Officially Announced today (January 14, 2009) in the Learning @ Cisco Newsletter

Have you passed your CCDE written exam?  Individuals that have completed the written portion of the CCDE exam can register immediately to take the practical portion of the exam. The next CCDE practical exam is scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, 2009, in Chicago, Illinois, US and London, UK. The cost of the exam is $1,400USD.  Candidates must have passed the CCDE qualification exam prior to registration.

If you’re looking for great “inside info” (of course, without breaking of the NDA) – be sure to participate in the “Ask Ryan” initiative that we’re currently taking questions for!!

Ryan Hicks, CCDE #1 – (well, “technically” #20080001) is a Senior Network Architect at Calence / Insight Network Services.  He specializes in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting highly complex and/or sensitive networks for customers spanning corporate, government, K12 and higher-education markets.

Over the past 13 years, Ryan has passed three CCIE labs (CCIE #5924), holding certifications in Routing and Switching, SNA/IP Integration, and Security.  He is also a MCSE with experience as a COBOL and C programmer and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (focused on Information Technology at Colorado Technical University).

Recently, Ryan earned the title as the world’s first CCDE (#20080001)

• Note #1: He passed on his first attempt.
• Note #2: He became the first CCDE in the world!

Not resting on his CCDE accomplishment, he is now studying for the CCIE Service Provider and CCIE Voice labs, while also hosting Austin’s Network Engineer User’s Group.

Moving forward, Ryan will also be assisting IPexpert in their CCDE product strategies.  He will play a role in product development, product review and will be actively involved in the various online communities that IPexpert utilizes for student support.  The strategy is to, first, release a CCDE written product (self-study).  Shortly thereafter, a CCDE practical student kit will be released.  Our student kit can be used in the self-study capacity, but will also be used as course content for IPexpert’s CCDE preparation boot camp.  It’s undetermined as to whether or not IPexpert will offer a CCDE written course.  *Product details (outline and a firm ETA) will be announced within the next few weeks on our website.

ASK RYAN

We are currently taking questions for Ryan – questions pertaining to the CCDE certification preparation process.  If you’re interested in knowing how he prepared, how he thought the practical was compared to other certifications or anything else related to his experience pertaining to the CCDE certification – please submit your questions to AskRyan@ipexpert.com.  We will be selecting the top 15 to 20 questions and will post his follow-up response / answers here on our blog.  *His responses will be posted within the month of January – a firm date cannot yet be provided (just keep checking our blog for updates!).

Finally, please join me in welcoming Ryan to the IPexpert Blog.  I’m sure “Ryan Hicks” will become a household name (He should be after these accomplishments!) – with posts coming from him on occasion.