Huawei Exams

The Geographic Reality of Huawei

Founded in 1987, Huawei currently holds roughly a third of the global telecommunications equipment market. While federal restrictions have effectively removed Huawei hardware from United States infrastructure, the company remains a dominant force in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. If you work in these regions, or support multinational networks that span them, understanding Huawei's Versatile Routing Platform (VRP) is a strict job requirement.

Huawei reports over half a million active certified professionals worldwide. These credentials validate the ability to configure, deploy, and maintain the routers, switches, and storage arrays that power massive segments of the global internet. The vendor's training ecosystem is deeply integrated into regional universities and enterprise partners, creating a steady pipeline of engineers trained specifically on Huawei silicon.

Huawei Certification Tiers

The Huawei certification program follows a strict three-tier progression: Huawei Certified ICT Associate (HCIA), Professional (HCIP), and Expert (HCIE). The HCIA tier proves you can perform basic device configuration and understand foundational protocols. The HCIP tier expects you to design and deploy complex, multi-site solutions. The HCIE tier demands architectural mastery and rapid troubleshooting under pressure.

The Datacom Track

Huawei recently overhauled its flagship networking credentials, retiring the legacy Routing & Switching track in favor of Datacom. This change reflects an industry shift away from traditional manual configuration toward software-defined networking (SDN), VXLAN, and network automation.

Most networking professionals start with the H12-811: HCIA-Datacom V1.0. This exam tests standard IPv4 and IPv6 routing principles, but it also introduces basic WLAN concepts and programming automation. You must know how to build a Layer 3 network using OSPF and static routes, while also understanding how modern controllers manage network traffic.

At the professional level, candidates must pass a core exam and a concentration. The H12-821: HCIP-Datacom-Core Technology V1.0 covers advanced OSPF, BGP, multicast, and routing policies. From there, many candidates move to the H12-831: HCIP-Datacom-Advanced Routing & Switching Technology exam. Huawei has positioned this specific concentration as the primary replacement for several retiring specialized tracks in 2026, making it the most stable choice for enterprise engineers.

Engineers aiming for the top technical ranks target the HCIE tier. This expert-level credential requires passing a written exam followed by a rigorous practical lab. It tests cross-domain solution planning, forcing candidates to deploy large-scale campus networks and SD-WAN architectures under strict time limits.

Beyond Routing and Switching

Huawei's hardware footprint extends deep into the data center and cellular networks, and the certification roster reflects this breadth.

Storage administrators often pursue the H13-624_V5.5: HCIP-Storage V5.5, which tests deployment and administration of Huawei's OceanStor arrays, flash storage systems, and backup solutions. The exam focuses heavily on business continuity features, evaluating your ability to configure active-active data centers and asynchronous replication.

For telecom engineers, Huawei offers specialized credentials that rarely have direct equivalents in enterprise-focused vendor programs. The H35-581_V2.0: HCIP-5G-RNP&RNO V2.0 targets radio network planning and optimization. This exam evaluates your ability to design 5G cell sites, manage radio frequencies, and troubleshoot signal interference in large-scale carrier deployments.

Exam Mechanics and Career Value

Huawei exams rely heavily on specific VRP command syntax. You cannot pass these tests on networking theory alone. Questions frequently present a block of configuration output and ask you to identify the missing command, or they provide a topology and ask which specific command sequence establishes a BGP peering session.

The exams also test product trivia. You will encounter questions asking you to identify the specific throughput capacity of a particular switch model or the maximum number of supported nodes in a specific storage array.

If you plan to earn a Huawei credential, check your local job market first. In regions where Huawei hardware leads, an HCIP or HCIE commands immediate respect from hiring managers and opens doors to senior engineering roles at managed service providers and regional carriers. In markets where Huawei faces trade embargoes, these certifications carry no hiring weight. Your location determines whether learning VRP syntax is a niche hobby or a lucrative career move.