[c-nsp] Question about the CCNA and CCNP certification

[Bernd Ueberbacher]

Hi there!

As you might know from my earlier posts I'm currently learning for my 
CCNA with the goal of achieving the CCNP afterwards. Sometimes it's a 
bit boring to learn for the CCNA, because I work all day long with Cisco 
devices and in the evening when I'm learning for the CCNA certification 
I have to calculate subnet masks etc. Not the most exciting stuff...

A guy I know from a different company also wants to become a CCNP, but 
today he told me, that he is heading directly towards the CCNP without 
passing the CCNA. I said that this is not possible, but he was 
completely sure about it and had an interesting explanation... He says 
that the CCNA is a requirement for the CCNP if you want to attend a CCNP 
class room course. This prevents that you have absolutely no clue about 
networking and slow down the whole group/class. If you don't attend the 
class, but do it by self studying and just take the exam with Pearson 
Vue etc, you don't need a valid CCNA certification. This is because it's 
your money/problem if you fail but you are not annoying anybody else 
with your incompetence and if you have no clue you just don't pass.

It somehow sounds right, because why would anybody need a lower level 
certification just to take the CCNP exam? Of course you need to know the 
topics from the CCNA to become a CCNP, but is the certification really 
required?

So is this guy right and is it just a prerequisite for class room 
trainings or is it a prerequisite for the exam?


Thanks,
Bernd

PS: Yes, I googled, but the Cisco website just says: "CCNP 
Prerequisites: Valid CCNA certification" and the link below says "CCNA 
ensures that CCNP candidates possess a solid foundation of networking 
knowledge, which lays the foundation for the professional curriculum. 
Without that prerequisite foundation, the student may not be able to 
keep up with others in class and learn the advanced knowledge and skills 
presented in the CCNP courses." so this guy might be right...



http://ciscocert.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ciscocert.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3825&p_created=1176617893&p_sid=tU6KJ7Li&p_accessibility=0&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PWRmbHQmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTM1JnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1zZWFyY2hfZm5sJnBfcGFnZT0xJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9Q0NOUA**&p_li=&p_topview=1