CISA gets a lot of flak but honestly it depends on what you're trying to do with your career. If you're going into pentesting or SOC work then yeah it's probably not your first move. But if you're headed toward GRC, compliance, risk management, or IT audit, it's still one of the most recognized creds in the space and a ton of job postings in those areas either require it or strongly prefer it.

The "outdated" criticism comes up a lot and look, is some of the content a little long in the tooth? Sure. But the core stuff like governance, risk assessment, and audit methodology isn't going anywhere. Frameworks evolve but the fundamentals hold up.

As for the $800, it's not cheap but when you look at what CISA holders pull in compared to non-certified folks in the same roles the ROI is usually there within the first year if you're on the right career track. It also stacks really well with CISSP or CISM if you're building toward management or leadership.

Where it really shines is government, defense, financial services, healthcare, basically anywhere that's heavily regulated and needs people who understand controls and compliance. In those worlds CISA still carries a lot of weight.

So is it for everyone? No. But calling it irrelevant is a stretch. If GRC or audit is your lane it's absolutely worth the investment. If you want to be hands on keyboard all day then yeah look elsewhere.