Standardize your network team on Cisco
For IT leaders building a Cisco-fluent network team: from CCST through CCIE, every Cisco certification path comes with structured training and team admin reporting, and the CCNA, CCNP Enterprise, CCNP Security, and CCST paths include hands-on IOS labs. Prove the capability coverage your auditors and leadership ask for.
Cisco-credentialed team
Built for teams that need to prove Cisco coverage to auditors and leadership.
Spotlight
The Cisco certifications IT directors most often standardize their teams on. Each one comes with team admin reporting included, the CCNA, CCNP Enterprise, CCNP Security, and CCST paths include hands-on IOS labs, and the cards show which carry blueprint-weighted practice exams.
The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification validates a professional's ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks.
Exam investment: $300
The CCNP Enterprise certification validates the skills and knowledge of network engineers to design, deploy, and manage complex enterprise networks, including infrastructure, routing, and security.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
The CCNP Security certification validates the skills required to secure and manage network infrastructure, and to respond to security threats.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
The CCNP Datacenter certification validates the skills and knowledge of IT professionals in designing, implementing, and managing modern data center infrastructure.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
The CCNA Cybersecurity certification validates the skills and knowledge required to detect and respond to cybersecurity threats, and is ideal for security analysts, incident responders, and security engineers who want to demonstrate their skills in threat detection, analysis, and response.
Exam investment: $300
The Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) Networking certification validates foundational networking knowledge and skills, making it ideal for individuals starting a career in IT or seeking to enhance their networking capabilities.
Exam investment: $125
The Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) Cybersecurity certification is designed to validate foundational skills in cybersecurity.
Exam investment: $125
The CCNA Automation certification validates the skills and knowledge required to develop and maintain applications built on Cisco platforms.
Exam investment: $300
The CCNP Service Provider certification validates the skills and knowledge of service provider network engineers to configure, implement, and troubleshoot complex service provider network infrastructures.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
The Cisco DevNet Professional certification validates the skills of developers and network engineers who develop and manage network applications, and automate network infrastructure.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
Customer leaders describe Cisco training value in operational terms — faster troubleshooting, clearer onboarding, and a defensible view of who's ready to own which part of the network. That's the outcome leadership cares about, not seat-time or completion percentages.
Role-based paths
Match Cisco certs to the actual roles your team holds. Each path bundles the right certs plus the operational depth engineers need day-to-day.
The routing, switching, SD-WAN, and architecture certs your network team should hold. CCNA establishes the team's shared baseline; CCNP Enterprise proves senior capability for design and operations.
The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification validates a professional's ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks.
Exam investment: $300
The CCNP Enterprise certification validates the skills and knowledge of network engineers to design, deploy, and manage complex enterprise networks, including infrastructure, routing, and security.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
The Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) Networking certification validates foundational networking knowledge and skills, making it ideal for individuals starting a career in IT or seeking to enhance their networking capabilities.
Exam investment: $125
Defend the Cisco-firewall stack with CCNP Security and the CyberOps-aligned CCNA Cybersecurity. Pairs with the CCST Cybersecurity on-ramp for new SOC hires.
The Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) Cybersecurity certification is designed to validate foundational skills in cybersecurity.
Exam investment: $125
The CCNA Cybersecurity certification validates the skills and knowledge required to detect and respond to cybersecurity threats, and is ideal for security analysts, incident responders, and security engineers who want to demonstrate their skills in threat detection, analysis, and response.
Exam investment: $300
The CCNP Security certification validates the skills required to secure and manage network infrastructure, and to respond to security threats.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
UCS, ACI, Nexus, and storage capability for teams operating Cisco data-center infrastructure. CCNP Datacenter is the professional-level baseline.
The CCNP Datacenter certification validates the skills and knowledge of IT professionals in designing, implementing, and managing modern data center infrastructure.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
Bring NetDevOps practices to the network team. CCNA Automation and CCNP Automation cover Python, APIs, and infrastructure-as-code on Cisco platforms.
The CCNA Automation certification validates the skills and knowledge required to develop and maintain applications built on Cisco platforms.
Exam investment: $300
The Cisco DevNet Professional certification validates the skills of developers and network engineers who develop and manage network applications, and automate network infrastructure.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
For teams operating service-provider networks: SPCOR core plus advanced routing and automation specializations.
The CCNP Service Provider certification validates the skills and knowledge of service provider network engineers to configure, implement, and troubleshoot complex service provider network infrastructures.
Exam investment: Core exam: $400, Concentration exam: $300
Hands-on Cisco practice
Human-led training is the point: engineers practice real skills with expert guidance, not just video playback.
Why CBT Nuggets
The platform features IT directors comparing training platforms ask about most often.
Team outcome
Structured networking and infrastructure paths give teams a shared baseline before outages, migrations, and escalations test them.
What the team gets: Reduce single points of failure across network, cloud, security, and systems administration responsibilities.
Common questions IT directors ask when evaluating Cisco training for their team.
It depends on the team's current operating environment. For greenfield network teams or new hires, the CCNA is the right baseline — routing, switching, security fundamentals, and automation in one cert. CCNA-holders moving into specialized roles should pick a CCNP track that matches what your network actually runs (Enterprise for routed/switched campuses, Security for Cisco-firewall shops, Datacenter for UCS/ACI environments). Teams hiring brand-new technicians often start with CCST Networking or CCST Cybersecurity as an on-ramp.
The metrics that matter aren't seat-time or completion percentages — they're operational. For Cisco teams, start with mean time to resolve, onboarding time for new network hires, incident volume, and certification coverage by role. CBT Nuggets gives managers the reporting surface to track completion and capability coverage while the training itself keeps engineers moving through the right Cisco path.
Cisco certifications expire after 3 years. CBT Nuggets helps managers keep refresh work organized through assigned training paths, progress visibility, and updated Cisco catalog content as tracks change. When Cisco renames or restructures a track (DevNet → CCNP Automation, for example), updated courses stay aligned with the same team training plan.
Yes. Team reporting helps managers document assigned training, completion, and certification coverage for internal governance or audit conversations. Teams in regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government) pair Cisco training paths with the broader CBT Nuggets platform features designed for team visibility, access control, and reporting.
Cisco aligned the DevNet tracks with automation terminology — DevNet Associate is now CCNA Automation, DevNet Professional is the CCNP Automation track. CBT Nuggets updates Cisco course titles and paths as the catalog changes, so manager-assigned training stays aligned with the language vendors and exam materials use.
Yes. The CCNA remains the most widely recognized entry-level networking certification and is updated regularly to include modern topics (network automation, security fundamentals, programmability). For most IT teams it's the baseline every network engineer should hold — it gives the team a shared technical vocabulary, proves capability to leadership and auditors, and is the prerequisite for the specialized CCNP tracks where your senior bench will live.
Yes. The CCST tracks (Networking and Cybersecurity) are designed as on-ramps for new hires moving into network or security roles. After CCST, the natural progression is CCNA. The CCST and CCNA courses pair expert-led video with hands-on virtual labs, so engineers can apply concepts immediately rather than just watching playback. Most teams budget 4–6 months from a cold start to CCNA pass.
