Some will say that DevNet began at Cisco Dwell! in Could of 2014 when the occasion itself was celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary. The 2nd ground of Moscone Heart South supplied the area 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 seek out so many individuals excited to study APIs and coding. The vitality was excessive, the vibe was palpable, and John Chambers was within the room. DevNet had arrived.
At first…
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 may check out Cisco’s programmability alternatives with out constructing their very own labs and spending tens to tons of of hundreds of {dollars}.
However the reality 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 Expertise Developer Program (CTDP). Each of those applications have been profitable in their very own proper, however the focus was at all times solely on companions. DevNet was supposed to be a “startup inside an organization” that supplied a real enablement program for all builders. The first purpose was to take away the obstacles 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 have been laid, and have guided this system ever since.
The primary DevNet Zone, 2014 Cisco Dwell 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 have been flying round with our hair on hearth. Some issues have been unbelievable, just like the preliminary launch of Studying Labs, our partnership with Networking Academy, and the DevNet Zone, a staple now at Cisco Dwell!. 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 at all times have been capable of concentrate on the important thing to every little thing; serving to folks with code constructing and API utilization to make their jobs, options, and organizations higher.
As our expertise grew, we knew we would have liked 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 standard that we have been holding or supporting 300+ occasions per yr, together with pre-Cisco Dwell! 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. A whole lot of builders got here to DevNet CREATE to pow-wow on matters regarding DevOps, SecOps, ML, philanthropic know-how, and normal software program improvement. To not point out the event-within-an-event Camp CREATE the place 30 chosen builders have 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 not like something Cisco had ever seen!
A neighborhood that is aware of the way to work, innovate, and have enjoyable doing it!
That phrase, “neighborhood,” actually doesn’t seize the complete impact of the people who contributed to it. Yr after yr, 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 have 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 schooling. At DevNet CREATE we’d try, as greatest 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 Neighborhood celebrates changing into 500,000 members sturdy on the
“DevNet Social Membership” occasion at Cisco Dwell in Orlando, Florida
Nevertheless it’s not all work and no play. DevNet knew the way to have enjoyable. The capstone for our neighborhood social life was the DevNet Social Membership; an inclusive occasion for all our fellow DevNet-ers at Cisco Dwell! Flamenco dancers and rock cellists ushered within the good occasions as we celebrated with everybody in our neighborhood.
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 attempt it someday. It’s a maddening foray into being VERY choosy about wording and Bloom’s hierarchy of studying. We made it by way of 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 way of it, DevNet adjusted. Digital occasions grew to become a necessity as we held DevNet CREATE and the DevNet Zone at Cisco Dwell! on-line for hundreds of attendees. We have been capable of facilitate digital exams for individuals who wished to verify 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 capable of return to dwell occasions holding our first DevNet Zone in particular person at Cisco Dwell! 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 lecture rooms and workshops. We noticed a good greater response for the occasions that adopted in 2023 in Amsterdam and Las Vegas.
The DevNet employees poses within the DevNet Zone at Cisco Dwell US 2023
Via 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 at all times 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 is 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 tons of of people 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, however it’s at all times enjoyable to look again and see the place we’ve come from.
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