Get Ready for DevNet Certifications and Validate Your Software Skills

In the past nine years I’ve worked at Cisco, I’ve seen some of the most significant expansions and updates to the Cisco Certification program – from the reorganization of the CCVP, CCIP, and CCSP certifications into the larger CCNP program; to the continued evolution of CCNA; to the further refinement of the CCIE certification offerings. But now the announcement of the new DevNet Certifications at Cisco Live in June is a ground change like I have never seen before.  It reflects so much of where Cisco is going – finding that balance between hardware and software.

Introducing the DevNet Certifications

The new DevNet Certifications, which will have exams launching February 24, 2020, add something brand new to the existing Cisco certification catalog: a comprehensive certification track that validates skill sets in:

software development

programmability

building and deploying applications

understanding and using APIs

network automation

Upon launch next year, you can earn a DevNet Associate certification, a DevNet Professional certification, or a DevNet Specialist certification. The DevNet Expert certification is a future offering in development.

This new DevNet Certification track joins a celebrated family of Cisco Certifications. And just like CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE certifications have become known around the world as a brand that marks expertise in IT networking and engineering, the DevNet Certifications are meant to do the same in the software field – acting as a new industry-recognized badge of excellence that reflects the job roles and career paths that are increasing in prominence every day. Or as one visitor to the DevNet Zone said at Cisco Live: “Finally!”

I was so excited to see Cisco CEO, Chuck Robbins, announce the program on stage at Cisco Live – as a member of the team that is helping to build this new certification track, it was amazing to see this new offering launched by the highest levels of leadership. And my first thought upon seeing the announcement slide go up was the same as I think many of you: “Man, I can’t wait to get this certification!”

Get ready with our webinar and blog series

To help you prepare for achieving DevNet Certification, DevNet will be launching a new webinar and blog series focused on providing background information on this cert track. Think of it as “DevNet Certification 101.” Launching July 18, this webinar series will profile each of the 10 exams that support the program.

The first two webinars will focus on the DevNet Associate exam and the DevNet Core exam. These will provide background on the program origins; what the requirements are for certification; information on certification options; and what training is available so you can start preparing.

Register for the DevNet Associate Level Certification webinar and discover specifics of the program.

Register for the DevNet Core exam webinar (which supports the DevNet Professional certification).

Future webinars in the series will examine the 8 professional-level “concentration” exams. Each segment will provide the insights and information you will need to know as you determine your certification path.

What You Can Do Today

Ahead of the release of the webinar and blog series, there are three things you can do today to start getting ready to earn your DevNet Certification:

Join DevNet: It’s the easiest part of the journey but it will have the greatest impact for your preparation – registering with DevNet will get you the most up-to-date information on the certification program, news on when formal training will become available, and access to our sandbox environments and our library of learning labs.

Read the exam topics: Want to know what will be on the exams? Here you’ll find a list of the 10 exams connected to the DevNet certification program. Pick an exam you want to take and see the exam topics – learn what knowledge areas the exam will test and what specific skills you’ll need to have/build to pass.

Try the Learning Labs and Sandboxes relevant to the exam topics: Although the training that will be available from Cisco Learning Partners is not yet available, DevNet has an ever-expanding catalog of training materials that can help you prepare today. What’s really cool is that DevNet has connected exam topics to specific Learning Labs and Sandboxes we have available for immediate use. The best part: to access any of this training, all you need to do is register with DevNet. So, if there is a skill you’d like to build, you can find a learning lab to start; and if you want to put those skills into practice, you can use one of our sandboxes.

Again, I can’t think of a time when I’ve been so personally excited about bringing a new certification program to life. Please join us in this webinar and blog series to find out how you can make the DevNet track a part of your certification journey – it will be a path we’ll be running together. See you out there.