From zero to NetDevOps

hero:
Automate YOUR use cases

François Caen, Programmability & Automation Lead, Americas SE

DEVNET-2191
Agenda

• Automation is Overwhelming
• From Pain to Use Cases: a Process
• Process Role Play
• With Live Use Case Demos!
• What’s Next?

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Who are these guys?
…and should I listen or look at my phone?
François Caen Marc Nufrio
• 1999 – Linux sysadmin • 1999 – LAN Party Addict
• 2004 – Network Engineer • 2004 – Network Engineer
• 2015 –Systems Architect, Cisco • 2015 – Network Architect,
NetSuite/Oracle OCI
• 2021 - Programmability and
Automation Lead, Americas SE • 2019 – Systems Architect, Cisco

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Why are you here?
• You know you need automation – like Marc!
• You don’t know how to get started
• IaC & NetDevOps seem very far away
• You are overwhelmed

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Approach automation in steps

Service Business-integrated
orchestration Business-level intent,
Model-driven dynamic optimization
configuration based on real-time state
lifecycle, service
Re-usable CRUD automation in
frameworks one place
Scale

Centrally managed
frameworks, templates
Ad-hoc scripting to accelerate delivery
Engineers run off-off
scripts and tools,
device-by-device

Value

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So. Many. Tools.

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You need a
process!
An Automation Process – Our Process
Build YOUR OWN process!
• Identify your manual and/or painful processes
• Pick the right tool(s)
• Work as a team
• “Aim small, miss small”
• Document! Document! Document!

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From pain to use case
• VLAN provisioning
Repetitive simple tasks • Shut/Unshut ports
(Toil) • Route table changes

• Firewall object management

• Port check
Reactive tasks • BGP health-check
• Outage Runbook

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Identification and Prioritization
• Individual Brainstorming Exercises
• Dot voting / shared Ideation boards
• Hackathons
• Don’t solution! (yet)
• Five Whys mindset

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DEVNET-2191 © 2024 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 13
Inventory the resources and start solutioning
• Find resources
• Evaluate skills
• Allocate your tools/software
• Determine scope of effort
• Set realistic dates and milestones
• Create Minimum Viable Product
• SMART objectives
• TEST approach

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Gather your tools
• Tool fatigue is REAL
• Pick the tools that suite your organization and team
• Upskill and upskill again
• Continue to build the stack – Phased approach

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This is manageable!

Phase II

Phase I

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From Pain to
Use Cases!
Use-Case:
Local Password change
Demo
Use-Case:
Client Audit
Demo
Remember, we said document!

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Lifecycle
• Operationalize and maintain
• Bugs? My code has no bugs!
• Distribute it? Security?
• Look into building an SDLC
• CI/CD (North Star for Net/SecOps)

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Approach automation in steps
Let’s revisit

Business-integrated
Service
orchestration
Re-usable
frameworks
Process

Ad-hoc
scripting

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Call to Action
• Don’t fall in the tool trap
• Don’t fall in the learning trap
• Start thinking about your process
• Don’t get discouraged
• Just Do It!

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Thank you