Exam Profile: CCIE Collaboration v1.0 Written (400-051)
Date: Nov 5, 2014
The CCIE Collaboration Written exam (400-051) is the exam you must pass to qualify to attempt the CCIE Collaboration Lab. When CCIE Collaboration candidates pass this written exam, they must make their first attempt at the CCIE Collaboration Lab within 18 months. If they are unsuccessful on their initial lab attempt, they must attempt the lab again within the next year to avoid having to retake the written exam.
Exam Details
- Number of Questions: Cisco states that the CCIE Collaboration Written exam contains 90 to 100 questions.
- Types of Questions: The CCIE Collaboration Written exam consists of multiple-choice questions. Some of these multiple-choice questions might present a topology diagram, a screen shot of a server’s administration screen, or a configuration example.
- Passing Score: Cisco does not publish the passing score for the CCIE Collaboration Written exam.
- Time Limit: The exam has a time limit of 120 minutes.
- How to Register: You can register for the exam at the Pearson VUE website at http://vue.com/cisco/
Trouble Spots
Cisco offers collaboration (or voice) certifications at the associate, professional, and expert levels. Therefore, many CCIE Collaboration candidates will have earned the corresponding associate and professional level certifications and anticipate they might be ready to take the CCIE Collaboration Written exam. However, some of the content appearing on the CCIE Voice Written exam is not in associate or professional level curriculums.
As of this writing (September 2014), the current associate and professional level certifications are CCNA Voice (based on the ICOMM course material) and CCNP Voice (based on the CVOICE, CIPT1, CIPT2, TVOICE, and CAPPS course material). These certifications are based on version 8 of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM). However, these exams were introduced in October 2010. Therefore, Cisco is likely to update these certification tracks in the near future. The updated tracks will probably be based on the current CUCM version (version 10.5 as of this writing). However, the CCIE Collaboration Written exam is based on version 9.1 of CUCM. Therefore, associate or professional level course materials will vary in their value in preparing for the CCIE Collaboration Written exam, depending on when those materials were released. However, completing any version of the voice/collaboration associate and professional certification tracks is hugely beneficial to candidates of the CCIE Collaboration Written exam.
Major trouble spots for such candidates are often topic areas to which they have not yet been exposed. For example, consider the Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) product. Although UCCX is a topic on the CCIE Collaboration Written exam, it is not covered in the associate or professional level tracks. Therefore, CCIE Collaboration Written exam candidates should familiarize themselves with the CCIE Collaboration Written exam blueprint (http://bit.ly/400-051) to determine the topics for which they need to be prepared.
Preparation Hints
Because the CCIE Collaboration Written exam assumes familiarity with a variety of unified communications solutions (for example, CUCM, CUCME, CUC, CUPS, and UCCX), you would certainly benefit by first successfully completing both the voice/collaboration associate and professional level certifications. Then, you could fill in the gaps (for example, UCCX and IP multicast) through self-study.
Perhaps you have the luxury of working with some of these technologies in your current employment. If so, you might check into the feasibility of constructing a collaboration lab topology, which can help you prepare for not only the CCIE Collaboration Written exam, but also ultimately the CCIE Collaboration Lab exam.
If you don’t have the good fortune of working with these technologies, you might consider renting rack time from one of the many CCIE training companies. Or you might invest in a series of Cisco Press books (as detailed in the next section).
Finally, if your budget allows, consider attending a CCIE Collaboration Written boot camp. Personally, the benefit I’ve seen from attending a boot camp is that it seems to compress time. Here’s what I mean; when preparing for my first attempt at the CCIE Voice Lab, I attended a week-long boot camp. Upon leaving the boot camp, I remarked that I learned more in that one week than I would have in a month and a half of independent study. So, although I felt that I could have reached that level on my own, it would have taken much longer.
Recommended Study Resources
For self-study, several Cisco Press titles and resources on the Cisco website can help you prepare for the various topics covered on the CCIE Collaboration Written exam.
First, you might want to read a foundational book (written by the author of this exam profile) that covers topics such as signaling protocols and gateway configuration:
- Implementing Cisco Unified Communications Voice over IP and QoS (Cvoice) Foundation Learning Guide: http://bit.ly/cvoicebook
You might then consider the some of the books focused on Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) operation:
- Implementing Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Part 1 (CIPT1) Foundation Learning Guide: http://bit.ly/cipt1book
- Implementing Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Part 2 (CIPT2) Foundation Learning Guide: http://bit.ly/cipt2book
For your Cisco Unity Connection (CUC) studies, consider the following Cisco Press book:
- Cisco Unity Connection: http://bit.ly/unitybook
Cisco Press also offers a collection of more than 70 videos demonstrating lab exercises from the CVOICE, CIPT1, CIPT2, TVOICE, and CAPPS curriculum:
- CCNP Voice LiveLessons: http://bit.ly/ccnpvoicevids
Although you might not find any hardcopy book focusing on Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX), you can check out the following administration guide:
- Cisco Unified CCX Administration Guide: http://bit.ly/uccx90
For your Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME) studies, you can reference the following administrator guide:
- Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express Administrator Guide: http://bit.ly/cmeguide
For your Cisco Unity Express (CUE) studies, you can download the following guide:
- Cisco Unity Express 8.6 Installation and Upgrade Guide: http://bit.ly/cueguide
The Cisco Learning Network also has a comprehensive list of study resources you should definitely examine:
- Cisco Learning Network CCIE Collaboration Written Exam Resources: http://bit.ly/collaborationwritten
Finally, you should familiarize yourself with the following design document:
- Cisco Unified Communications System 9.0 Solution Reference Network Design (SRND): http://bit.ly/srnd90
Where to Go from Here
Evaluate where you are in your collaboration studies. If you don’t work with the Cisco Unified Communications products in your day-to-day job, you might consider going down the CCNA and CCNP voice/collaboration tracks first.
Supplement your real-world experience and certification track studies with any of the previously listed resources that might help fill in the gaps for you.
If your budget permits, you might consider taking a CCIE Collaboration Written boot camp.
Also, organization in your studies is key to your success. Because the CCIE Collaboration Written exam covers such a breadth of topics, you should go through the exam blueprint and make a list of all topics on which you need extra study. Then, take that list and identify how you’re going to study that topic. (For example, buy a book or read documentation on the Cisco website.) Finally, an approach that I’ve personally found to be effective is to write down on a calendar which days you’re going to be studying specific topics. This level of organization helps ensure no topic is overlooked.