The issue of how to imitate a 'Cisco' 'environment' to prepare for examinations is often overlooked. When you're studying the Microsoft MCSE or MCSA for instance, a handful of old Computers can be networked together to allow inexpensive practice at home with genuine equipment. This isn't the case with Cisco - to re-produce any kind of beneficial environment you'd need complex routers & switches, as well as a large number of PCs & other really expensive technologies. The solution therefore is to use Cisco-approved network simulators & visualisers. Such hi tech software-systems allow students to build large 'networks' within a virtual-environment , using on screen facilities to pick particular hard-ware models & practise 'interrogation' of data movement. These are exceptional bits of software, and no home-study or self learning CCNA package should be considered without one. We have included 'RouterSim's' 'CCNA' Network-Visualiser in each of our 'CCNA' career tracks - this is a very well regarded 'simulator' and definitely one of the highest quality products we tried out.

If you may be starting with a trainer who still utilises 'in-centre' days as part of their program, then listen to these typical downsides encountered by many IT hopefuls:

- The amount of travel required - lots of visits and sometimes 100's of miles at a go.

- If you work for a living, then Monday to Friday events cause problems at work. You're usually looking at two or three days together to make it worse.

- Don't overlook the lost holiday days. Usually we're lucky to have 4 weeks annual leave. If half is given up to classes, then there's very little left over for us.

- Because of the cost involved, many companies fill the classes up to the brim - which is not ideal (giving less time per student).

- Often trainees want to work as quickly as possible, while others are looking to take a more 'steady' pace and not be forced to adopt an uncomfortable speed for them. This brings tension a lot of the time.

- Calculate the increasing cost of all the travel, fares, parking, accommodation and food and you could be in for a major shock. Attendees have reported extra costs ranging from hundreds to over a thousand pounds. Sit down and add it up - and see for yourself.

- A lot of trainees would like to keep their training completely private and therefore avoiding all questions whilst in their current job.

- It's common to find that, at times, it's uncomfortable to raise questions in a room full of our fellow students - because none of us wants to look like we don't understand.

- Where students have to at times work or live away part of the time, consider the added problems of travelling to the required events, as time becomes even more scarce.

The perfect situation is watching a ready-made, videoed workshop - enabling you to learn whenever you wish. Consider... Using a laptop you can work wherever you happen to be at that time. And live 24 hr-a-day support is only a web-click away when challenges strike you. Repeat lessons and modules if you need to - repetition aids memory. And there's no need to take notes - everything is already prepared ready. Basically: You save on money, time, hassle and completely avoid polluting our environment.

Discovering job security in this economic down-turn is very rare. Businesses often throw us from the workplace at a moment's notice - whenever it suits. Where there are growing skills shortages mixed with high demand areas though, we almost always find a newly emerging type of market-security; driven by the conditions of constant growth, companies struggle to find enough staff.

Offering the computer business for example, the 2006 e-Skills survey brought to light a skills gap around the United Kingdom of around 26 percent. Alternatively, you could say, this reveals that Great Britain is only able to source three properly accredited workers for each 4 job positions available today. Acquiring proper commercial computing certification is correspondingly a fast-track to a life-long and worthwhile livelihood. It's unlikely if a better time or market state of affairs could exist for gaining qualification for this swiftly emerging and developing market.

For a very broad based blended training program you could add MSCA or 'MCSE' from MS to your CompTIA A+/N+ & 'Cisco' CCNA track. As there are so many opportunities available, a career track of this sort should always be discussed with an industry expert. This way you can be confident that nothing that conflicts with your needs has been included, & nothing has been missed.

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