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Career in Network Automation: 10 Domains of Knowledge for Network Automation Engineering (Part 5)
- November 12, 2020
- Posted by: Muhammad Afaq Khan, CCIE #9070
- Category: Cisco DevNet Associate Track Cisco DevNet Professional Track

In this video, I discuss ten domains of knowledge essential for a career in network automation engineering, i.e. roles such as Network Automation Engineer, Network DevOps (NetDevOps), and NRE.
Domains of knowledge for the network engineering career
We discussed the shifting landscape of the network engineering career earlier and why you must take an action now. In this video, I want to dig deeper into the Network Automation Engineer, the NetDevOps, and NRE roles and double click into the related domains of knowledge or the building blocks. Hang in there. Be right back. In the previous videos, we discussed the ten domains of knowledge that you need to master to become a network automation expert.
Operations
OPERATIONS is the front and center of a DevOps role. It is more than troubleshooting as it is about configuration, provisioning, orchestration. Let me unpack. Both configuration and provisioning are part of the deployment. The configuration is about customizing the service or infrastructure whereas provisioning is about readying the underlying infrastructure i.e. servers, virtual machines, and containers. Configuration takes place after provisioning. Orchestration can include both provisioning and configuration. In the real world, there can be overlap across these terms, so nothing is black and white as such since configuration management tools like Ansible not only configure but they also provision or orchestrate. Provisioning and configuring databases, crafting SQL queries, and dealing with NoSQL databases are all part of DevOps. All network automation roles require knowledge of Operations; however, operations skills are only covered in DEVCOR and DEVOPS exams.
Conclusion on DevOps
WITHOUT COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION, tools alone can’t make DevOps a reality. Remember, DevOps is about processes, people, products, and tools. The process is about the stages of designing, building, and testing. DevOps tools are the crown jewel of the whole movement and include source code management, continuous integration and delivery, infrastructure as code, monitoring and logging and the list goes on and on. No discussion of DevOps would be complete without a word about collaboration, since DevOps is about development, test, and IT operations teams collaborating to make the whole thing possible, so we over I is downright essential. None of the Cisco DevNet exams include much about the need for cross-team collaboration however it is relevant to all network automation roles.
There you go folks; this concludes all the bodies of knowledge that you need to learn to have a successful career as a network automation expert.
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Author:Muhammad Afaq Khan, CCIE #9070

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