The Cisco certification program has been around for 26 years (it was founded in 1993). Many are familiar with the engineering certification line including CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE. This year, the program has been expanded to include certifications for developers, namely DevNet Associate, DevNet Specialist, DevNet Professional, and DevNet Expert.
The DevNet program itself has been part of the company for over five years. Detailed information about the Cisco DevNet program has already been written on Habr. .
So, what do we have regarding the new certifications:
- Like the engineering certifications, there are four levels of DevNet certifications — Associate, Specialist, Professional, and Expert.
- Engineering certifications are supplemented with modules focused on automation/programming.
- The developer certifications include a module related to the fundamentals of network programmability.
Let's take a look at each certification, including the content and the target audience.
Cisco DevNet Associate
Target Audience:
For young professionals, specifically junior specialists ranging from programmers and SRE/DevOps to testers and automation engineers.
Exam will cover both the basics of application development (knowledge of git, fundamentals of Python) as well as skills in using Cisco's hardware/solutions APIs.
As previously mentioned, the certifications also include a module on the fundamentals of network programming (15% of the total content).
Cisco DevNet Specialist
Target Audience:
Professionals with experience in one of the areas, ranging from 3 to 5 years.
Developers with practical experience in developing and supporting applications built on Cisco platforms.
In this certification, you can choose one or more of the specializations listed below, each with its corresponding exam.
For programmers:
- Core
- DevOps
- IoT
- Webex
For automation specialists:
- Collaboration Automation
- Data Center Automation
- Enterprise Automation
- Security Automation
- Service Provider Automation
For the specializations Core and DevOps, there will be modules to test knowledge on topics such as CI/CD, Docker, the principles of the '12-factor app', and OWASP threats.
The Webex specialization is related to Cisco Webex devices and solutions. Previously, many solutions in the unified communications sphere moved under the common Webex brand, and there was a rebranding of Cisco Spark to Webex Teams. This area includes modules on Webex Teams automation, customization, and programming of collaboration devices (Webex Devices).
The IoT specialization includes modules on Open Source IoT solutions, visualization, and interpretation (including the use of Freeboard, Grafana, and Kibana).
Certification exam DevNet Specialist: DevOps also includes topics such as: characteristics and concepts of build/deployment tools like Jenkins, Drone, or Travis CI; configuration management tools for automating infrastructure services, such as Ansible, Puppet, Terraform, and Chef; Kubernetes (concepts, deploying applications in a cluster, using objects); defining requirements (memory, disk I/O, network, CPU) necessary for scaling an application or service; methods for securing applications and infrastructure during development and testing.
Below is a comparison table of some certifications available in the DevOps field. You may feel that the table compares objects with different characteristics, and that is indeed the case. Essentially, there are some IaaS services, open-source projects, and vendor-oriented certifications.
The set of skills and knowledge covering the DevOps sphere certainly requires the ability to use many different programs and tools. Many projects also have their own certifications, such as Docker Certified Associate, Certified Jenkins Engineer, AppDynamics Certified, Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible, and many others.
Certifications for automation specialists
In the automation specializations, there is a module on the basics of network programming (10% of the total topics), which includes topics such as:
- Setting up a Linux/macOS/Windows workstation as a development environment
- basics of the Python programming language
- Git
- using REST API
- JSON parsing
- CI/CD
Cisco DevNet Professional
Target Audience:
Specialists with at least 3 years of experience in application development and implementation; experience with Cisco solutions and the Python programming language.
It will be interesting for developers transitioning to automation and DevOps; solution architects using the Cisco ecosystem; experienced network engineers wishing to expand their skills, including application development and automation; developers focused on infrastructure designing secure production environments.
The certification includes two exams:
- The foundational exam, which aims to confirm the professional skills of a developer.
- A specialized exam in one of the following areas: DevOps, IoT, Webex, Collaboration Automation, Data Center Automation, Enterprise Automation, Security Automation, Service Provider Automation. These are detailed above in the description of the Cisco DevNet Specialist certification.
The foundational exam covers the following topics:
- Software development and design
- Understanding and using APIs
- Cisco platforms
- Application deployment and security
- Infrastructure and automation
The module 'Software Development and Design' includes topics from the 'Network Programming Basics' module, and is supplemented with the following topics: application development basics (architectural patterns, selection of database types according to application requirements, troubleshooting application issues, evaluating application architecture based on various parameters); integrations with Webex Teams (including knowledge of the Webex Teams SDK, OAuth, etc.); token authentication in Firepower Management Center; advanced knowledge of git (git server, branching, resolving conflicts, etc.).
The module 'Infrastructure and Automation' will also have tasks and questions regarding the configuration of network parameters using Ansible playbook, Puppet manifest.
Cisco DevNet Expert
The highest certification aimed at professionals, engineer programmers who possess advanced skills and knowledge described in the previous certifications. Such specialists must also have skills in deploying production applications that use the Cisco API.
Detailed information regarding the certification will be presented later.
Detailed information on each of the Cisco DevNet certifications is already available. Exams will be available in February 2020. Resources for exam preparation are available now.
P.S.
New technologies are shaping new requirements for the knowledge and competencies of specialists. The current level of equipment and solutions allows for the automation of many processes, managing IT infrastructure using frameworks/scripts and programs written in a user-friendly programming language.
The knowledge and skills necessary for successful completion of certification exams can be conditionally divided into the following categories:
- theoretical and practical aspects of various technologies and methodologies
- using Cisco device and solution APIs
- working with open-source projects and frameworks
Each employee and individual seeking specialists has their own perspective on certification and its impact on career advancement within the company or salary increase
I am confident that, all else being equal, having a professional certification in a relevant field will be seen as an advantage.
Source: habr.com
