CCIE Routing and Switching Is Gone — Here’s What Replaced It (and How to Recertify)

If you’ve been searching for “CCIE Routing and Switching” recently, the short version is that the track itself no longer exists under that name — it was rebranded and restructured years ago, and understanding exactly what changed matters whether you’re a legacy CCIE holder trying to stay active or a newer engineer wondering which exam to actually study for. This guide walks through what happened to CCIE R&S, what the modern blueprint covers, which study materials are worth your time, where Cisco’s official resources live, how to recertify a legacy credential, and how to build a home lab to practice against the current exam.

From CCIE R&S to CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure: What Actually Changed

Cisco announced sweeping certification changes at Cisco Live in 2019, and they took effect on February 24, 2020. Here’s the sequence of what happened to the Routing & Switching track specifically:

1. CCIE Routing & Switching was rebranded to CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure. This wasn’t purely cosmetic — it reflected Cisco folding modern technologies like SD-Access, SD-WAN, and automation into what had previously been a more traditional routing-and-switching-focused exam.
2. The separate CCIE R&S written qualifying exam was retired. In its place, the shared CCNP/CCIE core exam — ENCOR (350-401, “Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies”) — became the single qualifying exam feeding into multiple paths.
3. That one core exam now unlocks three different outcomes. Passing ENCOR lets a candidate pursue a CCNP Concentration exam toward CCNP Enterprise, the CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure lab exam, or the CCIE Enterprise Wireless lab exam — a genuine fork that didn’t exist under the old R&S structure.
4. Wireless was split out as its own track. Content that used to sit adjacent to R&S now has a dedicated CCIE Enterprise Wireless path, separate from Enterprise Infrastructure.
5. Existing candidates and certified holders were automatically converted. Anyone who already held CCIE Routing & Switching was converted to CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure, and CCNP R&S holders became CCNP Enterprise — no re-testing required for the conversion itself. Candidates mid-process received credit for work already completed, and anyone who passed the CCIE R&S written exam before the cutoff remained eligible to sit the new CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure lab exam afterward.

The practical upshot: if you’re CCIE R&S certified, your certification record now reads CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure, and if you’re studying today, “CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure v1.1” is the exam you actually want — CCIE R&S is not something you can newly enroll in or attempt.

The Modern Blueprint: CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure v1.1 Topics

The current lab exam is an eight-hour, hands-on test split into two modules that never share time — finishing one early doesn’t add minutes to the other:

Module 1 — Design (3 hours): Scenario-based, no device access. You’re given topology diagrams, high-level design documents, and requirements, then answer via drag-and-drop, multiple-choice, and dropdown selections. No going back once you move past a question.

Module 2 — Deploy, Operate & Optimize (5 hours): Hands-on configuration, troubleshooting, and optimization work, executed against the constraints set in Module 1. All objectives and resources are provided upfront.

The blueprint itself is organized into five weighted domains:

• Network Infrastructure (30%) — switched campus, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, and the traditional routing/switching core that’s the direct descendant of the old R&S content.
• Software Defined Infrastructure (25%) — Cisco SD-Access and SD-WAN, the two technology areas that most clearly separate this exam from its R&S predecessor.
• Transport Technologies and Solutions (15%) — WAN transport and tunneling technologies.
• Infrastructure Security and Services (15%) — device hardening, infrastructure security, and core network services.
• Infrastructure Automation and Programmability (15%) — Python, Ansible, and model-driven programmability via YANG/NETCONF/RESTCONF.

Practice environments should match Cisco’s current equipment list to stay realistic: Catalyst 8000V routers on IOS XE 17.9, IOSv on 15.8, IOSv-L2 on 15.2, Catalyst 9300 switches on IOS XE 17.9, the SD-WAN stack (vManage, vBond, vSmart, cEdge) on Release 20.9, and DNA Center/Catalyst Center around the 2.3.x line.

Best Study Materials and Training Resources

Between the traditional routing/switching depth and the newer SD-Access/SD-WAN/automation content, most candidates need a mix of resources rather than a single book. Here’s where to start:

1. CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Core ENCOR 350-401 Official Cert Guide (Cisco Press) — written by Brad Edgeworth, Ramiro Garza Rios, Jason Gooley, and Dave Hucaby, this covers the shared qualifying exam and doubles as a strong foundation refresher for lab prep.
2. CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure Foundation, 2nd Edition (Cisco Press) — goes deeper into the technology areas the lab exam assumes you already know before you touch a topology.
3. INE’s CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure video courses and lab workbook — a large, established curriculum plus rentable rack time for exam-realistic practice.
4. Orhan Ergun’s CCIE EI design-focused resources — particularly useful for Module 1, since design reasoning is a different skill than configuration speed and often under-practiced.
5. KBITS blueprint breakdown and study plan — offers concrete hour allocations per domain (for example, prioritizing heavy lab time on Network Infrastructure, given its 30% weight), useful for pacing a multi-month study plan.
6. The official CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure v1.1 Exam Topics and Equipment/Software List (Cisco) — not a study guide in the traditional sense, but the document every other resource on this list should be checked against for currency.

