topic Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP in Exam Preparation

CISSP, now want to take CCSP

Rossva — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 17:42:59 GMT

Hi all

As above passed CISSP last year now I’ve got the bug, want to get another cert. I’ve studied CISM and should take that but I’ll be honest and say I find it really dull!

So I bought the CCSP official study guide and the official practice test book.

To be honest, found nothing a struggle in either book, both CISSP and on job knowledge made this all seem real easy.

Having said that, I’ve only had the books a coupe weeks and read through them both twice.

I haven’t bought the CBK as I see it’s kinda outdated and due to be replaced in June I think. But then I didn’t have the CISSP CBK either.

Question for those that have done both. Did you use any other materials, or based on the above would you say ready to take the exam?

Appreciate your input!

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

laracissp — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 18:19:58 GMT

my advise is dont think CCSP is easier, because is not, try as hard as you did for CISSP, regards

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

Rossva — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 18:21:40 GMT

Thank you for your feedback! I will absolutely keep that in mind.

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

laracissp — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 18:29:35 GMT

and do not take a long breake, I waited for 2 years to start CCSP study, I wish I had have started 2 months after I completed my CISSP.

In terms of your question, I think it's enough for reference, but you definitely need to have hands on on cloud ecosystem.

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

AppDefects — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:29:07 GMT

@Rossva wrote:
Question for those that have done both. Did you use any other materials, or based on the above would you say ready to take the exam?

As a matter of practice it is always a good idea to review sources that are referenced in the official guides. Then as long as you can satisfy the CCSP experience requirements I would say go for it!

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

ericgeater — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 05:31:29 GMT

I am currently studying for CISM, and while it does seem less invigorating than CISSP did, I find it uniquely challenging. With CISM, it's far less technical and more geared toward decision and management. Therefore, the answers to questions seem more subjective.

I will say, however, that the CISM study material I've come across has not nearly been as thorough as that which I read for CISSP. Adam Gordon's CBK and Chapple's 8E dumped an extraordinary level of useful data for CISSP, whereas the ISACA CISM books seem less committed to a goal.

My next goal will be to lose some weight that I've gained during all this reading.

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

AlecTrevelyan — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 10:01:01 GMT

@Rossva wrote:
Hi all

As above passed CISSP last year now I’ve got the bug, want to get another cert. I’ve studied CISM and should take that but I’ll be honest and say I find it really dull!

So I bought the CCSP official study guide and the official practice test book.

To be honest, found nothing a struggle in either book, both CISSP and on job knowledge made this all seem real easy.

Having said that, I’ve only had the books a coupe weeks and read through them both twice.

I haven’t bought the CBK as I see it’s kinda outdated and due to be replaced in June I think. But then I didn’t have the CISSP CBK either.

Question for those that have done both. Did you use any other materials, or based on the above would you say ready to take the exam?

Appreciate your input!

I passed with pretty much just using those two resources along with experience. When I went through the practice tests it highlighted a couple of areas that are not covered in depth in the study guide and I didn't have much experience of so I spent a bit of time reviewing resources on the Internet to gain a bit more knowledge in those areas.

When I took the exam I found it incredibly challenging - I still maintain it was the hardest exam of the six ISC2 exams I have passed - but that was possibly because it's the one for which I did the least amount of study.

When I then came to study for the CISSP concentrations, due to a lack of good practice tests, I had to completely change my study method. I would read as many of the suggested references for each as I could. Now this is my default study method and is what I would recommend you to do.

Each question on an ISC2 exam is able to be traced back to information found in the texts of the respective suggested reference list. So when you've read most of the references you should rarely, if ever, face a question you don't at least have some cursory knowledge of - that makes these exams so much easier!

https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/References#accordion-5885d75c57c140d282f289e8dfd1f586

Good luck!

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

AlecTrevelyan — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 10:04:47 GMT

@AppDefects wrote:

As a matter of practice it is always a good idea to review sources that are referenced in the official guides. Then as long as you can satisfy the CCSP experience requirements I would say go for it!

In my opinion this should no longer be the case as "cloud" has been around for long enough now, and the CCSP is already only second to the CISSP in terms of member counts, but if you are an existing CISSP that will be used to waive the entire CCSP experience requirement (as is stated in the last sentence in your link).

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

Rossva — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 10:25:47 GMT

Really appreciate all of your feedback, thanks all!

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

emb021 — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 17:27:55 GMT

@ericgeater wrote:
I am currently studying for CISM, and while it does seem less invigorating than CISSP did, I find it uniquely challenging. With CISM, it's far less technical and more geared toward decision and management. Therefore, the answers to questions seem more subjective.

I will say, however, that the CISM study material I've come across has not nearly been as thorough as that which I read for CISSP. Adam Gordon's CBK and Chapple's 8E dumped an extraordinary level of useful data for CISSP, whereas the ISACA CISM books seem less committed to a goal.

My next goal will be to lose some weight that I've gained during all this reading.

As someone who has completed all the ISACA certs, I would *not* recommend any of the ISACA Review Books as something to self-study for any of the exams. And interestingly, as I took classes to prep for all the the certs, that is also what I head from the instructors. They said they were good as post cert references.

I WOULD encourage the use of the ISACA QAE (Questions Answers Explanations) as a good study aid. I used them, plus additional official QAE materials given from the instructors (which ISACA provides them), along with my class presentations to help me study and pass them.

Now, as the question about the CCSP. I, too, plan on going for it. I have the books and plan on use them PLUS am thinking of doing Cybrary's on-line CCSP training.

As to getting hands-on cloud experience, I know with both AWS & Azure they will give you free access for a year, which is great for trying it out. And their entry-level training is available on-line for free as well.

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

ericgeater — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 03:48:29 GMT

The QAE has been a very useful book, indeed. Lots of curve balls in its answers. The Review Manual was comparatively skimpy and unsatisfying. Did you take ISACA classes, or did you take a specific boot camp?

Re: CISSP, now want to take CCSP

emb021 — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:34:39 GMT

@ericgeater wrote:
The QAE has been a very useful book, indeed. Lots of curve balls in its answers. The Review Manual was comparatively skimpy and unsatisfying. Did you take ISACA classes, or did you take a specific boot camp?

For the CISA I took a class organized by my ISACA chapter.

For the other 3, I took classes organized by the NY Metro chapter, given by Jay Ranade.

Both classes were given by ISACA-approved instructors, tho these aren't the classes they offer thru their website.