Cisco’s advocacy group, Cisco Insider, brings our clients collectively and offers a means for them to make highly effective connections, develop their skilled and private networks, and be taught from high consultants of their subject. One in all our objectives with our advocacy group is to deepen {our relationships} with our clients. Our Q&A sequence permits us to shine a highlight on a few of our most passionate advocates as we be taught extra about their tales and backgrounds.
We just lately sat down with Mateusz Frąk to find out about his journey in community engineering and his ardour for sharing data by means of his weblog.
Welcome, Mateusz! It’s so nice to speak with you right now! Let’s kick issues off by studying somewhat bit about who you’re.
Thanks for having me right here! I’m Mateusz, and I work at DSV as a senior community automation engineer. DSV is a world transport and logistics firm. My function includes implementing, managing, troubleshooting, and enhancing our community automation options. These options are important in a corporation that gives and manages supply-chain options for hundreds of consumers. I additionally deal with figuring out enterprise points, permitting us to develop options that assist community engineers keep away from repetitive duties. We offer numerous instruments that the operations workforce makes use of to troubleshoot networks, leading to quicker isolation of frequent community points.
Are you able to inform us about your journey into community engineering? What acquired you began?
My journey started once I was 18 and attending technical faculty. I used to be uncovered to varied specializations like programming, databases, and networks, and I selected networks as a result of I used to be fascinated by the subject and interested in what actually occurs behind the scenes whenever you load a webpage like Google.
Through the years, I progressed from a junior community administrator to a community engineer, and finally a community architect. As a community architect, I centered on modernizing an organization’s community by adopting software-defined networks (SDN) for each knowledge middle and campus environments, utilizing Cisco merchandise. Almost three years in the past, I made a decision to pivot into community automation, leveraging the abilities I had constructed through the years. This transition allowed me to mix my deep understanding of community engineering with automation, enabling the creation of extra environment friendly and efficient options.
It’s clear that you simply’ve had a powerful profession development. How did you become involved with the Cisco Insider Advocates group, and what has your expertise been like to this point?
I used to be seeking to grow to be extra related with a group of pros, so throughout Cisco Reside 2024 in Amsterdam, I visited the Insider Advocates sales space. After talking with the group managers, I made a decision to affix the group.
The best worth of the group, in my view, is the power to ask questions on to subject material consultants (SMEs) throughout unique Q&A classes. The responses I’ve obtained from these classes have been extremely insightful, permitting me to enhance my abilities and sort out challenges in my job extra successfully. I’ve additionally related with quite a few SMEs, tapping into their experience and making use of it to the initiatives I’m concerned with at work. Moreover, it’s been a unbelievable technique to meet new individuals from across the globe. I really respect the ability of group—it’s what helps me take pleasure in demanding processes like getting ready for the DevNet Professional certification and dealing on difficult initiatives. The DevNet Professional certification demonstrates experience designing and creating community automation options by means of all the community lifecycle, from idea, improvement, and deployment to operation and optimization.
Talking of your DevNet Professional journey, you’ve been documenting your experiences in your weblog at mateuszfrak.com. What motivated you to start out sharing your journey publicly?
I’ve at all times been impressed by professionals who generously share their experiences with others, similar to John Capobianco, who revealed Automate Your Community. In his GitHub repository the place the e-book is offered, he said, “I imagine in open-source software program. I imagine individuals ought to have common entry to Linux. I imagine open-source instruments like Ansible ought to stay open supply.” This impressed me to go a step additional and say, “I imagine individuals ought to have common entry to data.”
I’ve additionally been impressed by Conor Murphy, a technical options architect at Cisco, who shares technical blogs. He tackles very difficult eventualities and explains them in a means that’s simple to know.
I dedicate hours on daily basis to learning new matters and applied sciences. As I profit from the free sources shared by Cisco, John, Conor, and plenty of different technical writers, I really feel a robust need to present again by sharing the data and expertise I collect every day.
What retains you motivated to proceed writing and sharing your journey?
I hope that my weblog will function a useful useful resource for somebody who’s beginning their DevNet Professional journey. My purpose is to assist others really feel much less pressured throughout their preparation and the examination itself. I understand how difficult it may be to take care of composure in such high-pressure conditions. I additionally need to present that this certification is achievable by anybody who’s constant and devoted.
My weblog can be a means to enhance my technical writing abilities, improve my English, and most significantly, deepen my technical data. Writing content material for a weblog takes time and infrequently requires in depth analysis to create articles that not solely inform, but additionally encourage readers to consider issues from completely different angles. This, in flip, may make them options they hadn’t thought of earlier than.
I even have a dream of writing a technical e-book sometime. I imagine that the method of writing for my weblog will assist me develop the abilities I must make that dream a actuality.
What can readers anticipate out of your upcoming weblog posts?
My DevNet Professional journey remains to be ongoing, and I’m planning to doc my examination makes an attempt quickly, together with ideas and techniques for tackling a CCIE-level examination. My purpose is to assist others really feel much less overwhelmed when getting ready for such a demanding certification.
After I began my journey, there weren’t many sources obtainable that mentioned these features intimately. My first try was troublesome—not resulting from lack of awareness, however due to surprising elements that affected my efficiency. Being conscious of those small but important particulars can assist candidates handle their stress ranges higher, particularly in the event that they’ve learn in regards to the expertise of somebody who has been by means of it.
Sooner or later, I’ll additionally share insights from my each day work to present a practical view of life in IT. Whereas there are numerous blogs that assist IT professionals get began with particular instruments, I need to take it a step additional, discussing the challenges professionals face and providing options that transcend the fundamentals.
Lastly, Mateusz, for these impressed by your journey, the place can they observe alongside and be taught extra out of your experiences?
When you’re thinking about diving deeper into my journey, significantly my ongoing DevNet Professional certification course of, you possibly can observe alongside on my weblog at mateuszfrak.com. I frequently share insights, ideas, and detailed posts in regards to the challenges and options I encounter. Whether or not you’re getting ready for certification, or just seeking to develop your data in community automation, I hope my weblog could be a useful useful resource for you.
It’s been a pleasure to speak with you, Mateusz. Thanks once more for becoming a member of us and for being a part of our group!
Learn extra advocate interviews.
You may take pleasure in this interview with Rob Taylor.
Be part of Cisco Insider Advocates!
For our clients who’ve already joined our Cisco Insider Advocates group, say hiya to Mateusz if you happen to haven’t met but. And if you happen to’re a Cisco buyer however aren’t a group member, take into account becoming a member of. You’ll be capable of:
- Join with friends in a gamified, on-line group
- Have a chance to fulfill with Cisco’s executives
- Share your suggestions, questions, and finest practices
- Get entry to ‘insider’ content material and sources
- Develop your skilled and private model
- Amplify your organization’s success story with Cisco expertise
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Head over to the Cisco Insider Advocates group and say hiya!
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