Academy vs. Industrial Cisco CCNA programs

January 30th, 2009 | by Tilen Mlakar |

Before I started working for NIL as a Cisco Systems Instructor, I lectured at a local Cisco Networking Academy (CNA) as an academy instructor. When I came to NIL, I found out that CNA was not very well-known among my new colleagues. That’s why I decided to emphasize some differences among courses at CNA versus courses available from Cisco learning partners such as NIL. In the next few paragraphs, I’ll briefly describe the Cisco Networking Academy program and point out some differences between the so-called »Industrial« and »Academy« certificates.


Cisco Networking Academy is hierarchically organized into three levels:

  • Cisco Academy Training Centers train instructors of Cisco regional academies.
  • Cisco regional academies train and offer support to instructors of local academies. (The Cisco regional academy for the Slovenian region is the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering.)
  • Local academies offer classes and train students.

If you want to take a class at the Cisco Networking Academy, you first have to find a local academy in your vicinity. But be aware that CNA offers only two Cisco courses:

As far I as I know, currently there are no instructors for lecturing on CCNP certification at local academies around Slovenia, which means that you can only take one of the CCNA courses. This really cannot compete with the offers from Cisco learning partners, can it? Then why should you take a course at the Networking Academy at all?

I think that CNA is most appropriate for university students who would like to improve their knowledge in the field of data communications. The first reason for this thinking is that CCNA training at Cisco Networking Academy is divided into four modules, which are lectured through the whole year. Those modules are usually scheduled to correspond to semesters at universities. Students have lessons once a week, and each lesson is four hours long. In each lesson, half of the time is intended for lecture, and half for lab exercises. Each module consists of approximately 10 lessons, which correspond to roughly two months of lectures per module. Four modules multiplied by two months each, plus breaks and vacations between modules, totals 10 months for a single course. I really doubt that most companies can wait for almost a year for their personnel to be trained, when by contrast they could absorb almost the same amount of knowledge from a Cisco learning partner in two weeks (by attending the ICND1 and ICND2 courses), or even a single week (CCNA Boot Camp). University students, who have more time available for training than is allotted to the typical company employee, can attend the CNA’s intensive CCNA program.

The second issue is cost. The CNA CCNA program is paid per module; students can pay for the course in four installments (540€), and university students get a 50% discount. That amounts to around 1,000€ for the whole CCNA program. By contrast, attending ICND1 and ICND2 courses is quite a bit more expensive.

Another advantage of the CNA CCNA program is the physical presence of lab equipment. In contrast to ICND1 and ICND2 courses, such as those available from NIL, the CNA equipment is available onsite, so students can really gain hands-on experience with the Cisco routers and switches. They have to connect all devices, configure basic settings such as addressing, and then they can focus on lab objectives. It’s true that students have some »administrative« tasks for each exercise, but I think that the physical hands-on experience outweighs this burden.

A final issue to consider is the certification. After each module, students have to pass an exam. When they pass all four exams, they receive the »Academy CCNA certificate«. Even if this certificate confirms knowledge gained through the CCNA program, it’s not so well-known among companies. On the other hand, the CCNA certificate that can be obtained at one of the Pearson VUE exam centers is very well-known and accepted by both companies and industry. Hence the term »Industrial CCNA certificate«.

To summarize, the Cisco Networking Academy program is more appropriate for university students who want to gain additional knowledge and hands-on experience in networking. Courses at Cisco learning partners are more appropriate for network professionals, who want to absorb new knowledge and transfer it into their production networks as soon as possible. Of course, you can start your networking career at the Cisco Networking Academy, take the CCNA exam at one of the exam centers, and continue along your path to becoming a network professional. I started my career as a CNA student, after all.

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