[c-nsp] 646-058 exam resources

[Brett Looney]

> > Is this exam part of a larger certification, a requirement of 
> > a partner specialisation, or are you just a sick and twisted 
> > individual?

Partner specialisation. No way I'd be doing this voluntarily.

> These lifecycle exams are part of partner specialization and are
> an example of sick and twisted exam questions.  When trying to
> understand the nuanced meanings of the various words Cisco uses,
> I got sick and twisted when studying for my first exam.

<rant>
I understand what Cisco are trying to do here - ensure that big projects
don't go off the rails by ensuring that everyone has a standard delivery
cycle to work with.

But for partners (like us) who have an ingrained project management
methodology it is a complete waste of time learning the Cisco methodology
just for the exams because we're not going to use it afterwards.

On top of that most of the Cisco certifications are aimed at specifics -
take the CCIE questions for example - very technical and detailed.

But for the lifecycle exams they expect everyone who takes them (from sales
people through to project managers through to technical types) to understand
each step of the process in depth. Now, I don't have a problem having an
overview of the whole sales/project lifecycle process but I don't like
wasting time learning what detail of information we need to extract from a
chief executive during a particular sales qualification meeting as well as
knowing what project management nuance needs to be delivered at a particular
cycle of the delivery phase *as*well*as* the presales and technical things
that I do anyway.

And, as mentioned above, having to do it in the "Cisco speak" world is a
complete pain. The normal technical exams are bad enough but the lifecycle
exams are verging on ludicrous.
</rant>

As you can see, bitter and twisted is where I'm heading with this. ;-)

> I found Testking.com materials helped in exam preparation (ie
> for passing), but maybe not in fully understanding the material.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

B.