Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation

What is it?

What exactly is the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation?

Professional network automation

The automation concentration (ENAUTO 300-435) within CCNP Enterprise certifies software-driven network programmability and DevOps skills.

Before you book

Who is eligible to sit the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation?

Who it is for: Network automation engineers

The test itself

What is the format of the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation?

The Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation is administered by Pearson VUE and runs 90 minutes, contains 55–65 (concentration) questions and requires ~825 of 1000 to pass.

Money & time

How much does the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation cost?

For the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation, the exam fee is $300; the all-in cost is typically $700+; most candidates spend 4–8 months preparing.

The fine print

What are the retake and renewal rules for the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation?

Proctoring & delivery

Delivered by Pearson VUE: at authorized test centers or online via OnVUE remote proctoring (CCST uses the Certiport/Pearson VUE platform). A government-issued photo ID is required; online tests include a room/environment scan.

Retake policy

If you fail, Cisco requires a waiting period of 5 calendar days before you may retake the same exam. Each attempt requires full payment of the exam fee. Cisco does not cap total attempts, but some exams limit attempts within a 12-month window.

Score reporting

Results are reported as pass/fail and made available online (Cisco Certification Tracking System) typically within 48 hours. A section-level performance breakdown is provided to help target further study; scaled scores use a 300-1000 range (CCNA/CCNP-style exams).

Recertification

All Cisco certifications are valid for 3 years from the date earned. Recertify before expiry by (a) passing a higher-or-equal level qualifying exam, (b) earning Continuing Education (CE) credits through eligible training/activities, or (c) a combination of exam + CE. For associate-level certs 30 CE credits are required; for professional-level 40 CE credits. Certificates can also be extended via the Cisco Continuing Education program.

Refunds & rescheduling

Exam fees are generally non-refundable once scheduled, but Pearson VUE allows rescheduling or cancellation up to 24-48 hours before the appointment without penalty; no-shows forfeit the fee. CCST/Certiport policies may differ by region.

What it pays

How much does this credential pay?

$130,390 median for computer network architects (BLS SOC 15-1241, May 2024), the closest official series to the roles CCNP Automation supports

CCNP Automation pays through the network-engineering job market, and the closest official BLS figure is the May 2024 median annual wage of $130,390 for SOC 15-1241 Computer Network Architects — BLS has no occupation literally called 'network engineer', so we cite the architect series for this credential and say plainly that the fit is partial rather than exact. The lowest 10 percent in that occupation earned less than $79,520 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $198,030 in May 2024, a very wide spread driven by seniority, employer and location far more than by any certificate. BLS counted 179,200 computer-network-architect jobs in 2024 and projects 12 percent employment growth from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 11,200 openings a year, most of them replacement demand. Three caveats anchor the picture. First, BLS classifies by job duties rather than by certification, so the series includes architects without a CCNP and excludes CCNP holders working under other titles, which means the credential’s specific wage premium cannot be read off this page. Second, CCNP Automation is a specialist credential aimed at engineers already pursuing networking or automation careers, so the relevant comparison for a holder is typically the network-engineering salary band rather than the architect median, and employer listings rather than BLS set any premium for the automation concentration specifically. Third, the certificate gates nothing legally — unlike a state license it is an employer-recognized credential, so its value is realized through hiring and promotion decisions. For a candidate asking whether CCNP Automation pays, the direct answer is that it certifies skills in a job family with a $130,390 national median and double-digit projected growth, and the automation and programmability angle is the part of that family employers are actively modernizing.

Job growth.+12% projected change 2024-34 (much faster than average), with about 11,200 openings a year; automation and programmability are the skills employers are adding fastest

Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook - Computer Network Architects

Your schedule

How long should I study for it?

180-240 hours over 16-20 weeks of focused study

CCNP Automation is two exams — the 350-901 AUTOCOR core and one concentration such as 300-435 ENAUTO — and the efficient plan runs 16 to 20 weeks at 10 to 14 hours a week, roughly 180 to 240 hours in total, with the core consuming about 60 percent of the time because it is the 120-minute, $400 exam covering the broadest ground. The two exams are sequential in practice: most candidates pass the core first, because AUTOCOR tests the foundation — network automation systems, infrastructure as code, operations and AI in automation — and the concentration then deepens one area, with ENAUTO’s published v2.0 weightings of 30 percent controller-based automation, 25 percent device-level automation, 20 percent operations, 15 percent AI in automation and 10 percent foundation acting as the scope map for the second half of the plan. Weeks one through four cover Python, REST APIs, JSON and YANG foundations, which both exams assume. Weeks five through eight work the AUTOCOR core in depth, including infrastructure-as-code concepts and operations, with a timed 120-minute practice sit to close. Weeks nine through twelve move to the ENAUTO device-level and controller-based domains in the lab — Netmiko, ncclient, RESTCONF, Ansible, Jinja2 templates and model-driven telemetry. Week thirteen covers the operations and AI-in-automation domains, and weeks fourteen through sixteen are full timed practice exams at the real formats with a miss log driving final gap-closing. Candidates with strong Python and automation backgrounds can compress to twelve weeks, spending recovered time on hands-on labs rather than syntax review; candidates coming from pure routing and switching should add four weeks of Python and REST API fundamentals before touching the core topics, because the exam is automation-heavy by design. The plan’s anchor is the lab: every concentration domain is a hands-on skill, and candidates who type the code rather than read about it are the ones who finish the performance-based questions inside the clock.

