Cisco or Microsoft certification ?

One of the common question asked by a typical IT infrastructure student is that Which certification is better for me ? Cisco -Certification or Microsoft Certification ? and should I go for  CompTIA ?

There is no point in directly comparing the Cisco and Microsoft certifications .

First of all , achieving the certification is the  second step in your carrier plan. Before venturing  to get certified , make sure that you get qualified.

Microsoft offer a certification path in networking and Cisco offer on in inter networking. What is the big difference  ?

If networking is inter connection of two or more computers , then inter networking is inter connection of two or more networks. So it implies that to before you move to an inter -networking carrier path , make sure you are confident about networking .

Before you move on with your networking training , make sure that you have enough background in Basic IT infrastructure including Hardware skills and normal network implementation

Should I go for Certification from CompTIA  for my basic hardware skills ?

For developing your basic hardware skills and get a deep insight in to  the computing , the  A plus certification material from CompTIA is the best.    You can just follow the study program path from CompTIA but writing a CompTIA A + certification is not a good investment for your IT carrier. CompTIA is not offering any vendor specific certifications , so investing your hard earned money for a costly exam like A plus is not at all recommended.  I repeat , the study path by CompTIA is the best for developing IT  fundamentals but investing on certification from CompTIA is not at all a wise move .

Microsoft Certifications  will be your  first wise investment  towards a better carrier in networking .  Even if you are planning to move towards the Linux networking , the basic skill set with Microsoft products will always be an add on advantage  for your resume  .   The MCITP enterprise admin track will be the one you should go for .

If you wish to move towards the Linux segment , collect at least the Active directory Service knowledge and basic Infrastructure skills from the ADS and Infra papers from Microsoft and move on with  RHCE

 Cisco Certification  is not a basic certification in Networking . Even the CCNA  program from Cisco is expecting your strong networking skills to  qualify yourself to attend a  CCNA  exam.

So back to the point about if  Cisco or Microsoft certification is better ,  you should go for both if  you plan for a better carrier in Networking .