The Cisco 500-220 exam is the main requirement for the Cisco Meraki Solutions Specialist certification. It is designed to measure a professional’s expertise in engineering Meraki solutions. The evaluation covers such aspects as cloud management, design, implementing, monitoring, and troubleshooting, and more. The Cisco Meraki Solutions Specialist designation ensures that you have the appropriate skills to adequately manage and enforce the Meraki deployment as the needs of the network grow. Its validity is three years and recertification is mandatory for it to stay active.

Who Is The Test Designed For?

There are no prerequisites for taking the 500-220 evaluation which means anybody can register for it. However, it is mainly intended for professionals who have experience in cloud computing. The target candidates should be able to outline, execute, and run Cisco Meraki technologies in both large and small enterprises.

Exam Overview

The questions for the Cisco 500-220 exam take 1.5 hours to complete. It is currently available in English at a price of $300. Pearson VUE is authorized to register candidates for the test and administer the supervised evaluation online or at a testing center. The types of questions that test-takers may encounter in their delivery of the exam include multiple-choices, testlets, simlets, fill-in-the-blanks, drag-and-drops, among other formats. Knowing the structure of the 500-220 test is a crucial step when preparing to ace it and earn its associated accreditation.

Detailed Description Of Domains Tested

Exam 500-220 is designed to comprehensively examine the competency of candidates in the Meraki technologies. The content of the certification exam is classified into four main topics which include:

• Cisco Meraki Cloud Management (15%)
• Design (30%)
• Implementation (25%)
• Monitoring plus troubleshooting (15%)

The first subject area of this specialist-level exam serves as an introduction to the Meraki solutions offered by Cisco. Candidates should be able to describe the architecture of this cloud technology. Moreover, they should know the various procedures of gaining access to the dashboard as well as devices. It is also important to understand how an organization is structured and segmented, including the permissions required. The other expertise tested in this domain concern the billing of customers for these solutions. It involves licensing, co-termination, along with renewals. The last subtopic in this section requires candidates to make a comparison of the various execution workflows. This is important knowledge that is essential for the development of Meraki solutions in accordance with the customer’s specifications.

The second part is devoted to the design of scalable architectures for Meraki Auto VPN. Candidates are supposed to know the factors they should consider when applying vMX. Another skill they should have concerns the creation of policies for dynamic path selection. They should also be able to come up with scalable routing deployments that are robust and secure. Furthermore, the test will evaluate skills in the creation of enterprise network services while enhancing redundancy as well as high availability. This includes QoS plan of action for voice and video, security application at Layer 2, Firewall and IPS guidelines on MX in addition to MR, as well as solutions to control network access. Next, the candidate’s proficiency in designing enterprise wireless solutions is captured. It involves the implementation of wireless networks for Enterprise along with MR wireless networks for guest access. Lastly, the examinees should be able to make a comparison of the methods used to manage endpoint devices as well as applications.

In the third topic, candidates are tested based on their expertise in performing the configuration of MX security devices. This requires skills on subjects such as AutoVPN, dynamic and static routes, traffic shaping & SD-WAN, access policies & 802.1x, among others. The test will move on to evaluate individuals on MS switches and how they are configured. Candidates should also be able to configure access points for MR wireless, including SSIDs for the Enterprise as well as BYOD implementations, RF profiles, Air Marshal, and traffic shaping. The other competency that this section addresses is the configuration of the SM endpoint management. Next, candidates should have knowledge on how MV security cameras are set up, including, alerting, and retention settings. And lastly, the test-takers should be able to set up assurance for MI application.

The final domain covers understanding and explaining the information produced by devices used in monitoring & reporting. Candidates have to be skilled in the monitoring as well as maintenance of a network with the help of dashboard API. Also, they should be able to describe firmware improvements. The last competence related to this domain of the 500-220 test is how to identify and solve problems within Enterprise networks. This includes connectivity issues for wireless clients, utilizing Security Center to troubleshoot security threats, using Meraki Insight to identify and resolve performance problems in application performance, among others.

Career Opportunities

Cloud computing is a technology that is being adopted by organizations at a fast pace because of its IT cost-cutting attribute. It is very clear that IT professionals have to demonstrate that they have sufficient expertise and the right qualifications to work with this innovation. The 500-220 exam does a pretty good job in validating competency in the Meraki technologies. Because of the growing demand for these solutions, more professionals are needed to design, deploy, and operate them. Once the competencies they have are certified, their career opportunities increase. Some of the job roles that are available for you once you earn the Cisco Meraki Solutions Specialist certificate include:

• Consulting Systems Engineer
• Deployment Engineer
• Network Administrator
• Network Engineer
• Wireless Design Engineer
• System Engineer

Earning one certificate in the IT world may not be enough for career development. You may get employed but progress to positions that offer more benefits will be slow. Thus, once you pass the Cisco 500-220 exam and get certified, it is important that you identify the next accreditation to go for. For instance, those in the categories of CCNP, CCIE, as well as CCDE are available to you. It all depends on your level of experience in the field and the direction you wish to take your career to. So, you should take time to point out the best track that suits you and then enroll in the certification process.