XcellAcademy|Palo Alto Networks Certifications
Four tiers. Three domains. One plan per role.
Palo Alto Networks retired PCNSA, PCNSE and the other PC-series exams in 2025 and moved to role-based certifications: Foundational, Professional, Specialist and Architect. Here are all 0 current and legacy certifications, each with tier, domain, format, validity, status and its source, read on 10 November 2026. Then a suggested path for six XcellHost roles, ribbon badges to download and a tracker that warns you before a certificate expires.
Internal page, kept out of search engines. Tracker data stays in this browser.
The certification portfolio after the 2025 refresh.
Two Foundational certifications are shared by every domain. Above them, each of the three domains — Network Security, Security Operations and Cloud Security — has a Professional certification for the platform, Specialist certifications for single products, and, for two domains, an Architect certification. Click any block to filter the catalogue.
What happened to PCNSA, PCNSE and the PC-series?
Palo Alto Networks says there is no direct equivalence between old and new certifications. Active legacy certificates stay valid until they expire.
| Legacy | Retired | Look at instead |
|---|---|---|
| PCCET | 31 Jan 2025 | Foundational |
| PCNSA | 31 Jan 2025 | NetSec Professional |
| PCSFE | 31 Jan 2025 | No named replacement |
| PCNSE | 31 Jul 2025 | NetSec Professional NetSec Analyst NGFW Engineer |
| PCCSE | 31 Jul 2025 | Cloud Security track |
| PCSAE | 31 Jul 2025 | XSOAR Engineer |
| PCDRA · PCCSA | confirm | No longer in the portfolio |
PCNSE, PCCSE and PCSAE replacements are those Palo Alto suggested in June 2025; the others are XcellHost's nearest match, not a Palo Alto mapping.
How renewal and retakes work
From the Palo Alto Networks Certification Handbook, September 2026.
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Validity | 2 years from the pass date |
| Recertify | Retake the exam before the expiry date |
| Same exam again | Wait 18 months (545 days) after a pass |
| Higher tier pass | Extends active lower certifications in the same track by 2 years |
| After a fail | Wait 15 days, then 30 days, then 90 days |
So a Specialist pass can keep your Professional certification alive. Plan renewals in the tracker below.
Every certification, checked at the source.
One card per certification: badge, tier, domain, format, validity, fee, prerequisites, status and the page it came from. Palo Alto Networks does not publish exam prices, question counts or exam codes on its portfolio page — they are in each exam datasheet and the voucher store, so they show as confirm.
Try a shorter word, or clear the filters.
Sources read 10 Nov 2026: paloaltonetworks.com/services/education/certification (17 certifications, tiers, domains), the Certification Handbook dated September 2026 (validity, recertification, retake waits, Credly), pearsonvue.com/paloaltonetworks (exam list, Pearson VUE booking and voucher store), the Cybersecurity Practitioner page, and two Palo Alto LIVE community notices (updated 10 Dec 2024 and 12 Jun 2025) for retirement dates. Exam prices, question counts and durations are in each certification datasheet — confirm before booking. A non-official community post put fees at about US$110–200 by tier; it is not used here.
Which certifications, in which order, for each role.
These are XcellHost's suggested internal paths, not Palo Alto Networks requirements. Mandatory means mandatory in our suggested plan; Recommended is optional. Timelines are targets for a new joiner and the team lead can change them.
All paths are labelled suggested. Prepare with each exam's datasheet and the digital learning paths on Palo Alto Networks Beacon.
One rosette per certification, coloured by tier.
Every certification has an XcellHost ribbon badge for internal recognition — the team wall, slides or the staff newsletter. Download any badge as SVG or PNG.
Illustrative XcellHost badge designs — official digital badges are issued by Palo Alto Networks via Credly. These are not Palo Alto Networks or Credly artwork, use no vendor logo and do not prove a certification; the Credly credential does.
NextWave levels and the certified staff behind them.
The Palo Alto Networks NextWave partner programme has four levels — Registered, Innovator, Platinum and Diamond — across partner paths for resellers, MSSPs, support and delivery services, distributors and marketplaces. Levels differ mainly in specialization and technical depth, and discounts reward certified sales and technical staff.
Specializations and focus areas (2026)
NextWave has product, services and advanced specializations. Palo Alto says certified partners do not need to be tested every year under its continuous-education component, and a partner dashboard reaches all partners in the second half of 2026.
What is not public
The number of certified individuals per level and per partner path, and which certifications count, sit in the Learning Center for Partners behind a login. This page does not guess them.
XcellHost NextWave level: confirm*
We are confirming XcellHost's current NextWave level, partner path and specializations, so this page does not claim any. The tier cards show only how many people in your tracker hold a current certification.
Sources: Palo Alto Networks blog “How NextWave's Evolution Drives Shared Success” (18 Mar 2026) and “The ‘Why’ Behind NextWave's New Requirements” (14 May 2026), read 10 Nov 2026 — levels, partner paths, specialization types and priority areas. *Confirm current requirements in the Learning Center for Partners.
Who holds what, and what expires next.
Add a colleague, mark the certifications they have passed with the date and their Credly link, and the tracker works out the two-year expiry, progress against their role path and the team badge wall. It starts empty.
Data stays in this browser. Nothing is uploaded. Use Export to share a copy with your team lead, and Import to load it on another machine. Browser storage is unavailable, so data lasts until you close this tab — export it first.
Palo Alto Networks certification, answered.
Four tiers. Foundational validates basic cybersecurity concepts; Professional validates operations and management across a platform; Specialist validates deploying and running one product; Architect validates designing a secure enterprise architecture. The portfolio lists 17 certifications across Network Security, Security Operations and Cloud Security.
No. PCNSE retired on 31 July 2025, along with PCCSE and PCSAE. PCCET, PCNSA and PCSFE retired on 31 January 2025. An active certificate stays valid until it expires. For PCNSE, Palo Alto suggested Network Security Generalist (now listed as Professional), Network Security Analyst and Next-Generation Firewall Engineer.
No. Palo Alto Networks says there is no direct equivalence between the old and new certifications, so nothing converts automatically. You keep the legacy credential until it expires and sit the new exam you need.
Two years from the day you pass. You recertify by retaking the exam before the expiry date; after a pass you must wait 18 months before taking the same exam again. Passing a higher-tier certification in the same track extends your active lower-tier ones by two years.
Palo Alto Networks does not publish prices on its portfolio page; you buy vouchers through the Pearson VUE store, and each exam datasheet has the details. Ask the channel team about partner vouchers before paying.
Exams are computer-based and booked through Pearson VUE, at a Pearson test centre. Pearson VUE also offers OnVUE online testing — check the exam's booking page to see whether online delivery is offered for it.
Wait 15 days before your second attempt, 30 days before your third and 90 days before any later attempt.
Yes. NextWave levels — Registered, Innovator, Platinum and Diamond — weigh specialization and technical depth, and discounts reward certified sales and technical staff. The exact counts are in the partner portal. XcellHost's own level is being confirmed and is not claimed here.
Only in this browser, in local storage. Nothing is sent to XcellHost or Palo Alto Networks. If storage is blocked, the data lasts until you close the tab. Export a JSON or CSV copy for your team lead, and Import it on another machine.
Use your official Credly badge for LinkedIn and anything a customer sees — it links to your verified credential. The ribbon badges here are illustrative XcellHost designs for internal recognition only.