Diogel Cendan
#CCNP Routing & Switching
Where to start. I can't express my gratitude for the doors that INE has opened for me. I started working for an IT company early in my career, as everyone usually does. I wanted to grow in the field, so I started studying for my A+, Net+ which led to my interest in the network industry. I moved on to the CCNA courses in CBTNuggets with Jeremy Cioara which was a great starting point and I really enjoyed the course. However, that was only the beginning and at that point I was working IT helpdesk using CBTNuggets and PacketTracer for learning. Once I completed the course, I felt there was still so much I didn't know and was hungry for knowledge. During my transition to a support desk role, I found INE for the first time. It was an instant surplus of knowledge. I purchased the 2 year option out of pocket, and it was the best investment I could have made; that's when the real training for me began. INE gave me the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the industry. I studied the CCNP courses from Keith Baker and Brian McGahan, which I believe are one of the earlier foundations to my success. During that time, I interviewed for a very low-level network position similar to NOC with Bright House, which would later become Spectrum. Thanks to the knowledge acquired from those courses, I impressed them during the interview with my technical responses. Shortly after, I transitioned to the overnight shifts for the sole purpose of learning the infrastructure in depth, since that's when the majority of the maintenances were done. This was not an easy change, but thanks to INE I exceled. Prior to working with Bright House, I had NO IDEA the service provider network was so different than what I had previously learned. Although the Route/Switch classes were exceptionally helpful, there were significant gaps of knowledge at the time. But with INE's vast library, adjusting to my new path was no fret. There were courses by Brian McGahan and Rob Riker that really helped me get my bearings within the Service Provider network. In six months, I was promoted to the Network Engineer role where I really had the chance to shine. Following the promotion, I acquired my CCNP in Routing and Switching, while continuing my study in the Service Provider path. Within two months I was being recognized for my knowledge and determination and was promoted to Network Engineer II. At the year mark, I was promoted once more as a Network Engineer III, where I had one of the biggest challenges of my career thus far. Juniper Service Provider routers and switches were being deployed into the network which forced me to once more deviate in my learning path. Thanks to INE’s courses from Travis Bonfigli and Josue Vargas, plus the previous knowledge acquired, I began to gain traction in that platform as well. After getting my JNCIA and having my CCNP, I was able to lead a small group of engineers to migrate over 18,000 customers from the ASR9K platform over to the Juniper MX series platform. Once again, I was able to shine and get to the next level in my career. To sum up how INE has opened the doors for me and continues to do so: I am now a Sr. Engineer at Charter Communications for the Enterprise department; I am responsible for major projects that are deployed in the Florida region that service over 20,000+ customers; I have been able to expand my knowledge and share that with my team. Thanks to INE, I was able to attain my financial goal and title within my company. Looking back, little did I know I would be where I am now. I can't express how thankful I am to have been given the opportunity to learn from individuals with such plentiful knowledge. I will forever be grateful to have INE and will continue to use this resource as my primary source of knowledge and rely on the experts that are teaching me to be an expert.