1. Weeks 1-411-14 hrs/week

   Python, REST APIs, JSON and YANG foundations

   • Learn Python fundamentals: data structures, requests, scripts, and error handling
   • Drill JSON and XML payload construction and interpretation against YANG models using tools such as YANG Suite and pyang
   • Study NETCONF and RESTCONF and the OpenConfig/IETF/native model families
   • Set up a lab: a DevNet sandbox, Cisco Modeling Labs or local VMs with IOS XE images
2. Weeks 5-812-14 hrs/week

   Core exam depth — 350-901 AUTOCOR

   • Cover network automation systems development and design, infrastructure as code, and operations topics from the official AUTOCOR topics
   • Study the AI in automation content that appears on the core
   • Take one timed 120-minute practice sit on the core format and log every miss
3. Weeks 9-1212-14 hrs/week

   ENAUTO device-level and controller-based domains (25% + 30%)

   • Construct device-level automation with Netmiko, ncclient and RESTCONF, and Ansible playbooks
   • Work controller-based automation with Catalyst Center, SD-WAN Manager and Jinja2 templates
   • Build Day-0 provisioning solutions and on-box automations with EEM, guest shell and on-box Python
   • Practise troubleshooting RESTCONF, NETCONF and REST API solutions
4. Week 1311-13 hrs

   Operations and AI in automation (20% + 15%)

   • Configure model-driven telemetry subscriptions on IOS XE (CLI, NETCONF and RESTCONF)
   • Implement webhook-based monitoring and platform-API testing workflows
   • Study AI-assisted code development, AI in controller-based platforms, and security risks in AI-based automation
5. Weeks 14-1610-12 hrs/week

   Timed practice exams and gap closing

   • Take two timed practice sittings per exam at the real durations: 120 minutes for the core, 90 minutes for ENAUTO
   • Re-drill the miss log by domain until clean
   • Book the core and then the concentration with the five-day retake rule and your own schedule in mind

What to buy

Which study resources are worth paying for?

The buying logic for CCNP Automation is anchored by the fact that Cisco publishes the official exam topics for free — the ENAUTO v2.0 and AUTOCOR topics pages are the definitive scope map — so the first resource every candidate needs costs nothing, and no paid product can claim to define the blueprint better than Cisco’s own documents. The exam seats themselves are the biggest line item: the 350-901 core costs $400 and each concentration costs $300, both paid to Pearson VUE at scheduling, and retakes are full price with a five-calendar-day wait after a failure. Beyond Cisco’s free topics, the market splits into three tiers. Cisco’s own paid training — Cisco U. learning paths, the official courses and practice tests — typically runs several hundred dollars and is the closest match to the exam style, including performance-based questions. Cisco Press books for automation, such as the official cert guides, are usually $50 to $70 and are strongest for the foundational concepts. Third-party question banks from providers such as Boson and Pearson, typically $100 to $150, are the best timed-readiness check because they simulate the performance-based item mix, and the ones that explicitly track the current exam version are the ones to choose. A free lab — DevNet sandboxes, Cisco Modeling Labs or local virtual machines running IOS XE images — is worth more than any course for a performance-based exam, because the blueprint names tools you must actually run. Prices below are list prices as of mid-2026 and change frequently, and we rank nothing by commission; confirm the current price on the Cisco and Pearson VUE pages before buying.

Prices checked 2026-08 in USD before tax. The $400 core and $300 concentration fees are Cisco’s published prices; prep-product list prices change frequently, so confirm at the source before buying. We do not rank by commission.

What you'll face

What question types will I see?

CCNP Automation exams are delivered on computer through Pearson VUE, and the official topics pages describe the item mix as performance-based questions, multiple choice and drag-and-drop — Cisco publishes the formats but reports only a pass or fail result, with no numeric passing score and no cohort pass-rate statistics. The core exam, 350-901 AUTOCOR, runs 120 minutes and costs $400, while the concentration exams, such as 300-435 ENAUTO, run 90 minutes and cost $300; both are available in English and Japanese, and the question count is not fixed in the published topics, so pacing discipline matters more than counting questions. Performance-based questions drop you into a task — construct a JSON payload from a YANG model, write a Netmiko script to manage configurations, or configure a model-driven telemetry subscription — and carry disproportionate weight because they test whether you can do the work rather than recognize it. Multiple-choice items test concepts from the blueprint, from OpenConfig and NETCONF to controller-based architecture, while drag-and-drop items typically ask you to order workflow steps or match API concepts. The ENAUTO v2.0 blueprint weights controller-based network automation at 30 percent, device-level automation at 25 percent, operations at 20 percent, AI in automation at 15 percent and network automation foundation at 10 percent, which tells candidates where the item mass sits. Cisco also publishes a free exam tutorial that walks candidates through each item format before exam day, which is worth taking once so the first performance-based task you see is not a surprise. The three samples below are editor-written illustrations of the published blueprint, not live exam items; one shows the device-level automation domain, one the foundation domain, and one the AI in automation domain.

Samples are editor-written illustrations of the published blueprint, not live exam items.

Reference

What are the key facts about the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation?

Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation is a certification credential; awarded by Cisco; the exam fee is $300; typical preparation is 4–8 months; holders typically earn $95,000 – $135,000.

In short

Is the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation worth it?

• Automation is a CCNP Enterprise concentration.
• It builds on ENCOR with DEVNET skills.
• It renews every three years.

Worth comparing

How does the Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation compare with similar credentials?

• Cisco Certified Network Professional Enterprise Cisco Systems
• Cisco Certified Network Associate Cisco Systems

Trust

Where does this information come from?

Everything above is taken from the awarding body's own published material. Fees, question counts and domain weights are revised regularly — check the official page before you pay.

• Cisco Awarding body
• Official Cisco Certified Network Professional Automation exam page Exam page
• Cisco certification programme Programme rules

Research confidence: high · Last reviewed 2026-08