The enterprise community is present process a elementary transition from handbook to automated, from {hardware} to software-defined, from tightly managed to sprawling throughout SaaS, multi-cloud, distant work and IoT environments.
Community professionals are anticipated to not solely prolong present performance throughout all of these environments, they have to elevate the capabilities of the community to allow digital transformation. Which means constructing a community that’s extra agile, resilient, safe, scalable, observable and clever.
For community managers, engineers and designers trying to keep forward of the expertise curve, advance their careers, and supply further worth to the enterprise, a completely new talent set primarily based on software program growth is required.
In response to those altering dynamics, Cisco, which already gives a broad vary of certifications in areas of networking, safety and cloud, has created a certification observe referred to as DevNet. “Cisco Licensed DevNet engineers are empowered to consider advanced networking issues and ship options at scale through automation,” says Joe Clarke, distinguished engineer at Cisco.
Cisco launched its first DevNet certifications – DevNet Affiliate, DevNet Skilled, and DevNet Specialist – in early 2020. And this 12 months, Cisco added DevNet Knowledgeable to the certification observe, with the primary exams going down in Might.
DevNet certification fundamentals
Since these are Cisco-specific certifications, candidates ought to have expertise working in a Cisco store. Cisco recommends that candidates for the entry-level certification have at the very least one 12 months of expertise, whereas the Knowledgeable cert is focused at candidates with 5-7 years expertise.
- Are there prerequisities? There aren’t any conditions to pursue any of the DevNet certifications, however Cisco recommends that candidates have a very good understanding of the subjects earlier than taking any exams.
- Who administers the exams? Testing firm Pearson administers the exams, which might be taken on-line or in particular person at a bodily location.
- How can I put together for an examination? Cisco has a DevNet assets web page with hyperlinks to the DevNet certifications group, webinars and coaching movies, and different coaching merchandise.
- How lengthy is the certification legitimate? All Cisco DevNet certifications are legitimate for 3 years, and people who find themselves already licensed will be capable to recertify by taking exams, finishing persevering with training actions, or a mix of each.
What are the advantages of a DevNet certification?
Firms pays a premium to staff with particular certifications, which implies further pay above and past the bottom wage.
“That complete class of abilities premiums for community and communications on common is incomes what could be the equal of about 5% of base pay,” says Mike Connelly, an analyst at Foote Companions, which simply launched analysis for the primary six months of this 12 months, primarily based on knowledge from over 90,000 tech staff who’re getting abilities premiums at simply over 4,000 employers within the US and Canada.
Along with rising your incomes energy, the DevNet certifications present that you simply’re critical about upgrading you abilities. “The entire nature of DevNet or DevOps — DevNet being the community infrastructure equal inside DevOps — is that you simply wish to be as multi-skilled as you’ll be able to probably be,” he says. “Individuals who work in DevOps who’ve a number of abilities and dimensions that they will deliver to a job do a lot better than individuals who don’t.”
Community administration, community safety, community virtualization, and DevOps have change into essential to corporations, particularly with the pandemic shift to distant work, says Connelly. “Increasingly more staff are usually not going again into the workplace,” he says. “The extra you could have workers working remotely, the extra community structure, community safety, and networking infrastructure it’s important to attend to.”
Provides Clarke, “The thought of complete observability – to know that all your providers are wholesome and the way these purposes are performing – is a scorching matter proper now. As we transfer extra towards the cloud and extra distant staff, will probably be extra essential to have community engineers be capable to develop centralized insurance policies for all these customers to have the identical expertise.”
Trying a bit additional out, Vijoy Pandey, vp of cloud and distributed programs at Cisco, predicts, “In a number of years nobody will configure networking, they may solely configure purposes. We would like autonomous, programmable networks that care for themselves.” For community professionals who wish to be a part of that future, turning into expert in software program growth is essential.
Listed here are descriptions of the 4 certifications on the DevNet observe:
DevNet Affiliate
Cisco says the DevNet Affiliate certification validates an individual’s core information of working with purposes, Cisco platforms, Cisco’s programmability technique, and APIs. A DevNet Affiliate certification introduces a candidate to the information they would wish for numerous jobs, together with community automation engineer, software program developer, and system integration programmer.
- Expertise degree: This certification is beneficial for builders with a number of years of hands-on expertise creating and sustaining purposes constructed on Cisco platforms.
