Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Behnam(Ben) Nazemof on March 27, 2010 at 5:30pm

What a great topic for discussion.
Personally I was thinking about it while ago when I was doing some research for a private company. I wasn't very successful to find any certification course in New Zealand.

I believe as much as we are pushing and encouraging the implementation & adoptation of IPv6, there are not solid backups for engineers or Systems Admins in terms of certification.
What I would like to see is GoGo6 or IPv6Forum co-operate with industry leaders in Networking to create few Globally accepted certifications such as :

- IPv6 Essentials
- IPv6 Transition
- IPv6 Security
- IPv6 For Systems/Software Developers
- IPv6 Networking / Advanced Networking


Regards,

Behnam(Ben)

Permalink Reply by Owen DeLong on March 27, 2010 at 9:15pm

I don't now too many competent senior engineers that are balking at IPv6 and pushing it off to their retirement.
I hear this argument more from systems administrators than network engineers.

For the network side, there really isn't all that steep of a learning curve to IPv6. On the host side, it's a little bit more involved, but, it's still not all that bad once you actually do it.

Permalink Reply by Ahmed Abu-Abed on March 28, 2010 at 1:45am

gogo6 already offer a 2 day course that certifies the attandants to be IPv6 access product experts, more at
http://gogoware.gogo6.com/4105/description.asp?product_id=181 .

This course is offered in Montreal but on-site is also a possibility, especially if the customer wishes to purchase the gogo6 tunnel broker appliance.

I agree with Ben that more courses and certifications should be offered. Given their lead in certification programs, I would have expected Cisco to pioneer this.

Permalink Reply by Behnam(Ben) Nazemof on March 28, 2010 at 3:48am

Regarding Ahmed's comment about Cisco, I attended a Cisco IPv6 introduction as 3 days course back in 2007 in Wellington New Zealand , However it wasn't an official certificate but it was very helpful.

Permalink Reply by Julian Vincent on March 28, 2010 at 6:52am

Check out Certified CNE6 Level 1 and Level 2 training provided by NAV6 in Malaysia ie. http://www.nav6.org/content_training.php. Todate more than 500 persons have attended this training session.

Permalink Reply by Ahmed Abu-Abed on March 29, 2010 at 2:38am

Thanks for the link Julian; Malaysia's handling and guidance on hot IT topics, like IPv6 and IP Security, is quite impressive and is a good model to follow.

Permalink Reply by Silvia Hagen on March 28, 2010 at 11:16am

Hi

I guess it's everyone's free choice if he wants to jump on IPv6 or hope he may get by with IPv4 knowledge.

With regard to a certification like described by Ben, I wonder if we really need this. It sounds interesting at the moment, but hey, in a short time IPv6 knowledge will be a minimum requirement and something everybody has, just like daily bread and toothpaste. And it will be just as it is today with IPv4. There are a few guru's around who REALLY know their stuff, there are a lot of people around with good knowledge and there will be a scary amount of people fiddling around in complex networks barely knowing how to spell TCP/IP.

In my opinion experience shows that certifications don't really say if someone KNOWS his stuff. I have worked with brilliant experts that didn't have certifications and I have worked with people who had impressive certification lists, but didn't really know how to apply what they have once learned.

my two cents
Silvia

Permalink Reply by Owen DeLong on March 28, 2010 at 3:19pm

I agree that specific IPv6 certification is an interim issue, but, so was Y2K product certification.

Nonetheless, it was deemed important from about 1995-2000, much as I believe that IPv6 certification, or at least some way to prove IPv6 expertise will be important from 2011-2015.

Permalink Reply by Behnam(Ben) Nazemof on March 28, 2010 at 4:56pm

You mentioned a very important factor as experience is what it counts. But interesting enough I have come across few high profile IT companies that believe if someone possess a certification ( i.e. CCNA ) that person if more capable than someone without it.

Myself, I never got any additional certifications as I didn't see it necessary and I have been working as a System Admin for 6 years. However I missed opportunities where those who had certifications won the game.

As I am focusing on the IPv6 in Aviation concept, I see having a globally recognized IPv6 certification as a big advantage to join the Aviation System Designer world, because it is a proof I know to the level that my work and experience is reliable.

Getting the IPv6 Certification will be a choice for sure, but having it available is better than not to have it.


Cheers,
Ben

Permalink Reply by Owen DeLong on March 28, 2010 at 8:28pm

My experience has been opposite that of Ben's. I got my CCIE once because an employer asked it of me. While it did take me two attempts at the practical, I didn't really do much preparation for it either time.

In general, I've not had an employer ever question my abilities or my experience before I was certified, or after I let it lapse.

There are lots of industries where certification is everything. (I'm also a SCUBA instructor and a Commercial Pilot, for example). IT, in my experience is not one of them.

Permalink Reply by Ahmed Abu-Abed on March 29, 2010 at 2:32am

IT certification, or not, is in many cases a cultural thing. Some cultures need a piece of paper stamped by a big name like Cisco to believe in the person's abilities, while others can do without it once they know the person.

As for IPv6, I know that Hurricane Electric have a good program with on-line training and giving certificates, its worth checking out on www.he.com ,

An hour's worth of on-line training (including short quizzes) on IPv6 can be found at:
http://www.6deploy.eu/e-learning/english/index.php

IPv6 does what IPv4 can do and more, so it will be good for many of us to know how to apply IPv6 with all its new features (multicast, QoS, mobility, autoconfig, ...) thru some advanced training on IPv6 for IPv4 professionals.

BTW, I am involved in commercially promoting IPv6 access gear deployment, and the demand I see now is mostly training and consulting.

Permalink Reply by Ron Howell on September 20, 2011 at 11:34am

IPv6 is here today,  it's better to stay current with our profession than to let it pass you by.

 

New engineers need experienced engineers to help IPv4 coexist with IPv6,   there is no rip and replace in the works for the foreseeable future.  We as network engineers need to know both protocols.