begin your preparation. Especially if in fact you have the opportunity to start now with the core fundamentals and build from there (bear in mind as labs are released one-by-one, you get to start on the new BP topics no sooner than you have finished the base theory). Of course by that time (summer) IPexpert will have complete versions of our workbook volumes with the 3.0 blueprint material, our bootcamps will have been updated and have reached a certain level of maturity and various blogs, mailing lists and forums will have been buzzing with new content for some time. But if you are like most candidates, you have no time to sit around while the economy melts around us. You need to get your skills upgraded, and you need to be prepared to take the new exam when it debuts in July, not 6 months from July when you have had enough time to practice in your home lab. You need the certification as soon as possible to much better hedge your bets against a falling job market.

We at IPexpert have been putting our collective minds together and have been thinking what would be the best advice to give to a candidate who falls into this category. Before going into the details, we realize that it is of paramount importance to a customer that any investment made in a product has a shelf life that will take them to the point of passing the exam, whether that be for the CCIE 2.0 or 3.0. So let’s be clear and settle this one once and for all. Every legitimate customer who has purchased the version 2.0 of the BLS will get the new materials aimed at the 3.0 blueprint free of charge.

So let’s now dive into what we strongly believe is the best strategy and approach to studying right now. We took a look at our existing 2.0 BLS and found that around 70% of the core technologies are still quite relevant in the version 3.0 blueprint. Sure there are differences in the look and feel of the web UI, and of course there is some hardware in our 2.0 BLS that is gone from the 3.0 BP: namely there is no Cat 6500 and thus no CatOS commands, no VG248, no analog phone ports (FXO, FXS, ATA), and no Unity. But the principles that Unified Communications Manager 7.0 are built upon are very much inherited from the earlier releases such as CallManager 4.x. We still think that there is a lot to be gained from going through the materials that comprise the BLS 2.0 and have pointed out specific technologies that are no longer relevant in the 3.0 blueprint, so that you can study with the current BLS while concurrently not wasting your time on outdated material. The list below highlights some areas that can be skipped over completely by customers who have already purchased the BLS (or are wanting to purchase something to start them in their studies), but plan on sitting the version 3.0 edition of the lab.

Volume 1 Exceptions:

• Lab 1: References to Cat 6500 and thus CatOS (‘set’ commands), Microsoft DHCP scopes, and Windows NTP setup.
• Lab 2: All parts to this lab are relevant in the new blueprint. It is critical that this base understanding of CSS/Partitions/Codec/CAC is gained since CUCM 7.0 builds upon these principles. In fact it is crucial that you fully up to date on these topics since the new lab will quickly sweep past them for much more advanced topics.
• Lab 3: Again – all parts to this lab are relevant in the new blueprint. It is critical that basic understanding of Phone config, timers, COR, etc. is gained since CUCME 7.0 builds upon these principles. Again, it is crucial that you fully up to date on these topics since the new lab will very quickly sweep past them for much more advanced topics.
• Lab 4: Faxing is no longer on the blueprint and nor is the WS-6608 gateway. All else is still very much relevant.
• Lab 5: Registering ATA to gatekeeper can no longer be a tested topic. The rest of GK theory and practice is paramount to passing the lab.
• Lab 6: Aside from the web UI difference (different things in different places) this is all still 100% relevant! Now again, the new version of the lab will brush past this for much more difficult theories. And we will have labs covering those theories very shortly – but in the meantime – get to be an expert on all that is already documented well and very much needed to be known.
• Lab 7: The WS-6608 transcoder and conference bridge is no longer relevant. In its place at the HQ site will be a much more “BR1” style of IOS MTP and CFB, both of which are documented in this existing lab already.
• Lab 8: AAR is still relevant in the next release of software although the configuration steps are somewhat different in CUCM 7.0.
• Lab 9: Unity is not in the version 3.0 blueprint, however many of the principles of Unity are applicable to Unity Connection. The concept of a Call Handler and VPIM integration with CUE are two areas to focus on.
• Lab 10: This lab should have very little difference. UCCX 7 is hardly different from UCCX 4. Both are still windows, very much the same web UI, and only one or two small new java elements in v7. Basically if you study this chapter and master it – you will be 99% ready for this portion of the new lab.
• Lab 11: Most of the features could still be tested in the new release. Personal Address Book and Fast Dials are somewhat obsolete and there are no video endpoints listed in the new hardware blueprint – however as in the past – that doesn’t mean they can’t test you on the configuration of such – just that you won’t be able to properly test your configuration as they asked you to implement it.
• Lab 12: All QoS is 100% relevant save for any references to the Cat 6500 and CatOS ‘set’ commands.
• Lab 13: This lab is now obsolete given that fax is not a tested topic.
• Lab 14: As in Lab 3 – again, all parts to this lab are relevant in the new blueprint. It is once again crucial that you fully up to date on these (now basic) topics since the new lab will very quickly sweep past them for much more advanced features.
• Lab 15: Again (I know – I sound like a broken record – are you beginning to get my drift how crucial it is that you buy and study the 2.0 BLS so that you are ready to absorb, once we release the updated materials lab-by-lab), all parts to this lab are relevant in the new blueprint. It is once again crucial that you fully up to date on these (now basic) topics since the new lab will very quickly sweep past them for much more advanced features.
• Lab 16: Again – all totally relevant.
• Lab 17: Although Security is not beyond the scope of testability, the portions relating to the IOS setting up of IPSec VPN tunnels are of most importance, while the sections of Windows setting up of IPSec tunnels are completely irrelevant now. In their place will be a much easier way to implement this from the CUCM 7 web UI.

These very same exceptions can be applied in the Volume 2 and 3 labs. Avoid focusing on anything related to CatOS, VG248, Fax, and the ATA.

In a lot of areas the configuration sequence to achieve a task will be slighty different in the newer versions of software since the web UI on CUCM 7.0 has changed quite a bit from the CCM 4.x days. In some cases it my not be worthwhile actually going through the trouble of configuring every question of every lab. In others it will be since configuring the sections may lead to a deeper understanding of the technologies and concepts themselves. Mainly the candidate should become comfortable with the concepts (going through the 120 hours worth of video walkthroughs in Volume 3 will be a useful exercise) and then try and achieve the same result in the newer software. (We will release use of our updated pods of hardware once the 3750 switches begin to roll in, in the next week or two!)

So it boils down to this: We will have labs covering the newer theories, complete with newer CUCM/CUCME screenshots most likely just about the time you finish reading this blog post, buy the 2.0 BLS, study, and are ready for the more advanced material to come your way!

So what are you waiting for?!?!? Get the 2.0 Blended Learning Solution, get busy studying now, and get the updated material JIT and for a huge upgrade cost of $000.00!!

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Tags: bls, ccie 3.0, ccie voice, Strategy, study