Cisco Career Certifications are IT Professional certifications for Cisco Systems products. The tests are administered by Pearson VUE. There are five levels of certification: Entry, Associate, Professional, Expert, and Architect. These are applied in seven different subject areas: Routing & Switching, Design, Network Security, Service Provider, Storage Networking, Voice, and Wireless.
Traditional educational institutions that teach Cisco skills are called the "Cisco Networking Academy". Cisco Networking Academy Students can request exam vouchers that allow them to take the required exam for an extended period of time. Cisco courses are also offered at collegiate institutions and training is available from Cisco Learning Partners such as the Cisco 360 Learning Program for CCIE and the Cisco Learning Network.
All CCENT, CCNA, CCDA, CCNP, CCDP, CCSP, CCVP, CCENT, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CCNA Wireless, CCIP, CCIE certifications and Specialist certifications are valid for 3 years. Re-certification requires re-taking the current exam previously passed, or passing a higher level examination.