Which Cisco Exam Should You Take First: ENCOR or ENSLD

Cisco’s certification pathways have evolved considerably over the years, and two exams that frequently confuse candidates are ENCOR and ENSLD. ENCOR, formally known as Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies, serves as the foundational exam for several professional and expert level certifications, including CCNP Enterprise and CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure. ENSLD, or Designing Cisco Enterprise Networks, focuses specifically on the design side of enterprise networking, covering topics like network architecture, automation strategy, and infrastructure security design.

Understanding the distinct purpose of each exam is essential before deciding which one to attempt first. ENCOR validates a broad range of operational and implementation skills across routing, switching, wireless, security, and automation, making it the backbone exam that most candidates pursuing CCNP Enterprise must pass regardless of their concentration exam choice. ENSLD, on the other hand, is one of several concentration exams that pairs with ENCOR to complete the CCNP Enterprise certification, meaning candidates cannot rely on ENSLD alone without also passing ENCOR at some point in their certification journey.

Comparing Exam Content And Technical Scope

ENCOR covers an extensive range of technologies including dual stack architecture, virtualization, infrastructure, network assurance, security, and automation, making it a broad and demanding exam that tests both theoretical knowledge and practical configuration skills. Candidates preparing for ENCOR often spend significant time studying routing protocols like OSPF and EIGRP, wireless network fundamentals, and increasingly automation concepts involving APIs and controller based networking. This breadth means ENCOR functions almost like a comprehensive checkpoint across the entire enterprise networking domain.

ENSLD, by contrast, narrows its focus to design principles rather than hands on implementation, asking candidates to demonstrate the ability to architect resilient and scalable enterprise networks. Topics include advanced addressing and routing design, enterprise campus and WAN design, security services design, and network services design such as quality of service and multicast. While ENSLD still requires solid technical knowledge, the exam emphasizes design reasoning and architectural tradeoffs over the operational depth that defines ENCOR, which creates a meaningfully different study experience for candidates.

Why ENCOR Is Typically Recommended As The Starting Point

Most Cisco training resources and experienced professionals recommend taking ENCOR first, primarily because it serves as the mandatory core exam for the CCNP Enterprise track. Without passing ENCOR, candidates cannot complete their CCNP certification even if they pass ENSLD or any other concentration exam, which makes ENCOR a practical prerequisite in terms of certification sequencing. Starting with ENCOR also means candidates build a strong operational foundation before moving into design specific thinking, which can make design concepts easier to grasp later.

Another reason ENCOR is often the recommended starting point relates to how design knowledge builds naturally on implementation knowledge. Understanding how to design a scalable WAN architecture is considerably easier when a candidate already understands how routing protocols actually behave in real deployments, which is exactly the kind of hands on knowledge ENCOR reinforces. This sequencing mirrors how many network engineers naturally progress in their careers, moving from operational roles into architectural or design focused responsibilities over time.

Considering Your Current Job Role And Experience

Candidates already working in network engineering or operations roles often find ENCOR content more familiar, since much of the exam reflects day to day tasks like configuring routing protocols, troubleshooting connectivity issues, and managing wireless infrastructure. For these professionals, ENCOR can feel like a natural extension of their existing job responsibilities, making the exam content easier to absorb and retain through practical experience rather than pure memorization.

Candidates working in more design oriented or architectural roles, however, may find themselves more naturally drawn to ENSLD content, since their daily work already involves evaluating network requirements and proposing scalable solutions. Even so, most career paths still benefit from starting with ENCOR, since the operational depth it provides creates a stronger technical vocabulary that makes design conversations and ENSLD preparation considerably more effective. Job role can certainly influence comfort level with each exam, but it rarely outweighs the structural advantage of starting with the mandatory core exam.

