Some will say that DevNet began at Cisco Stay! in Might of 2014 when the occasion itself was celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary. The 2nd ground of Moscone Heart South supplied the house for the very first DevNet Zone the place the ragtag group of DevNet employees discovered themselves immersed in a sea of automation neophytes from the minute the doorways opened. After scrambling for 2 months to organize and a sleepless weekend internet hosting the very first DevNet hackathon, selling Cisco applied sciences like MSE, Jabber, and Cisco Prime, the already exhausted employees was energized to search out so many individuals excited to study APIs and coding. The power was excessive, the vibe was palpable, and John Chambers was within the room. DevNet had arrived.
To start with…
Some may say that DevNet began in December of 2013, when, after months of an intense effort by an impressed group of doc writers, builders, QA, DBAs, programs architects, and BDMs, developer.cisco.com launched. Introducing the world to Cisco docs that weren’t PDFs and a intelligent innovation known as the Sandbox. DevNet was Cisco’s foray into the software program world from its {hardware} roots. Now, these ISVs and SIs who wished to construct options might check out Cisco’s programmability alternatives with out constructing their very own labs and spending tens to a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars}.
However the fact is DevNet began 10 years in the past, this week, in a handful of conferences held in Spherical Rock, TX, and I had the fortune of being there. The precursor to DevNet was known as Cisco Developer Community (CDN) and previous to that it was Cisco Know-how Developer Program (CTDP). Each of those applications had been profitable in their very own proper, however the focus was all the time solely on companions. DevNet was supposed to be a “startup within an organization” that supplied a real enablement program for all builders. The first purpose was to take away the boundaries to entry that lay in entrance of these wanting to construct options on high of Cisco platforms. At that tête-à-tête, the foundations for DevNet had been laid, and have guided this system ever since.
The primary DevNet Zone, 2014 Cisco Stay US in San Francisco, revealed overwhelming curiosity in Cisco’s software program course
The “hair on hearth” years
The primary few years felt like we had been flying round with our hair on hearth. Some issues had been unbelievable, just like the preliminary launch of Studying Labs, our partnership with Networking Academy, and the DevNet Zone, a staple now at Cisco Stay!. Different issues we came upon, like week after week of hackathons the place college students barely understood Cisco applied sciences not to mention wished to construct one thing with them. However whether or not it was successful or a failure, we all the time had been in a position to concentrate on the important thing to every part; serving to individuals with code constructing and API utilization to make their jobs, options, and organizations higher.
As our expertise grew, we knew we wanted to essentially construct our group to scale the message, and that’s the place the actual enjoyable started. First off, we launched DevNet Specific, an “in-the-box” program that allowed our Gross sales System Engineers to take DevNet’s programmability content material and ship it, with interactive labs, on to their buyer base. Over three years, this program turned so common that we had been holding or supporting 300+ occasions per 12 months, together with pre-Cisco Stay! workshops internet hosting 100+ builders at a time.
Following the success of that effort got here DevNet CREATE, our standalone occasion began in 2017. The impetus for CREATE was that it’s “greater than a Cisco convention.” And that it was. Lots of of builders got here to DevNet CREATE to pow-wow on subjects regarding DevOps, SecOps, ML, philanthropic expertise, and basic software program improvement. To not point out the event-within-an-event Camp CREATE the place 30 chosen builders had been break up into innovation groups to construct cutting-edge options. Let’s simply say you haven’t lived till you’ve traversed and recognized your community in VR. It was in contrast to something Cisco had ever seen!
A group that is aware of easy methods to work, innovate, and have enjoyable doing it!
That phrase, “group,” actually doesn’t seize the complete impact of the those who contributed to it. Yr after 12 months, occasion after occasion, we benefitted from companions, SEs, learners, clients, and inside engineers that supported and unfold the phrase of DevNet. Community engineers who had been doing their job for a number of a long time had been now seeing their colleagues writing code to construct options and make their job extra attention-grabbing and wished in on the enjoyable. College students and earlier in profession technologists noticed the worth in including automation understanding to their operations schooling. At DevNet CREATE we’d try, as greatest we might, to acknowledge those that actually acted as an additional advocate for DevNet by presenting them with our Creator Awards. This recognition confirmed that we weren’t simply paying consideration, however actually appreciated our group.
The DevNet Group celebrates changing into 500,000 members robust on the
“DevNet Social Membership” occasion at Cisco Stay in Orlando, Florida
But it surely’s not all work and no play. DevNet knew easy methods to have enjoyable. The capstone for our group social life was the DevNet Social Membership; an inclusive get together for all our fellow DevNet-ers at Cisco Stay! Flamenco dancers and rock cellists ushered within the good occasions as we celebrated with everybody in our group.
DevNet will get skilled
Piggybacking on that success, we discovered that our efforts in schooling, particularly with Cisco Studying Community and Networking Academy, wanted validation. That’s the place DevNet’s certification program got here in. Over the course of two years, whereas doing ALL of the above, our diligent crew labored with our colleagues in Cisco Studying and Certifications to construct exams and course materials that might be worthy of the model of a Cisco Certification. If you’ve by no means written examination questions for a number of ranges of technical exams, I’d invite you to strive it someday. It’s a maddening foray into being VERY choosy about wording and Bloom’s hierarchy of studying. We made it by although, and all that effort culminated in Cisco’s first launch of a programmability certification observe in February of 2020.
Then, as everyone knows, the world was hit with calamity. However, by it, DevNet adjusted. Digital occasions turned a necessity as we held DevNet CREATE and the DevNet Zone at Cisco Stay! on-line for hundreds of attendees. We had been in a position to facilitate digital exams for individuals who wished to ensure they used the lock-down time to bolster their resume. It even gave us time to work on some concepts we had swirling behind our heads however by no means had time to concentrate on, just like the Snack Minute video sequence.
Extra to return
Happily, we’ve been in a position to return to dwell occasions holding our first DevNet Zone in particular person at Cisco Stay! 2022. It was a extra reserved occasion with security protocols in place, however the viewers for programmability and automation content material was simply as hungry as ever. The week proved profitable with full school rooms and workshops. We noticed a good larger response for the occasions that adopted in 2023 in Amsterdam and Las Vegas.
The DevNet employees poses within the DevNet Zone at Cisco Stay US 2023
Via all of it, I used to be lucky to see DevNet and its individuals develop, change, pivot, and in some situations, survive. It’s been one of the best and most attention-grabbing problem of my profession. I all the time inform anybody who asks (and a few of those that don’t) that I like my job and I’m by no means bored. It is because I consider in what we do right here and the individuals we assist in our group. There are solely a handful of us from the unique group remaining within the crew, however the affect of the entire a whole lot of those who made DevNet what it’s throughout 10 years can’t be overstated. As we glance to the following 10 years, I’m extraordinarily enthusiastic about DevNet’s subsequent chapter, nevertheless it’s all the time enjoyable to look again and see the place we’ve come from.
See what’s new in DevNet as we speak.
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