Essential Skills for an Entirely New Era in Networking

The Internet of Things (IoT) has introduced a burgeoning number of network connections, connecting everything from homes to cars to space stations. There are about 8.4 billion devices in use today, and industry analysts’ project there will be 63 million new connections per second in 2020. IT professionals who previously supported 200 devices are now supporting 100,000; and we expect that to grow to 1 million by 2020.

Network complexity has actually been slowing IT down at a time when business needs IT to respond faster than ever before. IT professionals spend 75 percent of their time on network changes and troubleshooting, tirelessly trying to find the root cause of user issues: device, application, network, and more. And with the explosion of applications, cloud-based services and IoT endpoints, securing the entire network infrastructure is becoming increasingly complex, but more critical than ever before. According to the Ponemon Institute, 80 percent of organizations are victims of malicious activity.

This is all about to change. You need to act today to be ready for the new era in networking.

This is where the network can take us.

Cisco is introducing a new idea in networking. It’s the first integrated networking platform in a generation of what we call intent-based networking systems. The new network provides a single system that is intuitive, secure and automated.

Cisco’s comprehensive platform turns network traffic data into actionable insights that help customers make business decisions faster, mitigate security threats and manage the unprecedented scale of connected devices and services more easily.

The network’s automation capabilities reduce today’s largely manual provisioning processes from months or weeks down to minutes, increasing security, lowering risk and reducing operating costs. IT professionals can automate mundane network tasks and confidently scale for digitization.

Informed by context, powered by intent.

As an IT professional, software-defined automation (SDA) is poised to play an important role in your career. This next-level network automation has the potential to free you up to take on new challenges, achieve your business goals, and stand out in the digitized world.

Networking professionals will be even more in demand as millions of apps and billions of users connect with each other in the IoT.

How can you prepare?

At Learning@Cisco, we see where the network is going and we’re clearing the path ahead to prepare you with the skills you need.

Organizations will require specially trained network engineers to design and deploy the automation and orchestration features in Software Defined Networks (SDN) and SD-Access environments. IT experts must upskill, and evolve their certification status too.

For professionals who are implementing Cisco DNA today, we recently introduced DNA Implementation Essentials, a five-day boot camp that focuses on best practices of deploying DNA solutions in enterprise customer environments. Also, Network Programmability Certifications are offered for two distinct job functions:

For network engineers, Network Programmability Design & Implement Specialist provides comprehensive curriculum to develop & validate automation and programming skills

For application developers, Network Programmability Developer Specialist provides comprehensive curriculum to develop infrastructure programming skills

In addition, two exciting new training offerings covering Cisco Software Defined Access are scheduled to be available in the Aug/Sept timeframe. Both are designed to empower you to move to a secure and automated network with ease and confidence.

First, the SDA Foundation course. This is a two-day instructor-led enablement training with labs devoted to SDA. Key objectives include understanding the value of Cisco SDA, selected use cases for SDA architecture, and how to implement it. The training will also cover policy-based automation, simplified provisioning, and network assurance.

The second is an expansion of our five-day Digital Network Architecture Implementation Essentials (DNAIE) bootcamp. DNAIE v2.0 is for network engineers who are rolling out Cisco DNA with SDA in enterprises today. It provides a solution-level, lab-centric training of core DNA technologies.

As network automation predicts, adapts and protects organizations, SD-Access training for network automation expertise is essential to drive your organization forward.

Where will the network take you?

Things are changing faster than ever before. Intent-based automation is going to transform the network. With SDA, your business can trust that the network is constantly learning and evolving, intuitively understanding what is needed and delivering better experiences, more secure data and faster outcomes. The network is the driver of digital transformation, and you are playing a crucial role.

By expanding your skills in this essential area, you become a strategic asset to help your organization innovate and grow. Together, we can lead the way in the new era of networking.

For more information about these training opportunities, visit this site.