Cisco · Professional Certification · Professional
Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Enterprise
Crydd Score 70
Demand High
Career Value High
Recognition High
CCNP Enterprise at a glance
- Provider
- Cisco
- Credential type
- Professional Certification
- Exam required
- Yes
- Category
- Networking
- Level
- Professional
- Cost
- See official page (core exam plus one concentration exam)
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to earn
- 4–8 months
- Validity
- 3 years
- Format
- Core exam (ENCOR) plus one concentration exam
- Prerequisites
- None formally; CCNA-level knowledge strongly recommended
What is CCNP Enterprise?
Cisco's professional-tier networking certification, built on a core exam (ENCOR) plus one concentration you choose. It moves past CCNA's fundamentals into advanced routing, SD-WAN, network design, and automation — the depth an enterprise network engineer is actually paid for.
Skills it covers
- Advanced routing
- SD-WAN
- Network design
- Automation
Is CCNP Enterprise worth it? The Crydd Verdict
CS 70Choose it if
You are a network engineer ready to move past the associate level, especially in an environment that runs Cisco hardware — which is still most large enterprises, telecoms, and government.
Consider alternatives if
You are heading fully into cloud networking — an AWS or Azure networking specialty may fit better — or you are brand new, in which case CCNA comes first.
Why we say so
Cisco's entrenched installed base and the enduring shortage of senior network engineers give CCNP durable, high recognition and strong compensation.
Market demand
Enterprise, telecom, and public-sector networks remain heavily Cisco-based, and senior network engineers are persistently hard to hire — CCNP is the credential those roles name most often above the associate level.
Where CCNP Enterprise takes you
- Network Engineer
- Network Security Engineer
- Solutions Architect
Career roadmaps show where this certification fits in each path. See the roadmaps.
Related certifications
Curated connections from the catalog — each labelled with how it relates to CCNP Enterprise, so you know why it’s here.