Evaluating Your Long Term Certification Goals

Candidates pursuing CCNP Enterprise as their primary goal have a clear and straightforward path, since they must pass ENCOR regardless of which concentration exam they ultimately choose to pair with it. For these candidates, the only real decision is timing, meaning whether to tackle ENCOR first or attempt a concentration exam first if Cisco’s policies allow flexible sequencing. Even where flexibility exists, starting with ENCOR remains the more strategic choice given its foundational role across the broader certification structure.

Candidates with ambitions beyond CCNP Enterprise, such as pursuing CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure or CCIE Enterprise Wireless, should also factor in how ENCOR serves as a qualifying exam for CCIE written exam requirements. This means investing serious study time into ENCOR early on pays long term dividends, since the knowledge gained will continue to be relevant as candidates progress toward expert level certifications. ENSLD, while valuable, does not carry the same weight in terms of qualifying candidates for higher tier certifications, making ENCOR the more strategically important exam for long term career planning.

Assessing Difficulty Levels Between The Two Exams

Many candidates report that ENCOR feels more difficult due to its sheer breadth of content, requiring mastery across multiple technology domains rather than deep focus in a single area. The exam’s coverage of automation and programmability has also increased in recent versions, which can challenge candidates whose backgrounds lean more heavily toward traditional routing and switching rather than newer software defined approaches. This breadth means ENCOR preparation often takes longer and requires a more disciplined study schedule.

ENSLD, while narrower in scope, presents its own difficulty through the abstract nature of design reasoning, which can be harder to study for using straightforward memorization techniques. Design questions often present scenarios with multiple plausible solutions, requiring candidates to weigh tradeoffs and justify architectural decisions rather than simply recalling a configuration command. Some candidates who excel at hands on technical work find this shift toward conceptual reasoning more challenging than expected, even if the raw volume of content feels more manageable than ENCOR.

Reviewing Recommended Study Resources For ENCOR

Candidates preparing for ENCOR typically rely on a combination of official Cisco Press materials, video courses, and hands on lab practice using tools like Cisco Modeling Labs or physical equipment. Official certification guides provide structured coverage of exam topics, while video courses from established instructors can help clarify particularly challenging concepts like complex routing scenarios or wireless architecture design. Many candidates also join study groups or online forums to discuss difficult topics and stay accountable to a study timeline.

Hands on practice remains particularly important for ENCOR given its operational focus, since simply reading about configuration commands rarely translates into true mastery without actually applying them in a lab environment. Practice exams and question banks can help candidates gauge readiness, though these should be used as a supplement to genuine understanding rather than a substitute for it. Building a consistent study schedule that balances reading, video instruction, and lab practice tends to produce the strongest outcomes for ENCOR preparation.

Reviewing Recommended Study Resources For ENSLD

ENSLD preparation benefits from a somewhat different resource mix, with greater emphasis on design case studies, whitepapers, and Cisco validated design documents that illustrate real world architectural decisions. Official Cisco Press design guides remain a strong starting point, but candidates often supplement this with Cisco’s own design zone resources, which provide detailed examples of enterprise network architectures across various industries and use cases. This exposure to real design scenarios helps build the reasoning skills the exam ultimately tests.

Practice questions for ENSLD tend to focus heavily on scenario based reasoning, presenting a business requirement and asking candidates to select the most appropriate design solution from several technically valid options. Reviewing the rationale behind both correct and incorrect answers becomes especially important for this exam, since understanding why one design choice is preferable to another builds the kind of judgment the exam is designed to assess. Candidates who supplement reading with discussion, whether through study groups or professional mentorship, often find this reasoning based content easier to internalize.

Time Investment Required For Each Exam

ENCOR generally demands a more substantial time investment due to its broad technical scope, with many candidates reporting study timelines ranging from two to four months depending on prior experience and available study hours per week. Candidates entirely new to enterprise networking concepts may need even longer, particularly if they need to build foundational knowledge in areas like wireless networking or automation before tackling more advanced ENCOR topics. Setting a realistic timeline based on personal experience level helps avoid the frustration of an underprepared exam attempt.

