Interview with QUAD CCIE #4713 Scott Morris
by Eman
Scott you have been in my network for a couple of years now and in that time I have come to learn a little bit about you. One of the things I have a lot of respect for is that you are a quadruple CCIE. I have been interested in what motivates IT professionals to certify and recertify and then keep collecting certifications. In your case you have accumulated several good ones. The list reads;
CCIE R&S
CCIE ISP-Dial
CCIE Security
CCIE Service Provider
JNCIE-M
JNCIS-ER
CISSP
CCSI
JNCI
Q: Scott, did I miss any?
A: That’s the “major list”… There are others like RCNP (Riverstone), TIA’s CTP (Convergence Technology Professional), a few random Cisco “specialist” (CQS) certifications, and a structured cabling certification from Ortronics.
Q: I can understand the CCIE, but what motivated you to pursue the Juniper track?
A: The grand desire to relieve boredom? That’s part of it, but the other part is what I always tell students who are starting out their own careers. Figure out what you want to do first, then figure out what you need to do in order to get there.
I do work with various Service Providers, and depending on which one we’re talking about, there’s often a mix of Cisco and Juniper equipment throughout the network. It’s good to be well-versed on as much as possible.
Another push (more generally speaking than just Juniper certs) has to do with my own opinion of people calling themselves “consultants”. If a person is only certified and experienced with one vendor then, in the grand scheme of things, they are only of full value with that vendor’s equipment (making them a glorified extension of a sales force). A true consultant will have more broad experiences to draw from being able to take a more agnostic approach.
That, of course, is my own personal view of the world, so while I try to fit within that scheme other people do their own thing!
Q: Was the preparation for your first CCIE difficult? What resources did you use to prepare?
A: Difficult? Sure. Hard work was never easy!
Back in 1998, there weren’t many resources available. For the most part, it was my stack of routers, my links to the DocCD and my own warped sense of humor along the way. In the midst of my studies, GroupStudy (an e-mail list) was born and had other folks seeking their CCIE. It was good to be able to ask questions of people in similar positions and answer them as well. But it was a long period of time of taking notes, working up lab tasks dreamed up on my own, and (usually) trying to figure out why things weren’t working the way I expected them to!
I have LOTS of things that didn’t work well. One of the good things that came from that though was a refinement of troubleshooting procedures! I firmly believe that the more things an engineer messes up (hopefully NOT in production networks!), the more opportunities there are for learning and understanding the details better!
Q: CCIE number two must still have been tough. Tell me a little about how you approached the second CCIE and if you did anything different in your preparations for this lab.
A: The second one was actually a bit easier. I had refined a process of notes, labbing, notes, labbing (repeat as needed). By this point, I had also taken employment as an instructor and some of the class-work I was doing revolved around topics on the lab. Still, just me and the equipment and my warped sense of humor though!
Q: Did CCIE number three come any easier?
A: Sure, same as above, just more experience to go with it.
Q: What devil possessed you to go for the fourth CCIE?
A: That desire to relieve boredom! Service Provider was my fourth one, and marked the change/addition in my career that interested me at that point in time.
Q: Looking back do you think you needed so many certifications? Would you leave any out or add any more?
A: You can never have too many! I used to work with a guy who had well over 100 certifications. Granted, many of them overlapped (like CCNA, CCNP, etc.) but it was an interesting list anyway! I don’t think I would be interested in THAT many, unless there was a business need for it.
If there is ever a business need for a certification, then that makes it a good idea. I’m presently working on some projects that involve Adtran equipment and Shoretel phone systems. I will work on certification for those both as additional experience/knowledge and proof to customers of my sense of commitment and knowledge.
When consulting as a “full service” kinda guy, it doesn’t make sense to have gaps! But everything comes one step at a time!
Since I’ve started doing training as well whether custom classes, CCIE classes, Juniper classes or whatever, I’ve pursued the appropriate certifications there as well. I have also made sure to get some real-world experience with the things I teach. Again, just my own personal drive and warped opinions about what an instructor should be, but it’s viewpoints like that worth shaping after!
Are there certifications I don’t need? Absolutely! There have been several throughout my career. Are there regrets? Never. Everything was done for a reason that, at least at some point in time, made logical sense. Therefore, no regrets whatsoever!
Q: What advice would you give others who are thinking about a career in networking?
A: Have a plan! While I hear from many people that they want to be like me (which is scary!), the best thing I can tell people is that it doesn’t happen overnight. I’ve been in the industry for over 22 years now, which makes me an “old fart”. Everything has been for a reason (which generally made sense at some point of my career!) other than “just to have it”.
But figure out what you want to do and then figure out how to get there. Results may not be instantaneous, and it may be a long path to get to wherever! Do NOT use shortcuts. You only hurt your own reputation (and customer’s networks?) in the future.
There are other things I’ve done and changed course with… There are other things on my “list of things to do” at some point! CCIE Voice as an example. I use to teach a lot of voice classes and do more IP Telephony work. At that point in time, CCIE Voice made sense. I took the CCIE Voice lab the very first week it became public (ready or not, there I was!) and again a year later. While “close”, I didn’t pass. I have not retaken it since then as other things had been eating up my time.
I also do less voice work these days. Not that I don’t like it, just that I’m not as involved with it. Perhaps someday I’ll get back into that!
The CCDE is on my list of interesting things, although after the 45 of us who took the beta recently had our rear-ends handed back to us in small pieces, there may be some “retooling” before doing that again! But it’s all little steps in the grand scale of learning and doing new and exciting things! There are two basic rules in life that I like: Have fun, and make money. Not necessarily in that order. But I try really hard to enjoy whatever it is that I’m doing, and I’d recommend that to everyone!
Q: Do you read the CCIE Flyer? What do you like about it?
A: I do read it. Each month! Hmmmm… What do I like? I’m sure there’s a perfect marketing answer here, but I’m not finding it at the moment! (Need more caffeine!)
I like the idea that there’s a variety of content and networking capabilities all targeted at people in the CCIE space. It’s also very nice to see an “Agent” (I’ll let you/others fight out the technical terminology) that really has a clue about what the CCIE is, what it stands for and not just the fluffy parts!
Scott Morris, a four-time CCIE (#4713) and JNCIE (#153) is one of the CCIE Instructors for Internetwork Expert. He has over 22 years experience in all sorts of aspects of the networking industry and is an all-around Uber-Geek! Catch him around at Internetwork Expert's Online Community (www.ieoc.com) and many other places!
Scott is a fixture in our long list of contributors to the CCIE Flyer and I am happy to number him among my friends and professional network!