Cisco’s advocacy group, Cisco Insider, brings our clients collectively and gives a means for them to make highly effective connections, increase their skilled and private networks, and be taught from prime specialists of their discipline. Certainly one of 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 not too long ago sat down with Mateusz Frąk to find out about his journey in community engineering and his ardour for sharing information by his weblog.
Welcome, Mateusz! It’s so nice to speak with you right now! Let’s kick issues off by studying a bit bit about who you might be.
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 entails implementing, managing, troubleshooting, and enhancing our community automation options. These options are vital in a company that gives and manages supply-chain options for hundreds of shoppers. 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 sooner isolation of widespread community points.
Are you able to inform us about your journey into community engineering? What bought you began?
My journey started once I was 18 and attending technical college. 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 inquisitive about 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 ultimately a community architect. As a community architect, I centered on modernizing an organization’s community by adopting software-defined networks (SDN) for each information heart 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 just’ve had a formidable profession development. How did you get entangled with the Cisco Insider Advocates group, and what has your expertise been like up to now?
I used to be seeking to develop into extra linked with a group of execs, so throughout Cisco Stay 2024 in Amsterdam, I visited the Insider Advocates sales space. After talking with the group managers, I made a decision to hitch the group.
The best worth of the group, for my part, is the power to ask questions on to material specialists (SMEs) throughout unique Q&A classes. The responses I’ve acquired 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 linked 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 implausible option to meet new folks from across the globe. I actually admire the facility of group—it’s what helps me take pleasure in demanding processes like getting ready for the DevNet Knowledgeable certification and dealing on difficult initiatives. The DevNet Knowledgeable certification demonstrates experience designing and growing community automation options by the complete community lifecycle, from idea, growth, and deployment to operation and optimization.
Talking of your DevNet Knowledgeable 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 all the time been impressed by professionals who generously share their experiences with others, akin to John Capobianco, who revealed Automate Your Community. In his GitHub repository the place the e-book is obtainable, he acknowledged, “I imagine in open-source software program. I imagine folks 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 folks ought to have common entry to information.”
I’ve additionally been impressed by Conor Murphy, a technical options architect at Cisco, who shares technical blogs. He tackles very difficult situations and explains them in a means that’s simple to grasp.
I dedicate hours each day to finding out new subjects 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 want to offer again by sharing the information 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 priceless useful resource for somebody who’s beginning their DevNet Knowledgeable journey. My aim is to assist others really feel much less confused throughout their preparation and the examination itself. I understand how difficult it may be to keep up composure in such high-pressure conditions. I additionally wish to present that this certification is achievable by anybody who’s constant and devoted.
My weblog can also be a means to enhance my technical writing abilities, improve my English, and most significantly, deepen my technical information. Writing content material for a weblog takes time and sometimes requires in depth analysis to create articles that not solely inform, but in addition encourage readers to consider issues from totally different angles. This, in flip, would possibly cause them to 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 Knowledgeable 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 aim 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 out there that mentioned these features intimately. My first try was troublesome—not attributable to lack of understanding, however due to sudden elements that affected my efficiency. Being conscious of those small but vital particulars may also help candidates handle their stress ranges higher, particularly in the event that they’ve learn concerning the expertise of somebody who has been by it.
Sooner or later, I’ll additionally share insights from my day by day work to offer a practical view of life in IT. Whereas there are various blogs that assist IT professionals get began with particular instruments, I wish 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?
In case you’re desirous about diving deeper into my journey, notably my ongoing DevNet Knowledgeable certification course of, you possibly can observe alongside on my weblog at mateuszfrak.com. I often share insights, ideas, and detailed posts concerning the challenges and options I encounter. Whether or not you’re getting ready for certification, or just seeking to increase your information in community automation, I hope my weblog could be a priceless 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 would possibly take pleasure in this interview with Rob Taylor.
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