Special Skills You can jump back and forth between these paths if you wish. Some people earn the CCNA, then CCDA, then CCNP, then CCDP, for example. The specialist designations vary in the number of additional exams necessary. Some require just one, while others require up to four. Cisco career certifications have to be renewed every three years, with the exception of the specialist designations, which must be renewed every two years.
Renewal basically requires passing one additional exam.
Exams are administered through Prometric and VUE testing networks, both of which have testing centers worldwide. The Cisco career certification program provides a path of learning that didn't previously exist for IT professionals in the internetworking area. More on that in the next part of this series on Cisco certification. All Rights Reserved.