11/4/2003 -- Cisco's Certified Internetwork Engineer (CCIE) title turns 10 this month.

When Cisco launched the CCIE in Nov. 1993, it was Cisco's first certification program. The company later added other professional- and associate-level titles, such as the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP).

The CCIE is widely considered to be one of the most difficult IT certifications to obtain because of its full-day hands-on lab exam.

According to Cisco, only 3 percent of those earning an associate-level Cisco certification go on to earn a CCIE.

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of certification program, Cisco has given 31 CCIEs a special award honoring their 10 years of participation in the program.

"Ten years ago these networking pioneers agreed to take part in an emerging program to prove their ability to configure, test and troubleshoot real-world networking equipment," the company said in a statement.

The names of the honorees were not available at press time.

"Having CCIE certified individuals on staff enhances a company's ability to meet technology implementation timelines, budget goals, and business objectives, while increasing productivity, competitiveness and organizational performance," Mike Reid, manager of the CCIE program, said in a released statement. " "We are proud to have just over 10,000 CCIE certified individuals across the world involved in some of the most complex networking projects being implemented today."

Four CCIE tracks are currently available: Routing and Switching, Service Provider, Security and Voice.

To learn more about Cisco's CCIE program, click here. -Becky Nagel