The Case for the CCDA as a Prerequisite for the CCIE

I want to make a case for making the CCDA or at least reading a book covering the material at least once prior to pursuing a CCIE . Why, because a sold grounding on network design can not only benefit you once you get into the real world, but can provide a context for your track studies which can't hurt in fitting all the pieces of how the infrastructure fits in with, say Voice.

As a CCIE you will likely be expected to design some aspect of a network. I have heard plenty of stories of CCIE's producing poor designs, or even designing a VOIP network that thrashed the underlying R&S infrastructure...

Do you want to be the author of some network design horror story? I know I don't.

Now this doesn't mean we all need to rush out and get our CCDE's, but we all should at least have the basics covered in the CCDA blueprint.

And this is precisely what I plan to do as preparation for my ascent up Mount CCIE Voice...

On a side note, as a Certified ScrumMaster, I plan to figure out how to fit Cisco's PPDIOO design methodology into the Scrum lean project management methodology. Once I have, I will publish a series of articles on the subject.