I was fortunate to have an extended break over the Christmas and new year period. This gave me time to reflect on the year 2020 and set some goals for 2021.
2020 has been a year like no other. It has been a tough year for us all. But there has been some significant positives for me personally in 2020.
The pandemic has had an interesting effect on the company I work for. Being an ISP, we saw the network traffic increase by 30% in the space of weeks. We all moved to work from home. Which for me personally was something I did probably 1-2 days a week anyway. So the adjustment wasn't as profound, and it might have been for others. I miss the social aspect, and I don't talk as much to people to I don't directly work with as much as I would be in the office. But inside my small team, we implemented daily catch up calls which have helped keep that team spirit and keep me up to date on what others in the team are working on. So for me, I haven't hated working from home. I am lucky I have dedicated study that allows me to keep the work home balance a bit better then if I was working in the kitchen. If you ask me to know how would I work post this pandemic, I would say probably 2/3 days in the office and then rest from home.
On a personal note, I managed to purchase my first house with my girlfriend and move in 2 days before the first lockdown and that has been great to have more space compared to the flat we used to inhabit.
On a study and certificate side. I used the lockdown and tiers and more time at home to study more. So I come out of this a better engineer/Architect and complete some of my goals I set my self a few years ago. I completed the CWAP and CWSP exams. I passed the Ekahau Design course. I was introduced to Mist and completed the training for that. In the last few days of 2020, I submitted my application for CWNE. Which as of writing is currently queued and hopefully start 2021 with achieving CWNE level.
So what do I have planned for 2021? the following is what I want to achieve this year
- achieve CWNE status
- Pass Cisco CCNP Enterprise Wireless design
- Pass Cisco CCNP Enterprise Wireless Implementation
- attend either Ekahau troubleshoot or Advanced course
the thinking behind completing the Cisco CCNP wireless. Is my CCNP R&S is due to expire in January 2022 and to keep this certificate current and extend it for another 3 years. Also, we have a very large of Cisco wireless estate at work which I would like to be more knowledgeable about. After this, I will concentrate on Aruba as this is another vendor we work with at work.
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