{"id":3499,"date":"2025-05-01T09:38:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T09:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.examsnap.com\/certification\/?p=3499"},"modified":"2026-10-23T10:51:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T10:51:52","slug":"5-exciting-reasons-were-enthusiastic-about-devnet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.examsnap.com\/certification\/5-exciting-reasons-were-enthusiastic-about-devnet\/","title":{"rendered":"DevNet Associate Is Now CCNA Automation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cisco DevNet Associate did not disappear because software skills became less important. It was renamed into Cisco\u2019s broader Automation certification family. As of February 3, 2026, the former DevNet Associate credential is recognized as CCNA Automation<\/strong>, while the professional and expert levels use CCNP Automation and CCIE Automation.<\/p>\n

For associate-level candidates, the transition is unusually straightforward: Cisco described it as the same test under a new name. The current associate exam is 200-901 CCNAAUTO, covering software development, APIs, Cisco platforms, application deployment and security, infrastructure automation, and network fundamentals.<\/p>\n

That makes old DevNet material useful only if it is mapped to the current naming and objectives. Candidates entering the track now should plan around 200-901 CCNA Automation<\/a>, not around a DevNet brand that Cisco has already retired.<\/p>\n

Why Cisco moved from DevNet to Automation<\/h2>\n

When Cisco launched DevNet certifications, the goal was to validate the growing overlap between networking and software development. APIs, Python, source control, controllers, infrastructure as code, and application integration were becoming normal parts of network operations.<\/p>\n

By 2026 those skills were no longer an adjacent developer specialty. Automation and AI-ready operations had become central enough that Cisco moved the track into the same familiar CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE naming structure used for other technical domains.<\/p>\n

The change also makes the career signal clearer. CCNA Automation immediately tells employers that the credential is an associate-level Cisco certification focused on automation. It sits more naturally beside CCNA and the professional-level Cisco tracks than the older DevNet name did.<\/p>\n

CCNA Automation is broader than learning Python<\/h2>\n

Programming matters, but the certification is not a general software-development credential. The goal is to use software and APIs to interact with infrastructure and Cisco platforms safely and repeatably.<\/p>\n

That means candidates need enough Python to read and reason about code, enough data-format knowledge to work with JSON and structured information, enough API knowledge to understand requests and responses, and enough networking to know what the automation is changing.<\/p>\n

The principles in network automation fundamentals<\/a> are useful here: automation should encode a stable process, validate inputs, control changes, and make outcomes observable. A script that changes devices quickly but cannot detect failure is not mature automation.<\/p>\n

APIs are the bridge between software and infrastructure<\/h2>\n

Modern platforms expose capabilities through APIs so software can retrieve state and perform actions without imitating a human typing into a graphical interface. Candidates should understand HTTP methods, status codes, authentication, headers, payloads, and how REST-style APIs commonly represent data.<\/p>\n

Do not study an API only as a list of verbs. Build small exercises that retrieve data, parse a response, handle an error, and make a controlled change. Then inspect what happened on the platform itself.<\/p>\n

This develops a useful habit: automation should be verified against real system state. The API returning success is one piece of evidence; intended configuration, service, or application behavior is the outcome that matters.<\/p>\n

Source control and testing are operational skills<\/h2>\n

One reason software practices matter in infrastructure is that they make changes reviewable and repeatable. Git lets teams track history, compare revisions, review proposed changes, and recover context when something breaks.<\/p>\n

Testing matters for the same reason. A change should be checked before and after execution. Templates can be validated. API responses can be checked. Intended configuration can be compared with actual state. Automated systems should fail safely when assumptions are not met.<\/p>\n

This is where CCNA Automation preparation becomes more than learning to code. The candidate is learning how software engineering habits reduce risk in infrastructure operations.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure as code<\/a> adds another useful pattern. Instead of treating configuration as an undocumented sequence of manual actions, teams can represent intended state in version-controlled files, review changes, test them, and apply them consistently. Candidates do not need deep expertise in every tool, but they should understand why declarative workflows change operations.<\/p>\n

Idempotence, validation, rollback planning, and state management are practical concepts behind safe automation. A script that works once is not enough if repeated execution creates drift or duplicate configuration.<\/p>\n

Cisco platforms give the automation context<\/h2>\n

The certification expects candidates to understand how automation applies to Cisco platforms and services. You do not need to become an expert in every product, but you should be able to recognize common API-driven workflows and the types of problems controllers solve.<\/p>\n

Study platform documentation with a question in mind: what object is being managed, what identity is making the request, what data is returned, and what operational result follows? This is more durable than memorizing endpoint paths that may change between product versions.<\/p>\n

Broader Cisco automation<\/a> and AI infrastructure certifications place the associate credential in context. CCNA Automation establishes the foundation; CCNP Automation expects deeper system design, automation engineering, infrastructure as code, and operations.<\/p>\n