ENSLD, while narrower in content, still requires a meaningful time commitment, often ranging from six to ten weeks for candidates who already possess a solid ENCOR foundation. Without that foundation, however, ENSLD preparation can take considerably longer, since candidates would need to simultaneously learn underlying technologies while also developing design reasoning skills. This time difference reinforces why starting with ENCOR often proves more efficient in the long run, since it prevents candidates from needing to backtrack and learn foundational material mid way through ENSLD preparation.

How Automation And Programmability Factor Into Both Exams

Cisco has steadily increased the emphasis on automation and programmability across its certification exams, and both ENCOR and ENSLD reflect this shift in different ways. ENCOR tests practical knowledge of automation tools, APIs, and controller based networking concepts, requiring candidates to understand how modern network operations increasingly rely on programmability rather than purely manual configuration. This shift can be challenging for candidates whose backgrounds lean heavily toward traditional command line configuration without much exposure to scripting or API driven tools.

ENSLD approaches automation from a design perspective, asking candidates to consider how automation strategy fits into broader network architecture decisions rather than focusing on the technical execution of automation tasks. This means ENSLD candidates need to understand the strategic value and design implications of automation, such as how centralized controllers affect network scalability and resilience, even if they are not tested on writing actual scripts or API calls. Together, these complementary perspectives reflect Cisco’s broader push toward validating both operational and architectural automation knowledge.

Industry Demand And Career Impact Of Each Certification

ENCOR and the resulting CCNP Enterprise certification remain highly sought after in the job market, with many enterprise networking roles listing CCNP as a preferred or required qualification. Because ENCOR validates such a broad range of operational skills, employers often view it as evidence that a candidate can handle diverse networking responsibilities, from troubleshooting connectivity issues to implementing wireless infrastructure. This broad applicability makes ENCOR knowledge valuable across many different job titles within network engineering.

ENSLD, while still valuable, tends to carry more weight specifically for candidates pursuing or already working in network design and architecture roles, where the ability to plan scalable infrastructure becomes a core job responsibility. Employers hiring for network architect or design engineer positions may specifically value the ENSLD concentration, since it demonstrates specialized reasoning skills beyond general operational competence. Candidates should consider their target job roles carefully when deciding how much weight to place on ENSLD relative to other available concentration exams.

Common Mistakes Candidates Make When Choosing Exam Order

One common mistake candidates make is underestimating the breadth of ENCOR and assuming it will be similar in scope to earlier associate level exams like CCNA, leading to insufficient preparation time. This miscalculation often results in candidates needing to retake the exam, which adds both financial cost and lost time to their certification journey. Recognizing early on that ENCOR requires a more substantial and disciplined study approach can help candidates avoid this pitfall.

Another frequent mistake involves attempting ENSLD before building adequate foundational knowledge through ENCOR style content, even in situations where exam sequencing flexibility might technically allow it. Candidates who skip this foundational step often struggle with ENSLD’s design scenarios, since they lack the practical context needed to evaluate why certain architectural choices work better than others in specific situations. Building knowledge in the proper sequence, starting with operational fundamentals before moving into design reasoning, tends to produce stronger outcomes and reduce the likelihood of needing multiple exam attempts.

Cost Considerations Across Both Certification Paths

Exam fees for both ENCOR and ENSLD represent a meaningful financial investment, and candidates should factor in not just the exam cost itself but also associated study materials, lab equipment or virtual lab subscriptions, and potential retake fees if an exam attempt is unsuccessful. Since ENCOR is mandatory for CCNP Enterprise regardless of concentration choice, candidates should budget for this exam as a non negotiable part of their certification journey rather than viewing it as optional or skippable.

ENSLD adds an additional cost on top of ENCOR, though candidates should compare this against other available concentration exams to determine which aligns best with their career goals and represents the best return on investment. Some candidates choose to spread these costs over a longer timeline, taking ENCOR first and then saving for ENSLD preparation materials and exam fees once they have passed the core exam. This phased financial approach can make the overall certification path more manageable, particularly for candidates funding their own professional development without employer sponsorship.

