Cisco Introduces New Cloud, IoT Certifications to Address Key IoE Skills

To help enterprise professionals develop the key skills needed as a result of the Internet of Everything (IoE), Cisco has announced new IoT and Cloud-focused career certifications.

Available globally, the new Cisco® Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certifications expand Learning@Cisco’s industry leading portfolio, helping customers develop the critical skill sets needed for these technologies.

The IoE brings together people, process, data, and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before.

With it, many industries are becoming digitized and connected in ways previously impossible, creating new capabilities, richer experiences and unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses, individuals and beyond.

As IT organizations adapt to address these new opportunities, IT and networking professionals will require new knowledge, training and skills essential to be successful in evolving job roles.

The new Learning@Cisco curricula focuses on the ability to connect the unconnected, automate and orchestrate services, and provide the infrastructure to enable real-time data analytics in a pervasive manner.

With the growing demand for these skills, the new Cisco IoT and Cloud certifications will prove invaluable in the development of tomorrow’s workforce, helping individuals and their employers deliver business outcomes that equate to customer success.

Manufacturing is undergoing a transformation as the IoE impacts the market. Operational and informational technologies are converging into a united industrial infrastructure. While these technologies are evolving at a rapid pace, there is a growing skills gap, creating a need for individuals equipped to manage and operate the manufacturing facilities of the future.

As organizations recognize the value of converging industrial networks with IT infrastructure, demand for skilled professionals who understand interactions among IT, networking and traditional control systems is on the rise.

World Bank Studies estimate that 200,000 new engineers are required every year from 2014 to 2022 to connect the unconnected.1

The new IoT-focused CCNA Industrial certification is a lab-based training and certification offering that is part of the CCNA Industrial Education curriculum.

The curriculum is targeted at Plant Administrators, Control Engineers and IT/Network engineers working in manufacturing. The training and certification offerings equip individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to build, manage and operate converged industrial networks.

CCNA Cloud & CCNP Cloud:

The new Cloud certification program will help enable professionals to build private and hybrid cloud-based Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions, allowing IT to enable and control Enterprise-wide cloud deployments in a consistent, centralized manner.

The CCNA Cloud certification prepares individuals to deliver entry-level provisioning and support of Cisco Cloud and Intercloud solutions.

The CCNP Cloud certification is designed to give candidates the skills to explain cloud concepts, as well as design, deploy, and maintain Cisco Cloud and Intercloud solutions in complex environments.

Tejas Vashi, director, product strategy & marketing, Cisco Services, said, “The technological changes we are seeing are unprecedented, both in terms of the opportunities they afford and the pace of change. Innovation is hampered when infrastructure lags, and new challenges arise as the world becomes more connected. The new certifications we are introducing enable IT personnel to handle current and future challenges with job role based training that drives business value for their employers.”

On his part, Glenn Goldney, global business manager, Training Services, Rockwell Automation: “More than ever, our customers are experiencing the convergence of OT and IT on the plant floor, requiring the two organizations to work together to future-proof the development and maintenance of these new and complex network infrastructures. Cisco and Rockwell Automation are addressing this challenge with training and certifications to help OT and IT professionals gain the skillset needed to build, manage and operate converged network architectures throughout The Connected Enterprise.”