Health & Wellness
CCNP Automation: A Renamed Certification, Reimagined
Aug
We be taught from an early age that change is the one fixed in life. Typically we view change as one thing to be frightened about, one thing we should shift and alter for, and that the unknown might convey us…effectively, something. On the flip aspect, some change is nice, even wanted and refreshing (as anybody who places a brand new coat of paint on a home will attest). I suppose you possibly can say that even your views on change can change. Particularly when you will have somebody so as to add context that explains how a selected change advantages you.
It’s my hope that this weblog sequence will aid you do exactly that, as we face main modifications centered on a subject close to and pricey to my coronary heart: the up to date Cisco Automation Certifications and their related examination matters.
In case you missed the announcement in Could 2025, we’re renaming Cisco DevNet Certifications to Cisco Automation Certifications. On February 3, 2026, every certification stage (Affiliate, Skilled, and Knowledgeable) will transition to the CCNA/CCNP/CCIE taxonomy that’s so acquainted to our studying group, companions, and employers. Learn the announcement.
As of February 3, 2026, the Cisco Licensed DevNet Affiliate and the Cisco Licensed DevNet Knowledgeable will change into referred to as the CCNA Automation and CCIE Automation certifications, respectively. Identical check, new names. It’s that simple.
Nevertheless, after a lot thought and consideration, it was determined that the Cisco Licensed DevNet Skilled certification wanted greater than a reputation change. It wanted to align with right now’s job market.
CCNP Automation: Reimagining the DevNet Skilled Certification
We would have liked to align the CCNP Automation certification to check the abilities and necessities being seen available in the market right now from our prospects who’re using community automation engineers. A lot work was put into job function and process evaluation, in addition to figuring out the {qualifications} of a professional candidate.
In any case that work was achieved, it was time to lock a bunch of subject material consultants from numerous backgrounds and focus areas in a room to work out the examination matters listing, the three of which have been launched on the finish of July.
A brand new method to testing
All Cisco certification exams endure an replace and alter course of annually. We modify solely as much as 10% of the examination matters, and typically not even that a lot. However within the case of the CCNP Automation, we simply couldn’t make that quantity match with how the exams wanted to be reshaped.
When first launched, the Skilled-level DevNet exams have been centered very a lot on remodeling community engineers into people who have been comfy with writing purposes for community automation. These “community automation builders” wanted to be acquainted not solely with Cisco APIs and their capabilities but in addition with the software program improvement lifecycle, software deployment, and platforms, and the way to verify these purposes have been safe, accessible, resilient, and scalable.
What automation expertise do right now’s engineers want?
These expertise are nice to have in your base of data, however the market wanted one thing completely different. Engineers who’re comfy with automation frameworks and instruments and might:
- Create digital twins for pre- and post-change validations
- Leverage programmability rules for operations and monitoring
- Comfy navigating the brand new world of AI
We would have liked to check a skillset that wasn’t “software developer who understands a little bit of networking,” however “community engineer with expertise in network-specific automation frameworks to implement an end-to-end answer.”
Lofty objectives, however I really feel that our new examination matters hit all these areas (I could also be just a bit biased, since I used to be a kind of people locked in that room for hours).
Cisco Automation Certification examination matters at the moment are obtainable!
Obtain examination matters
So, what did we modify within the AUTOCOR?
In-Scope Platforms
On the prime of the Examination Subjects PDF, particular in-scope platforms are known as out.
- This reduces repetition within the examination matters.
- Focuses on the platforms you need to research for.
- Offers boundaries for the scope, so that you don’t want to check each single Cisco product.
Maintain these platforms in thoughts as you progress by means of every of the domains.
Area Adjustments
- The examination moved from 5 domains of research to 4.
- This will increase the examination weight on the primary two domains: Community Automation and Infrastructure as Code.
- These sections will likely be acquainted to community automation professionals, however with a modified focus.
- Relatively than testing on single-platform APIs, every process within the Community Automation part is targeted on a answer that entails an automation software, similar to Ansible, Terraform, or Python.
In some cases, not all platforms will be configured for every process (like utilizing NETCONF for ACI). This wasn’t an oversight; as a community automation skilled, you can be checked out as somebody to assist information an enterprise in the direction of a correct answer and toolset, so you need to know and perceive limitations and capabilities in addition to find out how to accomplish a objective utilizing automation.