- Pay vary: The DevNet Affiliate certification is akin to the CCNA or Cisco Licensed Community Affiliate certification. In accordance with PayScale, the common base wage for a CCNA-certified skilled is $82,000 a 12 months.
- Premium: The Cisco Licensed DevNet Affiliate falls proper consistent with the community and communications common abilities premium of 5%, based on Foote Companions’ Connelly. “Some are keen to provide the equal of three% to as a lot as 7%, however increasingly more proper within the center 5%,” he says.
- Price: The DevNet Affiliate Examination v1.0 (200-901) prices $300 and takes 120 minutes.
- The right way to put together: Candidates can put together for the check by taking the DevNet Affiliate Fundamentals coaching course, which Cisco calls an interactive studying expertise that features built-in built-in labs. The coaching course ought to take round 60 hours to finish and contains sections on software program growth and design, understanding and utilizing APIs, community fundamentals, software deployment and safety, infrastructure and automation, and Cisco platforms and growth.
Cisco additionally has the DevNet Affiliate Guided Examine Group, which gives 180-day entry to a self-paced e-learning program that prepares college students for the examination. College students can take part in expert-led studying classes, entry a group of different individuals getting ready for the examination, and obtain personalised teaching from their teacher with entry to frequently designated workplace hours.
DevNet Skilled
This certification will put together a candidate for roles that embrace senior community automation engineer, senior software program developer, senior system integration programmer, senior infrastructure architect, senior check growth engineer, and senior community designer.
Expertise: The DevNet Skilled certification is beneficial for builders with at the very least three to 5 years of expertise designing and implementing purposes constructed on Cisco platforms.
Pay: The DevNet Skilled certification is akin to the CCNP, or Cisco Licensed Community Skilled certification. In accordance with Payscale, the common wage for somebody with a CCNP is about $100,000 yearly.
Premium: The DevNet Skilled certification delivers a premium of seven% of base pay, based on Foote Companions’ Connelly.
Price: DevNet Skilled certification requires passing two exams, a core examination and a focus examination. The core examination prices $400, takes 120 minutes, and focuses on a candidate’s software program growth and design information. After passing the core examination, candidates have to decide on a specialist focus and move the focus examination to obtain their DevNet Skilled certification. Every focus examination prices $300 and takes 90 minutes.
DevNet Specialist
Cisco says the Specialist Certification is for builders with three to 5 years of expertise in software growth, operations, safety, or infrastructure. Just one examination must be handed for every certification, and Cisco says that the Specialist certifications give an individual incremental recognition as they work towards different certifications.
The 5 DevNet automation specialist certifications can rely because the focus examination for each the DevNet Skilled and the CCNP Skilled certifications in Enterprise, Information Heart, Safety, Service Supplier, or Collaboration.
DevNet Knowledgeable
DevNet Knowledgeable certification validates professional information in community automation, safe automation instruments, and programmability. In accordance with Cisco, an individual with DevNet Knowledgeable certification has the talents to plan, design, develop, and keep automation-driven community environments. Roles embrace community architect, senior software program developer, senior community automation engineer, senior community designer, senior infrastructure architect, and NetDevOps workforce lead.
Expertise: Cisco recommends that candidates have 5 to seven years of expertise with designing, deploying, working, and optimizing NetDevOps applied sciences and options earlier than they search DevNet Knowledgeable certification.
Pay: The Cisco Licensed DevNet Knowledgeable certification is akin to the CCIE, or Cisco Licensed Internetwork Knowledgeable. In accordance with Payscale, anyone with a CCIE can count on a median base wage of $131,000 per 12 months.
Premium: As a result of the DevNet Knowledgeable certification is new, Foote Companions doesn’t have sufficient knowledge but to report what the talents premium is for this degree of certification, based on Connelly.
Price: Incomes the DevNet Knowledgeable certification requires passing two exams: a written examination that covers software program and automation growth and design for Cisco platforms, plus a lab examination. The written examination prices $400.
The lab examination is an eight-hour, closed e book, hands-on examination that requires a candidate to plan, design, develop, check, deploy, and keep automation options inside software-driven community environments. The lab examination was first accessible on Might 2, 2022.
The lab examination price is $1,600 in the event you deliver your individual machine; $1,900 in the event you use Cisco units.
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