Expert: John Palmer - 11/16/2011

Question
Which is better - RHCE or CCNA or MCSE?

 I want to do a certification course in Networking.I heard that Linux is more secure.But, Windows is most widely used.This made me a confusion to decide which course is better.Also latest news says 'Linux loses its luster as a darling among developers'. If I choose RHCE , what about the scope and about job?

Answer
Hello Veena -

this is a fairly broad question, and I would like to say that I can give you an answer, however since all 3 certificates are all different in their related fields, what I can do is give some good and bad reasons on both.

RHCE - RedHat has been around for a very long time, and good Linux engineers are sometimes hard to find.  While it is fairly well known and used around the world, sometimes finding positions for these kind of jobs can be limited.

CCNA - honestly, this would be where I would recommend to start.  Getting a solid foundation in Cisco will give you the best opportunities for the future, as network administrators are ALWAYS in demand.

MCSE - You are correct about this being the most widely used.  There are also a lot of MCSE engineers out there, some really good, some really bad, and a lot in the middle.  having an MCSE would be helpful, but it will not give you the opportunities in moving your career forward as much as going into Security and Network Engineering.

I would also recommend checking out Juniper, Checkpoint and Avaya certifications as well, as the more you have on your resume, the better you will look to future employers.

I hope this helps! :)