The Road not travelled.

I suppose when you learn a new skill, you are exploring. Like when you travel. It always helps to get tips and perhaps a map from someone who’s been to where you are going.

This is how I approached finding out about Network Automation. I had so many questions! I’m sure if you are reading this you too have questions, not only about the skills you need but also about the future of Network Engineering. There could be a lot of anxiety and questions around getting automation skills as it seems it’s the latest buzz word. AUTOMATE, AUTOMATE , AUTOMATE!

Questions like:

Where do I start? There is so much information out there!

Is the CLI dead?

What will a Network Automation Engineer job look like?

What skills do I need to learn to land a Developer role?

For this post I will discuss: Where do YOU start?

What research have I done and what have I found in terms of resources?

There is so much information online and a lot of it is free. You could really keep yourself very busy studying. But it’s best to have a structured approach i.m.o 😉

There are some tough exams out there, which you could use as a goal set point to help you get the skills you need. It’s tough, but so worth it! So when deciding which way to go to start my Automation journey, there are a number of resources that I used.

Here is a list of things I’ve done to increase my knowledge about what’s going on in the Network Automation space.

1) I signed up free for a DevNet account. Get newsletters and promos.

2) Follow Cisco on Instagram – this is how I learnt of DevNet day. They have a lot of freebies and info if you attend.

3) Cisco Provides a self-study resource you can sign up to for FREE!!

4) I signed up for an 8 week Cisco DevNet Study group which has a tutor and materials that guide you over the course to help get you exam-ready.

Check out these links! Let me know what resources you have used to learn more about DevNet.

Some books I still want to check out in my journey are:

Automate the Boring Stuff With Python: Practical Programming for Total Beginners by Al Sweigart (There is a Udemy course for this too!)

Network Programmability and Automation: Skills for the Next-Generation Network Engineer

by Jason Edelman, Matt Oswalt, and Scott S. Lowe

Tune in for my next post. If you have any topics you would like to discuss let me know!