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 flooring of Moscone Middle South offered the house for the very first DevNet Zone the place the ragtag group of DevNet workers 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 workers was energized to search out so many individuals excited to find out about APIs and coding. The vitality was excessive, the vibe was palpable, and John Chambers was within the room. DevNet had arrived.
At first…
Some might also 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 referred to 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 may check out Cisco’s programmability alternatives with out constructing their very own labs and spending tens to a whole lot of 1000’s 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 referred to 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 inside an organization” that offered a real enablement program for all builders. The first objective was to take away the limitations to entry that lay in entrance of these wanting to construct options on prime 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 path
The “hair on fireplace” years
The primary few years felt like we had been flying round with our hair on fireplace. Some issues had been implausible, 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 discovered, 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 give attention to the important thing to all the pieces; serving to folks with code constructing and API utilization to make their jobs, options, and organizations higher.
As our expertise grew, we knew we wanted to actually construct our neighborhood to scale the message, and that’s the place the true 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 grew to become so fashionable 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 matters referring to DevOps, SecOps, ML, philanthropic know-how, and normal software program growth. To not point out the event-within-an-event Camp CREATE the place 30 chosen builders had been cut 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 not like something Cisco had ever seen!
A neighborhood that is aware of tips on how to work, innovate, and have enjoyable doing it!
That phrase, “neighborhood,” actually doesn’t seize the complete impact of the those that contributed to it. 12 months after 12 months, occasion after occasion, we benefitted from companions, SEs, learners, clients, and inner engineers that supported and unfold the phrase of DevNet. Community engineers who had been doing their job for a number of many years had been now seeing their colleagues writing code to construct options and make their job extra fascinating and wished in on the enjoyable. College students and earlier in profession technologists noticed the worth in including automation understanding to their operations training. At DevNet CREATE we’d try, as finest we may, 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 neighborhood.
The DevNet Group celebrates changing into 500,000 members sturdy on the
“DevNet Social Membership” occasion at Cisco Stay in Orlando, Florida
However it’s not all work and no play. DevNet knew tips on how to have enjoyable. The capstone for our neighborhood 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 instances as we celebrated with everybody in our neighborhood.
DevNet will get skilled
Piggybacking on that success, we discovered that our efforts in training, 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 may very well 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 attempt 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 monitor in February of 2020.
Then, as everyone knows, the world was hit with calamity. However, by it, DevNet adjusted. Digital occasions grew to become a necessity as we held DevNet CREATE and the DevNet Zone at Cisco Stay! on-line for 1000’s of attendees. We had been in a position to facilitate digital exams for many 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 give attention to, just like the Snack Minute video collection.
Extra to come back
Happily, we’ve been in a position to return to dwell occasions holding our first DevNet Zone in individual 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 fair larger response for the occasions that adopted in 2023 in Amsterdam and Las Vegas.
The DevNet workers poses within the DevNet Zone at Cisco Stay US 2023
By means of all of it, I used to be lucky to see DevNet and its folks develop, change, pivot, and in some situations, survive. It’s been the most effective and most fascinating problem of my profession. I all the time inform anybody who asks (and a few of those that don’t) that I really like my job and I’m by no means bored. It’s because I consider in what we do right here and the folks we assist in our neighborhood. There are solely a handful of us from the unique group remaining within the crew, however the affect of all the a whole lot of those that 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, however it’s all the time enjoyable to look again and see the place we’ve come from.
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