"He was a CCIE and truly able to apply his knowledge," Witty said. "He was a life saver."

By comparison, Witty said he has worked with Microsoft-certified engineers "who only seem kind of paper-certified."

Some engineers at Networkers weren't there for exams, but for the course offerings. Franz Hufnagl, network systems manager at Julius Blum Inc., a maker of cabinet hardware in Stanley, N.C., said he probably would never take a CCIE or related exam, and only attended Networkers for the high-quality courses. The Austrian native said that in much of Europe, certifications aren't as widely revered as in the U.S. "In my opinion, certifications are overrated," Hufnagl said.

In fact, he said, companies may be urging workers to get certifications in the hope that they will get special consideration from Cisco, if only so their calls for help will get answered more quickly.

One major beneficiary of the CCIE program may be Cisco itself.