CCNP and CCIE Security Core SCOR (350-701) Exam Updates PDF

# CHAPTER 13 ## CCNP and CCIE Security Core ## SCOR (350-701) Exam Updates ### The Purpose of This Chapter For all the other chapters, the content should remain unchanged throughout this edition of the book. Instead, this chapter will change over time, with an updated online PDF posted so you can...

# CHAPTER 13 ## CCNP and CCIE Security Core ## SCOR (350-701) Exam Updates ### The Purpose of This Chapter For all the other chapters, the content should remain unchanged throughout this edition of the book. Instead, this chapter will change over time, with an updated online PDF posted so you can see the latest version of the chapter even after you purchase this book. Why do we need a chapter that updates over time? For two reasons: 1. To add more technical content to the book before it is time to replace the current book edition with the next edition. This chapter will include additional technology content and possibly additional PDFs containing more content. 2. To communicate detail about the next version of the exam, to tell you about our publishing plans for that edition, and to help you understand what that means to you. After the initial publication of this book, Cisco Press will provide supplemental updates as digital downloads for minor exam updates. If an exam has major changes or accumulates enough minor changes, we will then announce a new edition. We will do our best to provide any updates to you free of charge before we release a new edition. However, if the updates are significant enough in between editions, we may release the updates as a low-priced standalone eBook. If we do produce a free updated version of this chapter, you can access it on the book's companion website. Simply go to the companion website page and go to the "Exam Updates Chapter" section of the page. If you have not yet accessed the companion website, follow this process: 1. Browse to www.ciscopress.com/register. 2. Enter the print book ISBN (even if you are using an eBook): 9780138221263. 3. After registering the book, go to your account page and select the Registered Products tab. 4. Click the Access Bonus Content link to access the companion website. Select the Exam Updates Chapter link or scroll down to that section to check for updates. ### About Possible Exam Updates Cisco introduced CCNA and CCNP in 1998. For the first 25 years of those certification tracks, Cisco updated the exams on average every 3-4 years. However, Cisco did not pre-announce the exam changes, so exam changes felt very sudden. Usually, a new exam would be announced, with new exam topics, giving you 3-6 months before your only option was to take the new exam. As a result, you could be studying with no idea about Cisco's plans, and the next day, you had a 3-6-month timeline to either pass the old exam or pivot to prepare for the new exam. Thankfully, Cisco changed the exam release approach in 2023. Called the Cisco Certification Roadmap (https://cisco.com/go/certroadmap), the new plan includes these features: 1. Cisco considers changes to all exam tracks (CCNA, CCNP Enterprise, CCNP Security, and so on) annually. 2. Cisco uses a predefined annual schedule for each track, so even before any announcements, you know the timing of possible changes to the exam you are studying for. 3. The schedule moves in a quarterly sequence: * Privately review the exam to consider what to change. * Publicly announce if an exam is changing, and if so, announce details like exam topics and release date. * Release the new exam. 4. Exam changes might not occur each year. If changes occur, Cisco characterizes them as minor (less than 20 percent change) or major (more than 20 percent change). The specific dates for a given certification track can be confusing because Cisco organizes the work by fiscal year quarters. Figure 13-1 spells out the quarters with a sample 2024 fiscal year. Cisco's fiscal year begins in August, so, for example, the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal year (FY) 2024 begins in August 2023. | | | | | |---------------|----------------------|---------------------|---------------------| | August 2023 - | November 2023- | February 2024 - | May 2024 - | | October 2023 | January 2024 | April 2024 | July 2024 | | Q1FY24 | Q2FY24 | Q3FY24 | Q4FY24 | **Figure 13-1 Cisco Fiscal Year and Months Example (FY2024)** Focus more on the sequence of the quarters to understand the plan. Over time, Cisco may make no changes in some years and minor changes in others. ### Impact on You and Your Study Plan Cisco's new policy helps you plan, but it also means that the exam might change before you pass the current exam. That impacts you, affecting how we deliver this book to you. This chapter gives us a way to communicate in detail about those changes as they occur. But you should watch other spaces as well. For those other information sources to watch, bookmark and check these sites for news. In particular: * Cisco: Check the Certification Roadmap page: https://cisco.com/go/certroadmap. Make sure to sign up for automatic notifications from Cisco on that page. * **Publisher**: Check the page about new certification products, offers, discounts, and free downloads related to the more frequent exam updates: https://www.ciscopress.com/newcert. * **Cisco Learning Network**: Subscribe to the CCNA Community at http://cs.co/9780138221263, where I expect ongoing discussions about exam changes over time. If you have questions, search for "roadmap" in the CCNA Community, and if you do not find an answer, ask a new one! As changes arise, we will update this chapter with more details about exam and book content. At that point, we will publish an updated version of this chapter, listing our content plans. That detail will likely include the following: * Content removed, so if you plan to take the new exam version, you can ignore those when studying. * New content planned per new exam topics, so you know what's coming. The remainder of the chapter shows the new content that may change over time. ### News about the Next Exam Release This statement was last updated in 2023, before the publication of the CCNP and CCIE Security Core SCOR 350-701 Official Cert Guide. This version of this chapter has no news to share about the next exam release. At the most recent version of this chapter, the 350-701 exam version number was Version 1.0. ### Updated Technical Content The current version of this chapter has no additional technical content.