I would also like to offer the following to this discussion thread:
The AMF is worth it for the following reasons:
1. FACT: "CISSP-certified IT professionals have the third highest global salary ($116,573) and the 10th highest in North America ($123,815). This is nothing new—CISSP has ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. each year since 2015, even coming in first in 2018." direct quote from https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/articles/why-is-cissp-a-top-paying-...
2. FACT: CISSP allows CPEs from many reasonable methods as opposed to making them so restricted that it would be nearly impossible to keep up with the continual learning requirement. Other certifications are using CPEs versus retaking their exam every three years and that would be more costly than the current AMF requirement. Yes, CompTIA has lower fees and that includes the CASP that according to DoD is equivalent to the CISSP for most positions, and you only need to need to pay the CE fees for your highest-level CompTIA certification refer to https://www.comptia.org/continuing-education/learn/ce-program-fees, however, the CASP does not meet the requirement to be at level III for either management or engineering in the DoD and you need the CISSP-ISSAP or CISSP-ISSEP to be engineering level III in the DoD.
3. FACT: Cisco is now using CPEs (or re-test) and fees for re-certification, refer to to https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/recertification-policy.html AND https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/cisco-continuing-education-program the administrative fee for Expert-level certifications is $300, HOWEVER they state that "No more continuing education administrative fee, as of February 24, 2020" refer to https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/training-events/training-certification-faqs.pdf
4. FACT; SANS has a certification maintenance fee that is a non-refundable $429 payment, due once every four years at the time of registration.
5. FACT: As of December 31, 2018 there are 131,180 (ISC)² members holding the CISSP certification worldwide, in 171 countries with the United States holding the highest member count at 84,557 members.[1] In June 2004, the CISSP designation was accredited under the ANSI ISO/IEC Standard 17024
Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Information_Systems_Security_Professional
As is clear by the facts: ALL the major certification vendors have fees and issues, so it is a matter of competition and choice except if you are in a specialized job that requires an (ISC)2 certification. The DoD requirement for cyber security engineers and level III managers is not a copy paste, it is their policy that is updated annually with thought and concurrence from across the DoD and I can tell you getting concurrence in the DoD is not easy to get on anything (I am retired so I can speak freely).
I have been a CISSP member for over a decade and I never regretted it. The new AMF payment and CPE system leaves much to be desired but they have fixed the major issues as of this post. I don't know why they no longer accept the full AMF payment upfront for three years but I will just deal with it because in the final analysis having the CISSP allows me to mentor my cybersecurity students and keep up with may career that I had in industry, the military, civil service and now as a adjunct professor. Without the Gold Standard certification, I would not have the credibility I need to do my job helping the next generation come into our profession, next to that the AMF is just pocket change. That is my opinion.
Respectfully,
Francis (Frank) Mayer, CISSP EMERITUS
