Hello all,

I'm a SW developer, have been working in industry and research for 8 years, mainly coding in UNIC/C/C++. I'm currently working on a fixed term contract that ends in a year from now.

My skills in SW are obsolete, I think my market value is very low.

I want to change my orientation a little, and try something more marketable. I'm tired of development, I don't have the energy to learn new languages and frameworks etc. Any young college grad. can do it better.

So I'm thinking of going into IT security.

I have no past experience on IT security at all. I have to get training.

As I see it, my options are:

OPTIONS: 1. Enroll in a Univ. somewhere, get an MSc degree in IT security, online or with physical presence

2. Try to get the CISCO Security Professional certification.

MY QUESTION: Is there any other, better option? If not, which one of these two is the best, from your point of view?

Thanks in advance.

Go for CISCO certification , if you do not have energy to learn new language , you will also not able to pass in university exams.

What I had in mind was an opinion on which one would be more useful professionally. I think I could handle an MSc course, if that would be better.
But I see your point, and is well taken.

Thanks very much for your answer!

I also suggest you Go for CISCO certification, it is better option for you.

Master course are usually quite tough and time-consuming if you are taking it part-time. Been through that path before. So perhaps you can try to get the professional cert instead. But do mentally prepared, since you are sort of changing career path, your starting pay in the new field may not be as much as your previous one which you have 8 years exp.