CCIE Cons #1

1. Enormous amount of time to acquire. We are probably looking at 18-24 months for me with a job and family. 15-20 hours/week study. Real studying too.

No matter the real or perceived financial benefits of obtaining something there is a balance that you have to keep in it's pursuit. With a college degree you can always take a break by skipping a semester or two. You haven't went backward but are essentially holding in place. Not so, with the CCIE. If you took 3-4 months off studying every day you would be losing skills and knowledge that you will have to regain at some point. Plus the sheer volume of studying (15-20 hours/week) is daunting in itself even if you didn't work. It's probably equivalent to a fairly intense Master's degree.

Another downside is that with all time invested studying and learning away from other pursuits if you take the test and never pass YOU GET NOTHING... And this is a likely scenario. Very likely. Pass rate is between 10-14% from what i have read. Total pass rate. So the TOTAL fail rate is 86-90%. I think it fairly unlikely that someone will get to their last Master's class and never be able to pass it. At least in my experience. I mean really, who do you know that lacks a BS or MS because they can't pass one class. Yes yes I know that you will learn alot blah blah blah but 15-20 hours/week needs to have $$$ benefits not just knowledge.

In my current thinking this would be a second best (possibly best) scenario.

1. Get your CCNA

2. Get you CCNP.

3. Take the CCIE written. At that point you have 2-3 years to "get ready" for the lab.

4. Don't.

5. Start and finish your MS degree. Especially if you pick something like the one I want.

6. During the whole 1-3 years you are in your master's program you can say you are using it to get ready for the lab and studying a little on the side. No employer could seriously expect you to do both. But a master's could sub for the lab for quite a while. Plus the master's in itself is a great addition for your career.

7. After graduating seriously consider if you want the CCIE. If it's just about money examine where you are at that point. Seriously consider that no matter how much you make you can debt yourself into oblivion with new cars, big houses and shiny tech toys.....

8. For the same effort you could consider a Ph.D.

This is the path I will most likely pursue. It has several holding points where I can drop out with no penalty. Get my CCNP. I could stop. Get my Master's. I could stop. Same with Ph. D. or CCIE. Unlike just going after a CCIE which is all or nothing.