8/8/2007 -- Cisco has announced changes to the CCDP curriculum and exam effective Oct. 11, specifically for 642-873: Designing Cisco Network Services Architecture (ARCH v. 2.0).

The changes are meant to "reflect market demand for service-oriented network architecture skills," according to a press release from the company. Approximately 90 percent of the course covers new material.

For more information on the certification and changes, go here.

Can You Really Certify Someone For Life?
There's a great deal of discrepancy when it comes to the shelf life of vendor certifications. Some vendors certify for a specified time period (for example, two years from passing the last needed exams), while others certify for as long as the version of the product tested upon is still supported. Both options have logic to them, and I can't argue against either.

There's a third category, however, which has me all a-twitter: certification for life. CompTIA certifications, for example, never expire and are good forever. CompTIA's argument is that it only certifies at the entry level, with the expectation that candidates will go on to other (higher) certifications.

I can't say that I agree with that reasoning. It's akin to saying that states need to issue someone a driver's license only once in their life, without ever making them renew it, because most everyone will likely advance to getting CDL licenses at some point.

Many employers recruit based only on entry-level certifications because that reduces the amount they have to pay for the position. Can you imagine requiring an A+ certification for a hardware tech and having someone apply who passed their requirements 14 years ago and hasn't been active in the field for a while? It happens more frequently than you may imagine.

Since first creating A+ in 1993, CompTIA has updated the exams a number of times. Why? Because what you need to know today to work with hardware isn't the same as what you needed to know just a few years ago. If that's the case -- if hardware today is so different from what it was a few years back that you need to change what you test on -- doesn't it make sense to phase out the awarded certifications over time?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to interview a programmer who has a great deal of experience with Atari systems...

Book of the Week: 'The Culturally Customized Web Site'
The Web has been in existence for so many years now that it's difficult to imagine what it was like before it. Given that the Web is "worldwide," how could anyone not appreciate your site with its cookie-cutter template and customer testimonials?

The truth of the matter is that what works in one culture often falls flat on its face in another. The Culturally Customized Web Site by Nitish Singh and Arun Pereira is one book that will open your mind to ideas you may never have entertained before. Full of color examples and easy-to-follow discussions, it will have you rethinking what you once took for granted when it comes to Web site presentation.