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It was good to see the CWSP mentioned in the eWeek Top 21 Tech certs that keep IT Workers In Demand!

Many of them are security related!

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Management/21-Tech-Certifications-That-Keep-IT-Workers-in-Demand-154951/?kc=EWKNLCSM04202010STR1

I only hold like 6 of the 21 at the moment.  Maybe 7 soon enough.

The CCDE has less than maybe 20 certified people to date. 

Seems kind of biased with anything towards security mostly.

Email Architects are in high demand and get paid.

Network Architects are in high demand and earn about $150-300k+ - even without Architect level certs or even the CCIE.

Not sure I buy everything I read.

I have never made the income that these companies report, for any of my certs.    It could be that companies like Foote partners make their money from the cert companies.

I sure heven't been paying for their reports.  Have you?

Their reports can be interesting, and the trends they show are probably correct, but they never include a list of all the certs people hold, etc.   They never say for example how many people reported, etc.

>>Network Architects are in high demand and earn about $150-300k+ - even without Architect level certs or even the CCIE.

How about Cisco's top cert Cisco Certified Architect (CCA)? $15000 application/test fee plus 6-hour board exam...

Well I've heard there are 2 CCA's so far.

However - the Network Architect roles I refer to are readily available as "Network Architect" on Monster.com and I think minimum wage is like...  $125k and up...

Now concerself speaking most only require a CCNP level knowledge too with strong experience of course.

No I don't pay for the reports but for the salary rates I do see.  I've been exceeding them for the past few years and haven't felt sorry for it.

As of the past ~2 years or so my own salary as a CCNP has exceeded the reported average salary for a CCIE.  So it works for me.

However, the offers I see for CCIE's can be 40-80% higher than those salary surveys too.  I'm speaking from my own inbox.

Alas, no CCIE for me yet.  Maybe after I beef up my working practical of Wireless and Load Balancers.

It is said that the CCA is a combination of networking expert and MBA. 10+ work experience is recommended before application. Curious what kind of people will pursue this cert.

I hear ya. 

However, they also must have the CCDE has a pre-requisite.

Hmmm...

More cost effective to get the CCNP/CCDP and get a Network Architect job and get paid.

CWDP would definitely be a plus for such a role.

As voice gets more and more popular nowadays, CCVP (or CWVP if CWNP would release such a cert sometime) may be a supplement to one's skill set.

That's why I said there was a bit of a bias.  CCVP is surely a valuable skill and it would have been on my list.

I'm not as certain that the GIAC certs would have made my list - not all of them at this bump in the road.  Not yet. No iscredit they have thir merits.  Actually the CISSP and PMP are two heavy hitters - as far as demand goes.