CISSP class at SANS Rocky Mountain
So, it's the first day of work back from the SANS' CISSP Bootcamp session last week... here's to seeing how much of it sunk in. Hit the 'read more' for a summary of the week. On the bright side, the coworkers didn't bother to block me in again!
The instructor: I'll admit that I was bummed at first about not getting to hear from Eric Cole, since I've heard so many good things about him. However, I was very impressed with Tanya (Baccam). She was able to get across some fairly dry material in a way that was at least able to hold our attention. Though after the fifth day or so, it was getting doubtful. Which leads me to..
The time: Given the amount of material that had to be covered, 6 long days was needed, but it sure does make for a long day.. sitting non-stop and learning by way of book/lecture/power-point.. (since there's not really any labs, aside from quizzes to see how we're doing) And then on top of that was..
The location: Yes, the west side of Denver by the foothills is very scenic. and VERY FAR AWAY from where I live. 45 minutes - one way - on a good day. Next time, hopefully SANS at least moves closer to the center of town. Or maybe at least ponies up the MP3s of the lectures ahead of time so that we can listen to them to review. Especially how much it costs...
The price: Maybe I'm a cheapscate.. $3400-ish is a lot of cash. I'll certainly admit, the lecture combined WITH the books is far more useful than the books themselves. but still... at least they told us about the workstudy program. Next time, I'll try for that. $700 for a class in exchange for working for SANS? I'll try it. Especially if I'm going need all those CPEs.. (assuming that I actually pass the CISSP test)
The content: Seriously. The joke of 'I know in reality the answer is X, but in ISC2's happy land, it's really Y' got old. And old? yeah, so's the material. No mention of Vista. BARELY any mention of 2003. Networking still mentioned IPX. Even Cisco's taken IPX off of the CCNA exam. Also, the material is so vast, they really do hit the 'mile wide but inch deep' mark. You don't have to know any specifics.. just theory. Which I guess is fine, as long as you go back later and learn the specifics.. gives you a reason for those 120 CPEs.
Overall, I'm pretty sure I'll go ahead and foot the $550 for the CISSP. I'm FAIRLY sure I can pass the exam, as long as I review it all the week before. Meh. More letters behind the name on the business card, right?