Infrastructure as Code part
Whereas instruments like Git are nonetheless vital, once more, the main target has shifted in the direction of utilizing a CI/CD pipeline and GitOps to deploy community automation options, both towards actual {hardware} or leveraging a digital twin simulation software.
Professionals want to know:
- CI/CD processes.
- Cisco Modeling Labs.
- Community sources of fact (for pulling knowledge into pipelines for variables, configuration, and so on.).
The main focus is on the answer relatively than particular person parts.
Operations part
The emphasis is on find out how to hold an automation answer practical previous preliminary testing and deployment. To do that, key areas embody:
- Safety and secret administration (passwords, API keys).
- Making certain deployed automation options stay practical by means of network-centric testing.
- Utilizing model-driven telemetry on numerous platforms to enhance community observability.
Take note, although, that the safety/secret administration (like passwords and API keys), certificates administration, and logging solely pertain to the community units or the automation answer being examined on, not on your complete software stack (which is one thing an software developer would care about).
We’re trimming the matters to house in on that community automation engineer persona and testing it by means of actionable expertise.
The change all of us knew was coming: AI
No fashionable engineer will be capable of operate with out some understanding of AI, its impression on our business, and find out how to safely and successfully use its capabilities. Community automation engineers gained’t be any exception to this, both. Nevertheless, we wished the examination matters to be crafted in such a method that introduced tangible, helpful expertise and AI purposes to the check, and I really feel like we hit the mark with these.
We wished the candidates to know the implications behind utilizing AI for his or her roles, together with:
- Ways in which AI might trigger hurt to a corporation, together with IP theft, knowledge sovereignty, and simply “code that doesn’t work.”
- Likewise, community automation engineers ought to be capable of work out when options will work and when they’re simply plain made up.
- This reinforces the usage of AI as a software and assistant, relatively than outsourcing the whole lot to a mannequin; if one thing breaks at 3 a.m., “AI made it” gained’t be a suitable excuse to your leaders.
- The sensible purposes of AI within the networks.
- With the short rise of mannequin context protocol (MCP) servers getting used as conduits and extensions to LLMs for community automation, it was a no brainer to incorporate a Pythonic framework of MCP server improvement as a process merchandise.
We additionally wished to make it possible for our engineers might assemble an AI agent that may permit them to naturally speak to an LLM and carry out some kind of community automation, probably even utilizing a number of MCP servers.
Whereas we perceive the world of AI is quickly evolving, we felt that the abilities examined by these examination matters will likely be wanted and utilized by our prospects and learners, and can change into a part of the baseline data that any community automation engineer ought to know.
Does this alteration my DEVCOR research?
With such a significant rewrite of an examination, the reply to this query will all the time be “sure”. Whereas we all know that this might probably interrupt your research, hopefully, the extra context and reasoning why we made this alteration will aid you really feel extra assured and comfy with making that change. Additionally, bear in mind that you’ve till February 2, 2026, to take and cross the current DEVCOR examination, so in case you really feel that you simply’re shut, proceed shifting on to get that cross earlier than then.
In case you do have to vary your research, although, all is just not misplaced. Lots of the ideas that exist inside DEVCOR, like API utilization, git instructions, use of Python, Ansible, and Terraform, and understanding Cisco platforms, will all turn out to be useful in AUTOCOR. Your research will likely be accelerated with these ideas, so you’ll be able to concentrate on making use of these ideas in a whole automation answer.
Upleveling your automation considering
You’ll additionally be capable of uplevel your automation considering and conversations, not simply understanding the how, however the why, which is able to profit you in your skilled profession. Lastly, whilst you don’t wish to neglect the whole lot you realized about software improvement and the related lifecycle, you gained’t be required to recollect it on the brand new examination.
This can be a change, however it is a change for the higher. I’ll even be placing out an identical breakdown of the ENAUTO 2.0, in addition to the brand new DCNAUTO (I contributed to all three exams), as a way to really feel comfy with these modifications as effectively.
Lastly, I promise that I’ll change one thing in regards to the following components of this sequence: I promise to not use the phrase “change” almost as a lot as I did right here. 😉
As all the time, yow will discover me on LinkedIn or X (previously Twitter) when you have any questions relating to this or some other examination. Comfortable learning!
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