CCNP Service Provider

Certification: Cisco CCNP Service Provider - Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider

Certification overview

The Cisco Certified Network Professional Service Provider (CCNP Service Provider) certification is an accredation for information technology professionals attained through the Cisco certification program. This certification validates the skills and know-hows of network professionals in accordance to delivering a carrier-grade infrastructure that is scalable and able to expand rapidly to support proceeding introduction of new managed services and other requirements.

This certification is connected with the service provider network engineer job role and technology track. This track also includes two other Cisco certifications: CCIE Service Provider certifications and Cisco CCNA Service Provider.

As Cisco remains one of the top providers of IP-based networking products and services to businesses of various industries and public institutions, being well-versed in its system is very useful for any IT professional. This certification is prestigious and sets a candidate apart from other networking administrators and recognizes his/her critical significance in service provider IP next-generation network infrastructures.

Who need to do this certification?

The CCNP Service Provider certification is for the following groups of IT professionals:

• Service Provider (SP) network engineers including IP Backbone or IP Core Engineers, Infrastructure Engineers, Edge or Aggregation Engineer, Access Engineers, Implementation Engineers, Field Engineers
• Channel Partner Sales Engineers “selling to” Service Providers
• Channel Partner Field Engineers
• Resale Service Provider Engineers
• Cisco System Engineers (SE), Network Consulting Engineers (NCE), and Consulting Systems Engineers (CSE), and Technical Assistance Center (TAC) engineers.
• Enterprise network engineers supporting carrier-grade like network infrastructures
• Generally, Service Provider oriented Network Engineers

This certification is job role-based and trains an IT professsional to configure, implement, investigate problems and repair them, as well as optimize service provider IP next-generation network infrastructures.

Benefits

Having CCNP Service Provider certified employees brings value and competitive advantage to any company. It warrants successful optimization of service provider IP next-generation network infrastructures. By hiring certified IT professionals, businesses can get the most out of a Cisco network system.

Because of this, having a CCNP Service Provider certification brings big opportunities for any IT professional. This boosts their qualifications and increases their chances of getting hired. Companies could also use this certification as a basis for promotion because it guarantees an employee's skills and knowledge in his craft.

Associated exams

Previous Cisco certifications serve as prerequisite before a candidate could take the qualifying exams for CCNP Service Provider certification. These are:

• Cisco CCNA Service Provider, or
• Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching plus have passed minimum of 1 CCIP exam (QOS, BGP, MPLS, BGP+MPLS, ROUTE, BSCI), or
• Cisco CCIP, or
• Any Cisco CCIE certification

It must be noted that is a candidate has a CCIP certification and would want to qualify for a CCNP Service Provider certification, he/she must go through the process of taking other exams in order to earn a CCNP Service Provider certification.

Prerequisites

IT professionals aspiring to get a CCNP Service Provider certification must be well-trained in service provider network routing and implementation of service provider next-Generation core network services. Cisco also recommends that the IT practitioner have 5–7 years of experience with a service provider network-related job.

Examination overview

A candidate must pass 4 exams before achieving a CCNP Service Provider certification. These tests are:

• Implementing Cisco Service Provider Next-Generation Edge Network Services (SPEDGE)
• Deploying Cisco Service Provider Network Routing (SPROUTE)
• Implementing Cisco Service Provider Next-Generation Core Network Services (SPCORE)
• Deploying Cisco Service Provider Advanced Routing (SPADVROUTE)

The Cisco website offers various study materials and a recommended study list. These materials include training videos, tech seminars and other readings. The website also provides syllabi for guided learning. There are no required formal training courses that a candidate must complete in order to qualify for this exams. However, a candidate may choose to subscribe to trainings in order to equip himself better for the exams. Various Cisco accredited learning centers offer instructor-led training courses for this certification.

Validity of Certifications

Cisco CCNP Service Provider certification, just like any other Cisco Professional-level certifications has a validity of three years. To recertify, an IT professional must do one of the following before the certification expires:

• Pass the Cisco Certified Architect (CCAr) interview AND the CCAr board review to prolong lower certifications or
• Pass a 642-XXX Professional-level or any 300-XXX Professional-level exam, or
• Pass CCDE Written Exam OR CCDE Practical Exam, or
• Pass an CCIE Written Exam

If a higher level of certification is to be used to extend other accreditations, the date of expiration of other certifications will be prolonged to match that of the higher level of certification. There is more information available about this process in the How to Recertify page of the Cisco website.

Expert review

According to Robert Westervelt of CRN.com, Cisco CCNP career certification program (including CCNP Service Provider certification) was improved by the company to address remote workers, cloud-based services, and mobile implementations. This according to him will aid networking professionals have a deeper understanding of security.