Whatever combination you choose, treat item six as the anchor — third-party material ages quickly whenever Cisco pushes a minor blueprint or equipment revision.

Official Cisco Learning Network and Portal Links

Since so much changed in the 2020 restructuring, it’s worth bookmarking Cisco’s own resources directly rather than relying on secondhand summaries of the current state:

• Cisco Expert Certifications Exams and Training page — the central hub for CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure exam details, training resources, and scheduling links.
• Cisco Expert Level Certifications Tracker — the portal for scheduling your lab exam once you’ve passed ENCOR 350-401, and for tracking lab results and recertification status afterward.
• The official CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure v1.1 Exam Topics PDF and Equipment/Software List — Cisco’s authoritative, regularly updated blueprint and lab-environment documentation.
• Cisco Press’s ENCOR 350-401 Official Cert Guide store page — direct publisher access to the qualifying exam’s official self-study material.
• Cisco Learning Network — Cisco’s community platform for blueprint discussion, study matrices, and peer support.
• Cisco Continuing Education Program portal — where certified CCIEs log Continuing Education activity toward recertification, covered next.

Recertifying Your CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure (Former CCIE R&S) Credential

If your certification record now shows CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure because you were converted from CCIE R&S, here’s exactly how to keep it active:

1. Know your window. CCIE certifications are active for three years from the date earned (or from your last successful recertification), and Cisco does not grant extensions — you’re responsible for tracking your own status.
2. Choose your recertification path. You have three options, and they’re not mutually exclusive: retake the exam for your existing certification, advance to a higher-level certification, or earn the required Continuing Education (CE) credits.
3. If going the CE route, target 120 credits. CCIE-level recertification requires 120 Continuing Education credits, the highest requirement of any Cisco certification tier (compare: 80 for Professional, 30 for Associate).
4. Earn CE credits through eligible activities. Options include Cisco U. digital learning courses and certification paths, passing a certification exam (credits are awarded automatically and don’t need manual claiming), attending qualifying Cisco Live sessions (badge in for a minimum 45-minute eligible session), or participating in Cisco’s subject matter expert program for exam development.
5. Submit manual claims promptly if needed. Most CE credit is applied automatically, but where a manual claim is required, you have a 365-day window from the activity’s completion date to submit it — claims outside that window can’t be accepted.
6. Watch your reminder emails. Cisco sends recertification notices at 2 years, 1 year, 90 days, 60 days, and 30 days before expiration, sent to the email on your certification profile — keep that address current so you don’t miss them.
7. Don’t let it lapse. If a certification expires before requirements are met, there’s no grace period — you must complete the full exam process again from scratch to regain active status, rather than simply finishing outstanding CE credits.

Building a Home Lab in EVE-NG or CML

Whether you’re studying fresh or refreshing skills for recertification, most candidates eventually build a personal practice environment. Here’s how to decide between, and combine, the two most common simulator platforms:

1. Use CML for anything requiring licensed, close-to-real IOS-XE behavior. Cisco Modeling Labs handles Catalyst 8000V routers and Catalyst 9300 switches well, which matters most for the Network Infrastructure domain — the exam’s largest single weight at 30%.
2. Use EVE-NG for fast topology iteration. When you’re drilling routing protocol scenarios repeatedly and don’t need the full controller stack running, EVE-NG’s quicker spin-up/tear-down cycle beats rebuilding the same thing in CML each time.
3. Add the SD-WAN control plane deliberately, not as an afterthought. Deploy vManage, vBond, vSmart, and cEdge as dedicated VMs at Release 20.9 — SD-Access and SD-WAN together make up 25% of the blueprint, on par with some of the traditional routing content that R&S veterans might otherwise over-index on.
4. Bring in DNA Center/Catalyst Center for SD-Access practice. It’s become noticeably easier to run virtualized in recent releases, removing what used to be one of the bigger setup barriers for candidates without physical Catalyst 9000 hardware.
5. Script real automation tasks early. Since 15% of the blueprint covers Python, Ansible, and NETCONF/RESTCONF against YANG models, practice basic configuration-retrieval or push scripts well before your target exam date rather than treating automation as a last-minute add-on.
6. Practice the Design module with paper and no device access. Since that portion of the real exam gives you zero CLI access, rehearsing pure design-and-answer scenarios separately from your CLI drilling builds a genuinely different skill than configuration speed.

Moving Forward With the Current Exam

CCIE Routing & Switching isn’t coming back — it’s now CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure, carrying the same traditional routing and switching weight at its core while adding SD-Access, SD-WAN, and automation on top. Whether you’re a legacy holder managing 120 CE credits to stay active or a newer candidate building a study plan from scratch, anchor your preparation to Cisco’s current official blueprint and equipment list, mix design-focused and hands-on training resources, and build a lab environment that reflects the actual technology stack — SD-WAN and SD-Access included — rather than only the routing and switching fundamentals the old track was named for.

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