SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 16, 2013) - Underscoring its leadership and commitment to excellence in education, Cisco (NASDAQ: [ CSCO ]) today announced the [ American National Standards Institute ] (ANSI) accreditation of several Cisco® Career Certifications under the [ Accreditation Program for Personnel Certification Bodies ]. Cisco is the first vendor to offer a robust networking certification portfolio that meets the ANSI accreditation standard.

The ANSI accreditation process (based on the [ ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 ] standard) provides a global benchmark for personnel certification programs to ensure that they operate in a consistent, comparable and reliable manner worldwide, providing individuals with skills that translate internationally. ANSI accreditation signifies that the certification holder has attained a certification designed to the highest industry requirements, and that Cisco has met, and continues to meet, standards for quality improvement, underscoring the validity and integrity of its program as the industry standard of IT networking certifications.

Key Facts:

• ANSI accreditation has been granted for the following Cisco certifications:
  • Cisco CCNA® (for Routing and Switching)
  • Cisco CCNP® (for Routing and Switching)
  • CCNA Security
  • CCNP Security
• ANSI is a member of the International Accreditation Forum, which provides criteria and guidelines for vendor-independent standardizing of the assessment and credential process. ANSI also represents the U.S. in the International Organization for Standardization.
• Nearly 30 countries are involved in accrediting personnel certification programs based on ISO/IEC 17024. 
• ANSI has been named the approved accreditor of certification bodies by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for its Information Assurance (IA) Workforce Improvement Program.
• The ANSI Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee approved the accreditation on Dec. 4, 2012.

Supporting Quotes:

• Dr. Roy Swift, senior director of personnel credentialing accreditation programs at ANSI, said: "ANSI commends Cisco for achieving accreditation and demonstrating its commitment to the continual improvement of its credentialing program. Accreditation by ANSI demonstrates compliance to a rigorous internationally recognized accreditation process and creates a valuable market distinction for these Cisco credentials."
  
  
• Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager atLearning@Cisco, said: "We are continuously raising the bar with our certification programs to ensure we align with future job roles and meet the highest standards in the industry for learning programs. Cisco is first to market with a networking certification that meets this ANSI accreditation standard. With our newly accredited Security and Route and Switch certifications, we have set a new standard for skills in networking that demonstrates leadership and differentiation of our program. Individuals that certify with Cisco can be assured that they have achieved something significant in their education that maps directly to the industry and the job roles of networking engineers. They can also be assured that they will be well-positioned for where the jobs are going in our industry. We want everyone certifying with Cisco to maximize their personal potential while also increasing the ROI of their organization's network infrastructure. ANSI accreditation is one of a number of efforts under way to make sure the value of certification remains high and reflects and validates real-world skills that are relevant to the marketplace."
  
  
• Patrick Finn, senior vice president, U.S. Public Sector, Cisco, said: "Cisco's world-class certifications provide the technical skills and depth of knowledge required for professionals to stand out in today's job market, while enabling a competitive advantage for their employers. This accreditation serves as third-party confirmation that Cisco certifications are developed to rigorous standards and best practices recognized throughout the world, providing additional confidence to our certification holders and their employers that Cisco certifications continue to meet and exceed industry standards."
  
  

Social Media Destinations:

• Twitter: [ www.twitter.com/learningatcisco ]
• Facebook: [ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cisco-Career-Certifications/111552132193668 ]
• LinkedIn: [ http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3443017 ]
• YouTube: [ http://www.youtube.com/cisco ]

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About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: [ CSCO ]) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected. For ongoing news, please go to [ http://thenetwork.cisco.com ].

Cisco, CCNA, CCNP and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at [ www.cisco.com/go/trademarks ]. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.