Cisco DevNet Is Now Cisco Automation: The Complete 2026 Migration Guide

Cisco's biggest certification rebrand since the 2020 overhaul landed on 3 February 2026: the DevNet track is now the Cisco Automation track. This is more than a new logo — exam numbers, blueprints and recertification paths all shifted, and three concentration exams were retired outright. If you hold a DevNet certification, or you were halfway through preparing for one, this guide covers exactly what changed and what you should do about it.

What changed, at a glance

• DevNet Associate → CCNA Automation. The associate-level programmability certification now sits alongside CCNA in name, making it far easier to explain to hiring managers.
• DevNet Professional → CCNP Automation. The core exam is AUTOCOR 350-901 v2.0, an evolution of the old DEVCOR 350-901 with new sections on model-driven telemetry pipelines and AI-assisted operations.
• DevNet Expert → CCIE Automation. The expert lab keeps its 8-hour, two-module format. Holders join the CCIE community with full plaque-and-number status.
• SAUTO, SPAUTO and CLAUTO retired. The Security, Service Provider and Collaboration automation concentrations were withdrawn on 2 February 2026.

Cisco's stated reason is clarity. "DevNet" always confused people outside the ecosystem — recruiters searching for network automation engineers rarely typed it. Folding the track into the familiar CCNA/CCNP/CCIE ladder puts automation skills on the same shelf as routing and switching, which is where the job market already put them.

If you already hold a DevNet certification

Nothing expires early. A DevNet Associate earned in, say, August 2024 remains valid until August 2027 exactly as before. Your certification record in Cisco's tracking system now displays the new name, and when you recertify — by exam or continuing-education credits — you recertify into the Automation title. There is no bridge exam, no paperwork and no fee.

One practical tip: update your LinkedIn headline and résumé now. Recruiters have started searching for "CCNA Automation" and "CCNP Automation"; listing only "DevNet" means you miss those searches. A clean format is: "CCNP Automation (formerly Cisco DevNet Professional)".

If you were preparing for a DevNet exam

Keep going — the knowledge transfers almost entirely. Comparing the DEVASC blueprint to CCNA Automation, and DEVCOR to AUTOCOR 350-901 v2.0, roughly four-fifths of the topics carry straight over: Python fundamentals, REST API design and consumption, data formats (JSON, XML, YAML), YANG data models, NETCONF and RESTCONF, Git-based workflows, Docker basics and CI/CD concepts. What v2.0 adds is heavier coverage of model-driven telemetry (gNMI, streaming to a TIG or Splunk stack), infrastructure-as-code with Terraform and Ansible against Cisco platforms, and AI-assisted operations — think using LLM-based tooling to draft configuration changes that a pipeline then validates.

If you sat and passed a DevNet exam before the cutover, the credit counts toward the renamed certification automatically. If you had booked an exam after 3 February 2026, Pearson VUE migrated the booking to the new exam code — check your confirmation email rather than assuming.

The new ladder, mapped to job roles

Here is how we advise students at RST Forum to sequence the track, based on the roles Mumbai and Bengaluru employers are actually hiring for:

1. CCNA (200-301) first. Automation without networking fundamentals produces engineers who can write a script but cannot troubleshoot what it breaks. Every automation JD we see still lists CCNA-level knowledge as a prerequisite.
2. CCNA Automation next. This is the sweet spot for NOC engineers moving up: Python, APIs and telemetry on top of solid CLI skills. Typical roles: network automation engineer, NetDevOps engineer, tools engineer.
3. CCNP Automation (AUTOCOR 350-901 v2.0) for senior roles. Platform teams at service providers, GSIs and large banks treat this as the benchmark for engineers who own automation pipelines rather than just contribute scripts.
4. CCIE Automation if you architect. The expert lab is for engineers designing automation strategy across an estate — still rare in India, and paid accordingly.

How the retired concentrations affect CCNP paths

The Security, Service Provider and Collaboration CCNP tracks each lost their automation concentration option. If you passed SAUTO, SPAUTO or CLAUTO before 2 February 2026, it still counts as your concentration for the standard three-year window. Going forward, candidates on those tracks choose from the remaining concentration exams — and engineers who specifically want automation credentials should take the dedicated CCNA/CCNP Automation track instead, which is a cleaner signal anyway.

Key dates to keep in mind

• 2 February 2026 — last day the SAUTO (300-735), SPAUTO (300-535) and CLAUTO (300-835) concentration exams were available.
• 3 February 2026 — the Automation track went live: CCNA Automation, CCNP Automation with AUTOCOR 350-901 v2.0, and CCIE Automation.
• Your existing cert's anniversary — nothing about your three-year recertification window moved; check your certification tracker for the exact date rather than assuming.

Recertification mechanics are unchanged too: continuing-education credits, a passing exam score, or a combination still renew the certification, and credits earned under DevNet-era activity retain their value in the new track.

Preparing for the new exams

Our automation batches — classroom in Mumbai and live online across India — were re-mapped to the v2.0 blueprints in March 2026. The labs run on the Skillopia platform against real Cisco sandboxes: you write Python against actual IOS XE and NX-OS devices, build a small CI pipeline that validates configuration changes, and stream telemetry into a dashboard you assemble yourself. RST Forum has been teaching Cisco tracks since 1997 and has trained over a million engineers; the consistent lesson from three decades of certification changes is that people who keep studying through a rebrand come out ahead of people who pause and wait.

As with every course we run, the first lecture of any automation batch is free — sit in, meet the trainer, look at the lab racks, and then decide.