Hold Off on SDN Certification Until You Have the Necessary Experience

Mike Fratto

Summary Bullets:

• If you are starting out your career, avoid cutting edge technology training.  Existing technologies will remain relevant for many years and ground you in skills enterprises need today.
• Cutting edge technology training makes sense for experienced professionals looking for new challenges and opportunities, but keep your options open.

One of the questions I see cropping up lately in conversations is whether IT professionals should pursue traditional networking training and certification or start diving into cutting edge technology such as software-defined networking (SDN).  The answer for a specific person is of course contextual, but my general advice is: if you are starting out in your career and you want to pursue advancement, stick with traditional certifications for the next few years and then re-assess the market and where you need to go.