Rajan,
If I understand you correctly you are asking whether to continue your studies into the Masters degree, or whether to pursue certifications instead of enrolling into a Masters degree.
If this is really what you are asking about then my advice is: do both. The certifications will show your future employer that you have the knowledge and the proficiency to work with particular vendor's products at some level and that you also have an overview of the fundamental theoretical principles. However, the certifications (or the knowledge necessary to earn a certificate) is understandably and inseparably linked to a particular vendor and its products, implementations and "view of the world". It often does not go very much into "why", it tells you only "how". In my opinion, that is too little for a person that shall be versatile, effective and adaptive to the current state of art in the networking field.
Enrolling into the Masters course in the networking would give you precisely that aspect of knowledge that is not covered by certifications - the ability to understand why things are designed in this or that particular way, even perhaps the skills to improve things. Understanding the principles and their consequences makes the networking to become your second nature. Learning new things, new technologies, new services - all that will become so much easier because you will understand the principle and the logic behind. You won't actually need to memorize all the things because whenever you need them, you just deduce them instantly again and again from the knowledge you have. And also, when an unexpected situation is encountered in a network, you will be at a huge advantage because again by following the knowledge how shall something work and why shall it work that way, you will be in much better position to actually understand in intimate detail what is going on, whether it is actually expectable or way off the correct course.
Combining both the certification and the masters degree is really about taking the best from both worlds. The certificate is immediately accepted and "readable", so to say, by anybody that wants to know what your skills in networking are. And by attending the masters courses, you will enhance and cultivate your own knowledge and the ability to think in networking relations and terms. Isn't it simply awesome to be a person that can practically configure great stuff on networking devices and at the same time actually understand to the smallest detail why the things were designed in a particular way - to be a true expert, not just by skills but also by the solid knowledge foundation?
I would never position a certificate above a masters degree or say that having a certification is more than having a degree. They are not comparable, rather, they are complementary and shall come together.
Best regards,
Peter
