One of the big announcements this week at Cisco Live was the launch of their new DevNet certification track. Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins reiterated the fact that knowledgeable engineers are always going to be in-demand. Contrary to what many believe, network automation and A.I. integration is not designed as a replacement for those skills, but rather these advancements allow the ability to manage numerous network devices and their services through software. For large scale networks, usage of API’s for automation is the way of the future.

The launch of this new certification track is aimed at joining the skills of software developers with network professionals, with the goal of accelerating the progress of network automation in organizations throughout the world.

Here's a breakdown of the current DevNet certification offerings:

DevNet Associate

This entry-level certification is accessible to those who are "early-in-career" developers, and also experienced network engineers. Recommended experience is one or more years of developing and/or maintaining applications built on Cisco platforms. Hands-on programming experience is recommended as well, specifically the Python language.

DevNet Specialist

This is ideal for those who have three to five years of experience with application development, operations, security, or infrastructure. You also have the option to choose a particular focus area under the umbrella of Software Specialist or Automation Specialist, with options listed below.

Software Specialist options:

• Core
• DevOps
• IoT
• Webex

Automation Specialist Options:

• Collaboration Automation
• Data Center Automation
• Enterprise Automation
• Security Automation
• Service Provider Automation

DevNet Professional

This certification requires one core exam, plus one concentration exam. This is recommended for developers who have at least three to five years of experience designing and implementing applications built on Cisco platforms with experience in Python. This also included experienced engineers who want to learn more about software and automation.

DevNet Expert

Currently, the expert certification offering is not available. However, this is listed as a "Future Offering" on the DevNet Certification website.

For more in-depth information about a particular DevNet track, check out the website at https://developer.cisco.com/certification.

Take care,

Kevin