News Summary:

• Evolution of Cisco’s professional certification program embraces both the network professional and now the software developer into one community to create the IT team of the future.
• Cisco’s certification and training program now includes DevNet certifications and is designed for both the network professional and software developer to optimize and write applications for the new network and choose the technology skills they want to develop. 
• Network automation is one of IT’s biggest challenges. The DevNet Automation Exchange provides shared code repositories which solve use cases for network automation and guides teams through their journey with a walk-run-fly methodology. Code is developed by the community and curated by Cisco as network automation best practices are developed by industry experts. 

SAN DIEGO, California – Cisco Live U.S.- June 10, 2019 –Today Cisco is revolutionizing the role of network professionals and software developers to drive technology innovation and accelerate business. As Cisco reinvents the future of networking, DevNet (Cisco’s developer program) is bringing together software developers and certified network professionals into one community to enable unparalleled collaboration and best practice sharing and to pioneer new levels of automation capabilities. In addition, Cisco is introducing an industry-changing expansion of its professional certification program that embracesboth the network professional and software developer and adding a new community-based developer center to accelerate adoption and success with network automation.

Cisco’s intent-based networking has led to a fundamental shift in the role networks play in business and changes how networking is done. The role of the networking professional has changed as it moves away from manual, time intensive tasks and into the world where IT, DevOps and application and cloud developers work together. To fully leverage the capabilities of this new network, organizations must leverage software practices, networking and software skills and an engaged community that solves technology challenges together.

“Networking technology has evolved significantly over the last five years and the new network can accelerate business, catalyze new applications, and bring DevOps practices to networks,” said Susie Wee, SVP/CTO and founder of Cisco DevNet. “We are bringing software skills to the networking industry with new Cisco DevNet certifications. In addition, we are bringing software practices to networking by having a community of networkers and developers work together to solve tough network automation problems through shared code repositories. This will allow the industry to take full advantage of the capabilities of the new network to accelerate business.” 

BRINGING SOFTWARE PRACTICES TO NETWORKING: ACCELERATING NETWORK AUTOMATION WITH THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

The network is the backbone of today’s digital business, but network automation remains one of the biggest challenges for IT. Cisco’s intent-based networking portfolio enables secure network automation at scale with a new community-based developer center called Cisco DevNet Automation Exchange. DevNet Automation Exchange features sharedcode repositories of use cases for network automation. Cisco’s community of developers, networking professionals, partners and customers can actively contribute software to create the industry leading repository for network automation code.

DevNet Automation Exchange guides teams through their journey to implement network automation and intent-based networking with a Walk-Run-Fly methodology.

• Walk: Get visibility and insights in their networks. This enables use cases such as gathering telemetry and insights from running networks, and performing auditing to ensure ongoing security of the network.
• Run: Activate policy and intent across different network domains. This enables use cases such as providing self-service network operations that comply with security policies and operational guidelines. 
• Fly: Proactively manage applications, users, and devices with DevOps workflows. This enables use cases such as deploying applications in continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines while configuring the network in accordance with new application policies.  

DevNet Automation Exchange builds on the deep expertise of Cisco’s community of network experts and software developers, allowing them to collaborate and create automation best practices for their industries.

BRINGING SOFTWARE SKILLS TO NETWORKING: NEW CISCO CERTIFICATIONS TO BUILD IT TEAMS OF THE FUTURE 

A growing opportunity for innovation is applications that utilize a programmable network infrastructure to solve business challenges. However, in order to take advantage of this opportunity, partners and customers have to build teams with the appropriate software practices and networking background to optimize their networks and drive innovation. 

“With networking technology changing at an unprecedented pace, the world of infrastructure engineers and software developers must come together to build the IT team of the future,” said Mike Adams, Vice President of Cisco’s training and certification business. “For over 25 years, Cisco certifications has helped over 1.7 million network professionals around the world to launch their careers, demonstrate their technology capabilities and build a career path with the right skills to compete in the market. Now, the Cisco Certification program is designed so IT teams can optimize network and application performance, giving their businesses an edge in today’s dynamic digital world.” 

Cisco is evolving its certification and training program, with a focus on educating network engineers and now software developers to optimize the new network. The new training and certification program fast-tracks professionals to the knowledge they need to thrive in this new landscape under the key principles of leadership, agility and value. The new Cisco Certifications include:

• New DevNet Certifications to validate software professionalswith DevNet Associate, DevNet Specialist, and DevNet Professional certifications. DevNet certifications are intended for software developers and network engineers who develop software proficiency to develop applications and automated workflows for operational networks and infrastructure.
• Streamlined Cisco Certifications to validate engineering professionalswith Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA®) and Cisco Specialist certifications as well as Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP®) and Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE®) certifications in enterprise, data center, service provider, security, and collaboration.
• Expansion of Cisco Networking Academy offerings to train entry level network professionals and software developers.Courses prepare students to earn Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA®) and Certified DevNet Associate certifications, equipping them for high demand jobs in the IT industry.

The new Cisco Certifications help organizations build teams with software expertise and infrastructure expertise to allow them to take full advantage of the capabilities of the new network to accelerate business. DevNet Automation Exchange brings a software-driven, community-based approach to building network automation solutions while leveraging the strength of Cisco’s community of networking professionals and software developers. Cisco Networking Academy will grow the workforce for Cisco’s partners and customers by training students to develop software and networking skills that leverage the new network.

For all of the details on the certification and program changes, check out the Learning at Cisco featured page. For resources to get started with the DevNet certifications, check out the DevNet page. 

Availability: 

• DevNet Automation Exchange is available now.
• New courses will begin rolling out in June 2019 and exams will be available in February 2020. Learning materials applicable to the new DevNet certifications is available now on the DevNet developer site. 
• New certification exams will be available in February 2020.
• For Cisco Networking Academy, updated CCNA® courses, assessments and tools will be available in English by November 2019, additional languages will follow the first half of 2020. 

Additional Resources

• Susie Wee Executive Blog: Bringing software practices and software skills to networking with Cisco certifications and DevNet
• Mike Adams Executive Blog: Experience Learning at the Next Level
• DevNet Automation Exchange
• Learning at Cisco Feature Page
• Resources for DevNet Certifications
• Follow LearningatCisco on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
• Follow Cisco DevNet on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook

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Some of the offerings and features described above remain in varying stages of development and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis.  Any such items are subject to change at the sole discretion of Cisco, and Cisco will have no liability for delay in the delivery or failure to deliver any of the offerings or features set forth in this document.