Building A Realistic Study Schedule For Sequential Exam Attempts

Candidates planning to pursue both ENCOR and ENSLD should consider building a realistic study schedule that accounts for the natural knowledge progression between the two exams rather than treating them as entirely separate preparation efforts. Starting with a dedicated ENCOR study period, followed by a short review phase before transitioning into ENSLD specific design content, allows candidates to leverage their existing knowledge rather than starting from scratch with each new exam. This continuity can significantly reduce overall preparation time compared to treating each exam as an isolated project.

Building in buffer time between exams also allows candidates to address any knowledge gaps revealed by their ENCOR results before diving into ENSLD preparation, since exam score reports often highlight specific weak areas worth additional review. Some candidates choose to take a short break after ENCOR to avoid burnout, while others prefer to maintain momentum by moving directly into ENSLD content while the foundational knowledge remains fresh. Either approach can work well, provided candidates remain honest with themselves about their energy levels and avoid rushing into a second exam attempt before they feel genuinely prepared.

Leveraging Practice Exams To Gauge Readiness

Practice exams play a valuable role in preparation for both ENCOR and ENSLD, though candidates should use them strategically rather than as a primary learning tool. For ENCOR, practice exams help candidates identify weak areas across the exam’s broad technical domains, allowing for more targeted review in the final weeks before the actual test date. Reviewing incorrect answers in detail, rather than simply noting a score percentage, tends to produce the most meaningful improvement during this final preparation phase.

For ENSLD, practice exams serve a slightly different purpose, helping candidates become comfortable with the scenario based reasoning style that defines much of the design exam’s question format. Since design questions often involve evaluating tradeoffs between multiple valid solutions, practice exams allow candidates to develop intuition for the kind of architectural thinking Cisco expects, which is difficult to build through reading alone. Combining practice exams with detailed explanation review consistently produces stronger readiness assessments than relying on practice scores in isolation.

Final Recommendations Based On Career Stage And Goals

For most candidates, particularly those early in their CCNP Enterprise journey, starting with ENCOR remains the clear and practical recommendation given its mandatory status and foundational role across the broader certification structure. This sequencing allows candidates to build essential operational knowledge that will directly support their understanding of design concepts when they eventually move on to ENSLD or any other concentration exam. The structural logic of Cisco’s certification path strongly favors this traditional sequencing for the vast majority of candidates.

Candidates already working extensively in network design roles, or those who already possess strong operational experience from years of hands on networking work, may find that the gap between ENCOR and ENSLD readiness is smaller than it would be for less experienced professionals. Even in these cases, however, passing ENCOR first remains the structurally necessary step for completing CCNP Enterprise, making the real decision less about which exam to prioritize and more about how much additional preparation time each exam will realistically require based on individual background and experience.

Conclusion

Deciding between ENCOR and ENSLD ultimately comes down to understanding that these two exams serve fundamentally different purposes within Cisco’s certification structure, with ENCOR functioning as the mandatory foundational exam and ENSLD serving as one of several optional concentration paths. For nearly all candidates pursuing CCNP Enterprise, starting with ENCOR represents the most logical and strategically sound choice, since it builds essential operational knowledge while also satisfying a non negotiable certification requirement. This sequencing also tends to make ENSLD preparation considerably more manageable, since design reasoning becomes easier once candidates already understand how the underlying technologies actually function in real deployments.

Candidates should still weigh their own job role, prior experience, and long term career goals when finalizing their study timeline, since these factors influence how much time each exam will realistically require. Those with strong operational backgrounds may move through ENCOR more quickly, while those with design oriented experience might find ENSLD concepts more intuitive once the foundational exam is complete. Regardless of individual starting point, investing adequate time into structured study resources, hands on practice, and realistic practice exams remains essential for success on either test. By approaching the certification path with a clear understanding of how these exams complement one another, candidates can build a more efficient and ultimately more rewarding journey toward CCNP Enterprise certification and beyond.