David Bombal and NetworkChuck - This is IT! EP 1 | Azure, CiscoLIVE, Devnet

About this video

First episode of ‘This is IT,’ a weekly conversation between NetworkChuck and David Bombal covering IT beyond just Cisco. Chuck discusses dipping into Microsoft Azure for CBT Nuggets, passing the AZ-900 fundamentals exam — which he compares to AWS Cloud Practitioner — in about two weeks, and argues network engineers still need CCNA knowledge in the cloud. He recounts, as a claim from an email he received, that someone who passed Cloud Practitioner before finishing CCNA got a systems admin job within a week after his company noticed. They debate sequencing CCNA, CCNP, and cloud, advise picking one goal and finishing it instead of switching back and forth, and stress keeping a record of projects on a resume rather than chasing certification paper alone. Chuck explains his delayed CCNP: he started it in 2015, put routing and switching on hold to learn collaboration and UCCX for his job, then set a January 15th goal, crammed with labs for the last four days, failed TSHOOT on the first attempt, and passed the following week. Bombal reports from Cisco Live in Barcelona that meeting people was the main value, and describes DevNet’s growth — five years earlier its stand was in a corridor — its Start Now area, and its free practical workshops on Python and Ansible. Bombal says his upcoming priorities are Kali Linux, AWS, and CCNP content.

Key takeaways

• Learn cloud alongside networking, not instead of it — Chuck frames AZ-900 as an entry-level toe-dip comparable to AWS Cloud Practitioner that still relies on CCNA fundamentals
• Decide based on employer need: learn the cloud or specialty your current company is moving toward or lacks, rather than following a fixed certification order
• Pick one certification goal and finish it; repeatedly switching between AWS, CCNP, and other tracks stalls progress
• Document completed projects on your resume — Chuck argues employers care more about implementations you have already done than certification titles alone
• Failing an exam is recoverable quickly: Chuck failed his CCNP TSHOOT attempt, retook it the next week, and passed after heavy lab practice

Episode details: published February 19, 2019 · 30:44 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are NetworkChuck’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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