Cisco has made a lot of progress in the past year to improve their cert list. They have essentially redesigned their certification program to modernize and streamline the traditional path for network engineers.
There was however, something missing from these offerings: a Cisco certification for developers. It is clear that programming skills are becoming a key part of many IT roles. This means that there is a need to validate them.
Ciso’s DevNet certification program now offers a development-focused path to certification. This is in addition to traditional network-centric options. We’ll give you a quick overview of DevNet and then share five reasons why we are excited about this certification.
DevNet in a Nutshell
Cisco will adopt an expert-level approach to DevNet, just like their network certs. On launch, there will be professional-level, specialist, and associate certs. Although the expert-level certification won’t be immediately available, Cisco claims that it will soon.
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Start trainingSimilar the the new CCNA, Cisco Certified DevNet Associate is used as a foundational certification. It will validate the general knowledge and foundational skills needed in this area. The following are supported job roles (i.e. You could reasonably expect to find the following roles at the associate level: Junior Developer, Junior Site Engineer, Automation Engineer, and Senior DevOps Engineer.
There are many options for specialization. This brings us to the Cisco Certified Developer Specialist. These are the specialist offerings:
Enterprise Automation and Programmability (300-435 ENAUTO).
Data Center Automation and Programmability (300-635 DCAUTO).
Security Automation and Programmability (300-735 SAUTO)
Service Provider Automation & Programmability (300-535 SPAUTO
Collaboration Automation and Programmability (300-835 Clauto)
Core (300-901 DEVCOR).
DevOps (300-910 deVOPS)
loT (300-915 DEVIOT).
Webex (300-920 DEVWBX)

The Cisco Certified Developer Professional is the highest level of certification available at launch. You will need to pass two exams in order to earn this professional level certification. The core exam is required and the concentration exam. The core exam covers all topics that any industry professional should know, regardless of their specialization. The concentration focuses on your area of specialization and covers the same areas as the specialist exams.
Although no information is yet available about the expert level of the program, it is likely to resemble the new CCIE if we look at the similarities between the other offerings.
Five Reasons DevNet is Excited We Are
Let’s get the DevNet crash course out of the way and talk about why we are so excited about this new certification path.
1. DevNet offers developers the option of Cisco certification
There is a large community of developers and applications that are focused on Cisco platforms. This means that there are many developers who work with Cisco solutions. But, before DevNet there wasn’t a specific cert for developers.
Cisco certifications have traditionally been targeted at aspiring network engineers and system administrators. Although a CCNA certification as a developer may be beneficial, it is better to spend your time elsewhere. Developers can bring a lot of value to Cisco gear.
DevNet gives developers the option to become Cisco certified. This is something that people have longed to see from Cisco for a while. DevNet not only provides a certification for current developers but also offers a pathway for aspiring developers.
Are you looking for a good starting language to start your DevNet journey. Python is our recommendation. Cisco recommends Python as a DevNet Associate if you have “one or more years’ experience in developing and maintaining applications on top of Cisco platforms”.
2. DevNet emphasizes automation
The increased productivity and shorter implementation times are a result.