Ryan Bauer, CCIE #49527
CCIE
I am happy to say that I have followed the CCIE journey through all of the ups and downs all the way to success. I started using INE for study once I passed my CCNP in Routing and Switching. I was fortunate enough to have my employer spend money on the absolute best training vendor in the market. I started this journey studying very hard for version 4. I used all INE materials and even bought my own rack of equipment that matched exactly what INE had to save time converting interface configs each time I needed to lab something. I watched countless hours of videos which are absolutely essential in my opinion. I also read most of the recommended reading material although it is hard for me to retain so much information just by reading. I incorporated what I read into actual labs to help solidify what I was reading. I was feeling really confident in the technologies and took a mock lab to see where I stood. Boy was I surprised. I did about as poorly as I thought I did walking away from that Mock. I continued labbing and learning up until the version 5 was announced that it was going to be released. I felt I needed to take the lab to get the first time jitters out and to put in an attempt before everything I had been studying changed. In January of 2014, I took the CCIE lab Version 4 in RTP. The whole experience was awful. I felt very confident walking into the exam center, but as soon as TS started, that quickly went away. I knew I failed the lab in the first two hours of the 8 hour day. I walked out of there really irritated and feeling like I was setup for failure. I waited until version 5 material was released and promptly started studying the V5 material. This material suited my experience much more closely so I already felt really confident with this version. I studied all of the available V5 material and even new material as it was released. I continued labbing daily and nightly and watching videos to refresh myself on lost knowledge. I'm proud to say that with the help of INE and their very talented and knowledgable staff I was able to pass the CCIEv5 in July of 2015 on my second attempt. The feeling is like none other. Thank you INE for all you provide our community and all questions that have been answered for me through your live training and truly expert staff.