Some will say that DevNet began at Cisco Are living! in Would possibly of 2014 when the development itself was once celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary. The 2d ground of Moscone Middle South supplied the gap for the first actual DevNet Zone the place the ragtag workforce of DevNet team of workers discovered themselves immersed in a sea of automation neophytes from the minute the doorways opened. After scrambling for 2 months to arrange and a sleepless weekend website hosting the first actual DevNet hackathon, selling Cisco applied sciences like MSE, Jabber, and Cisco Top, the already exhausted team of workers was once energized to seek out such a lot of other people excited to be told about APIs and coding. The power was once top, the vibe was once palpable, and John Chambers was once within the room. DevNet had arrived.

To start with…

Some may additionally say that DevNet began in December of 2013, when, after months of an intense effort by way of an impressed workforce of document writers, builders, QA, DBAs, methods architects, and BDMs, developer.cisco.com introduced. Introducing the sector to Cisco doctors that weren’t PDFs and a suave innovation referred to as the Sandbox. DevNet was once Cisco’s foray into the instrument global from its {hardware} roots. Now, the ones ISVs and SIs who sought after to construct answers may just take a look at out Cisco’s programmability alternatives with out development their very own labs and spending tens to masses of hundreds of bucks.  

However in actual fact 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 once referred to as Cisco Developer Community (CDN) and previous to that it was once Cisco Era Developer Program (CTDP). Either one of those methods have been a hit in their very own proper, however the point of interest was once at all times most effective on companions. DevNet was once meant to be a “startup within an organization” that supplied a real enablement program for all builders. The main function was once to take away the obstacles to access that lay in entrance of the ones short of to construct answers on most sensible of Cisco platforms. At that tête-à-tête, the principles for DevNet have been laid, and feature guided this system ever since.

The primary DevNet Zone, 2014 Cisco Are living US in San Francisco, printed overwhelming hobby in Cisco’s instrument course

The “hair on fireplace” years

The primary few years felt like we have been flying round with our hair on fireplace. Some issues have been improbable, just like the preliminary release of Finding out Labs, our partnership with Networking Academy, and the DevNet Zone, a staple now at Cisco Are living!. Different issues we came upon, like week after week of hackathons the place scholars slightly understood Cisco applied sciences let by myself sought after to construct one thing with them. However whether or not it was once a luck or a failure, we at all times have been in a position to concentrate on the important thing to the entirety; serving to other people with code development and API utilization to make their jobs, answers, and organizations higher.

As our revel in grew, we knew we had to in point of fact construct our neighborhood to scale the message, and that’s the place the actual amusing started. First off, we introduced DevNet Specific, an “in-the-box” program that allowed our Gross sales Machine Engineers to take DevNet’s programmability content material and ship it, with interactive labs, without delay to their buyer base. Over 3 years, this program was so in style that we have been maintaining or supporting 300+ occasions in line with yr, together with pre-Cisco Are living! workshops website hosting 100+ builders at a time.

Following the luck of that effort got here DevNet CREATE, our standalone occasion began in 2017. The impetus for CREATE was once that or not it’s “greater than a Cisco convention.” And that it was once. Loads of builders got here to DevNet CREATE to pow-wow on subjects on the subject of DevOps, SecOps, ML, philanthropic generation, and basic instrument building. To not point out the event-within-an-event Camp CREATE the place 30 decided on builders have been cut up into innovation groups to construct state of the art answers. Let’s simply say you haven’t lived till you’ve traversed and identified your community in VR. It was once not like anything else Cisco had ever observed!

A neighborhood that is aware of methods to paintings, innovate, and feature amusing doing it!

That phrase, “neighborhood,” in point of fact doesn’t seize the whole impact of the folks that contributed to it. 12 months after yr, occasion after occasion, we benefitted from companions, SEs, inexperienced persons, shoppers, and inner engineers that supported and unfold the phrase of DevNet. Community engineers who were doing their process for more than one many years have been now seeing their colleagues writing code to construct answers and make their process extra fascinating and sought after in at the amusing. Scholars and previous in profession technologists noticed the worth in including automation figuring out to their operations schooling. At DevNet CREATE we’d strive, as absolute best lets, to acknowledge those that in point of fact acted as an additional suggest for DevNet by way of presenting them with our Author Awards. This reputation confirmed that we weren’t simply paying consideration, however in point of fact preferred our neighborhood.

The DevNet Neighborhood celebrates changing into 500,000 individuals sturdy on the
“DevNet Social Membership” occasion at Cisco Are living in Orlando, Florida

However it’s no longer all paintings and no play. DevNet knew methods to have amusing. The capstone for our neighborhood social existence was once the DevNet Social Membership; an inclusive celebration for all our fellow DevNet-ers at Cisco Are living! Flamenco dancers and rock cellists ushered within the excellent occasions as we celebrated with everybody in our neighborhood.

DevNet will get skilled

Piggybacking on that luck, we discovered that our efforts in schooling, particularly with Cisco Finding out Community and Networking Academy, wanted validation. That’s the place DevNet’s certification program got here in. Over the direction of 2 years, whilst doing ALL of the above, our diligent crew labored with our colleagues in Cisco Finding out and Certifications to construct tests and direction subject matter which may be worthy of the logo of a Cisco Certification. If you’ve by no means written examination questions for more than one ranges of technical tests, I’d invite you to take a look at it someday. It’s a maddening foray into being VERY choosy about wording and Bloom’s hierarchy of finding out. We made it thru even though, and all that effort culminated in Cisco’s first release of a programmability certification monitor in February of 2020. 

Then, as everyone knows, the sector was once hit with calamity. However, thru it, DevNet adjusted. Digital occasions was a need as we held DevNet CREATE and the DevNet Zone at Cisco Are living! on-line for hundreds of attendees. We have been in a position to facilitate digital tests for many who sought after to verify they used the lock-down time to strengthen their resume. It even gave us time to paintings 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

Thankfully, we’ve been in a position to go back to reside occasions maintaining our first DevNet Zone in individual at Cisco Are living! 2022.  It was once a extra reserved occasion with protection protocols in position, however the target market for programmability and automation content material was once simply as hungry as ever. The week proved a hit with complete school rooms and workshops. We noticed an excellent larger reaction for the occasions that adopted in 2023 in Amsterdam and Las Vegas.  

The DevNet team of workers poses within the DevNet Zone at Cisco Are living US 2023

Thru all of it, I used to be lucky to look DevNet and its other people develop, trade, pivot, and in some circumstances, continue to exist. It’s been the most productive and maximum fascinating problem of my profession. I at all times inform somebody who asks (and a few of those that don’t) that I like my process and I’m by no means bored. It is because I imagine in what we do right here and the folks we assist in our neighborhood.  There are just a handful people from the unique workforce last within the crew, however the affect of all the masses 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 serious about DevNet’s subsequent bankruptcy, however it’s at all times amusing to appear again and notice the place we’ve come from. 

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