Application deployment and security belong in the same workflow<\/h2>\n

Automation engineers do not operate in a vacuum. Applications run in environments with credentials, tokens, secrets, dependencies, logging, deployment pipelines, and security controls.<\/p>\n

Study how applications are packaged and deployed, how configuration is separated from code, how secrets are protected, and how failures are observed. Understand why least privilege matters for automation identities: a script or pipeline with excessive permissions can turn one logic error into a large outage or security incident.<\/p>\n

Security should be built into the automation process. Validate inputs, protect credentials, restrict tokens, log meaningful actions, and avoid exposing sensitive data in source repositories or output.<\/p>\n

Network fundamentals still matter<\/h2>\n

Automation is useful only when you understand the infrastructure being automated. A candidate who can call an API but cannot reason about addressing, routing, VLANs, interfaces, DNS, or device state will struggle to diagnose incorrect outcomes.<\/p>\n

This is why CCNA Automation is not a shortcut around networking. It is a complementary path for people who want to automate systems, platforms, and infrastructure with enough networking context to understand consequences. If networking itself is weak, pair automation study with Cisco CCNA<\/a> fundamentals or equivalent hands-on networking practice. The two skill sets reinforce one another.<\/p>\n

Build small projects instead of memorizing code snippets<\/h2>\n

Create projects with a real input, action, validation, and output. Retrieve interface data from an API and produce a report. Generate configuration from a template and validate required fields. Compare intended state with device state. Build a small pipeline that runs tests before applying a change.<\/p>\n

Keep projects small enough that you can explain every line and failure mode. Copying a large automation framework from a repository may look impressive but teaches little if you cannot debug it.<\/p>\n

Use an error log for coding mistakes just as you would for exam questions. Record bad assumptions, malformed data, authentication failures, unexpected responses, and unsafe change logic. That becomes a practical study asset for both the exam and the job.<\/p>\n

DevNet knowledge remains useful, but the destination is CCNA Automation<\/h2>\n

Older DevNet Associate books, courses, and labs may still teach useful APIs, Python, source control, Cisco platforms, and automation concepts. The mistake is treating the old name as the current certification target.<\/p>\n

Check every resource against active 200-901 CCNAAUTO objectives. Preserve durable technical explanations, replace obsolete branding, and fill current gaps with Cisco documentation and hands-on projects.<\/p>\n

The name change reflects where the industry moved: software-driven infrastructure is ordinary network and platform work. CCNA Automation makes that role explicit and provides a current associate-level path for professionals who want to work at the intersection of code and infrastructure.<\/p>\n

AI-ready infrastructure does not remove these fundamentals. It increases the need for clean APIs, reliable telemetry, policy controls, repeatable provisioning, and automation that can be audited. Whether a workflow is triggered by a human, a pipeline, or an AI-assisted tool, the infrastructure still needs deterministic guardrails.<\/p>\n

That is why the current Automation track is a better frame than the old \u201cdeveloper for Cisco platforms\u201d interpretation. It validates the operational bridge between software methods and infrastructure responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Business and stakeholder implications<\/h3>\n

As you progress, decide whether you want deeper network engineering, professional-level automation, application development, or platform operations. The associate credential is most useful when it becomes the foundation for real projects and a deliberate next role rather than an endpoint by itself.<\/p>\n

Do not neglect observability. Automated changes need logs, status data, error handling, and a way to prove intended state after execution. Build projects that return useful evidence rather than simply printing \u201csuccess.\u201d A pipeline that can explain what changed is easier to trust and troubleshoot.<\/p>\n

Likewise, learn to handle credentials and secrets correctly. Hard-coded tokens in scripts are a common beginner shortcut and a poor operational habit. Use environment-specific configuration, secret stores where appropriate, scoped identities, and version-control practices that prevent sensitive values from becoming permanent repository history.<\/p>\n

The strongest portfolio project is one you can explain from problem to control: why automation was needed, what data and API were used, how the change was validated, what happens on failure, and how another engineer could safely operate it.<\/p>\n

Document those projects as engineering decisions rather than screenshots. A short README that describes inputs, permissions, failure handling, validation, and rollback tells an employer more than a large script copied from a tutorial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cisco DevNet Associate did not disappear because software skills became less important. It was renamed into Cisco\u2019s broader Automation certification family. As of February 3, 2026, the former DevNet Associate credential is recognized as CCNA Automation, while the professional and expert levels use CCNP Automation and CCIE Automation. For associate-level candidates, the transition is unusually straightforward: Cisco described it as the same test under a new name. The current associate exam is 200-901 CCNAAUTO, covering software development, APIs, Cisco platforms, application deployment and security, infrastructure automation, and network fundamentals. That…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[675],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cisco"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t