Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
About Cisco
3.
About the Role 
3.1.
The Release Manager at Cisco
4.
Salary 
5.
Perks of Release Manager
6.
Skills and Experience Required
7.
Responsibilities with Job
8.
Preparation Strategy
8.1.
Getting a Bachelor's Degree
8.2.
Obtain Software Development Experience
8.3.
A Master's Degree may be an Option
8.4.
Apply for Roles in Release Management
9.
Career Map
10.
Resources for Preparation
11.
Frequently Asked Questions
11.1.
What is the role of a release manager?
11.2.
What distinguishes a release manager from a project manager?
11.3.
What are the steps of release management?
11.4.
What is the process for release management?
11.5.
Is release management part of DevOps?
12.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

Release Manager at Cisco

Author Kanak Rana
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Introduction

Are you interested in knowing what a Release Manager’s life looks like, and do you want to become a Release Manager at Cisco?

If yes and you aspire to become one... you're at the right place.

 Release Manager at Cisco

In this article, we'll discuss the Release Manager at Cisco,  which will help you know everything you need about this role.

So, let’s get started.

About Cisco

The American international technological firm Cisco Systems, Inc., also known as Cisco, has its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. Cisco creates, produces, and distributes networking hardware, software, telecommunications gear, and other high-tech services and goods. 

 Cisco

The company is essential to Silicon Valley's expansion. Cisco is a leading provider of cutting-edge technologies such as Webex, OpenDNS, Jabber, Duo Security, and Jasper. It specializes in niche technological areas like the Internet of Things (IoT), domain security, videoconferencing, and energy management. With $49 billion in annual revenue and close to 80,000 workers, Cisco ranks 63 on the Fortune 100 and is one of the biggest technology businesses in the world.

About the Role 

At Cisco Systems, there are several steps in the hiring process, including a job application and an interview, where you will be required to provide satisfactory answers to several questions. To improve your chances of landing a job at Cisco Systems, we will help you!

The Release Manager at Cisco

The Release Manager at Cisco is the one who will manage the release lifecycle, which entails planning, coordinating, and scheduling releases.

Release Manager at Cisco

The particular person with this role will be responsible for implementing and overseeing software release processes across test and development environments. The role of the release manager involves close collaboration with all parties and continuous support for test and development environments.

Salary 

Demand for Release Manager is slowly increasing. Depending on experience and qualifications, the typical income for a release manager is expected to be $107,329 annually. Sufficiently experienced release managers may even receive compensation of up to $149,000 annually. According to estimates, the typical release manager compensation in the US is $105,000. Release Managers often make around 13 Lakhs per year in India. As one gains more experience, their pay rises.

Salary

Average Annual Salary

₹ 13,60,440

Bonus Salary

₹ 10000

The salary figures mentioned above are subject to change.

Perks of Release Manager

Cisco Systems Inc. offers a range of perks and retirement benefits for its employees. Many firms in the US offer health insurance, similar to Cisco Systems Inc., whereby corporations often pay a sizeable amount of employee health insurance payments. 

Under this scheme, companies can deduct their contributions from their taxes, while employees can obtain their insurance benefits tax-free.

The company Cisco Systems Inc. offers medical, dental, and vision coverage. Additionally, Cisco Systems Inc. offers group life insurance, long-term disability insurance, short-term disability insurance for illnesses or accidents, and death benefits that cover specific causes of death.

Perks of Release Manager

Many employees rely on their employers' pension plans to help ensure a steady income stream in later life. Cisco Systems Inc. Companies offer plan types with defined contributions supporting employees in their retirement savings and investments by providing them with defined contribution pension plans.

Health & Insurance Benefits

  • Temporary Disability Insurance
  • Health Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Long-term Disability Insurance
  • Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance
     

Other Benefits

  • Employee Assistance
  • Free transportation
  • Maternity and Paternity leave
  • Child Care Centers
  • Gymnasium
  • Soft skill training
  • Team outings
  • Free Food
  • Internation Reallocation

Skills and Experience Required

The following are the skills and experience required for the Release Manager at Cisco:

  • 5–6 years of prior experience in project management or release (solid understanding of project management principles preferred).
  • Degree in computer science or related field.
  • Demonstrated aptitude at leading cross-functional teams of workers to job fulfillment.
  • Effective leadership and analytical abilities were on display.
  • Advanced verbal and writing communication abilities are required.
Skills and Experience Required
  • Understanding of the Agile process.
  • Knowledgeable about CI/CD tooling. Knowledge of test and build frameworks like Jenkins and Bitten.
  • Working knowledge of shell scripting and GIT. Knowledge of Linux, shell scripting, and Unix.
  • Knowledge of Perl, Python, and standard shell programming (sed, bash, and awk)
  • Confluence and Jira knowledge are added advantages.
  • Knowledge of the community tools for the Yocto Project is a bonus.

Responsibilities with Job

The following are the responsibilities of the Release Manager at Cisco:

  • Schedules for NSO and ConfD product releases are planned. Inform the stakeholders of release schedules and details as necessary.
Responsibilities with Job
  • Take the initiative and organize the release operations, including the execution of the release plans and checklists. Plan, negotiate, and oversee all release-related activities.
     
  • Assist the release team with routine release tasks and test monitoring.
     
  • Resolve problems that affect the release's scope, timeline, and quality by managing risks.
     
Role
  • Manage interactions and schedules between many teams working in various places.
     
  • Continuously strive to make the releasing process better.
     
  • Assisting with and encouraging the speedy fix of issues encountered during the daily build and test operations.
     
  • Creating and keeping up with build/release process documentation.
     
  • Investigating, integrating, and utilizing methods and procedures can enhance the dependability, stability, and effectiveness with which we release our products.

Preparation Strategy

At Cisco Systems, there are several steps in the hiring process, including a job application and an interview, where you will be required to provide satisfactory answers to several questions.

Getting a Bachelor's Degree

It is the initial requirement for becoming a release manager. Obtain a bachelor's degree in an area that relates to software development or information technology. Try to enroll in classes during your schooling that will assist you in comprehending software development and testing more fully.

Bachelor's Degree

To select a bachelor's degree program that's a suitable fit for you, try looking online or attending an education fair. To locate a college technology program that fits your educational objectives for software development, be sure to do your homework.

Obtain Software Development Experience

Before moving up to a release manager role after earning a bachelor's degree, it's imperative to have software development experience. Try looking for an entry-level software engineering career or apply for software development internships.

Software Development Experience

To learn the abilities and specialized software procedures experienced software engineers employ while working, monitor them while performing entry-level work. To better understand what difficulties to spot as a release manager, it may be helpful to identify frequent challenges in the software development industry.

A Master's Degree may be an Option

Consider getting a master's in software development after that. You might stand out from other professionals applying for release manager jobs with a master's degree.

Master's Degree

You might also have the chance to learn more about software development or to advance your technical knowledge while completing a master's program. For professionals who wish to keep working while continuing their degree, several master's programs offer part-time courses. It implies that you can work as a software developer or release manager full-time and pursue a master's degree simultaneously.

Apply for Roles in Release Management

Apply for release management jobs you're interested in once you've obtained sufficient experience.

Apply for Roles in Release Management

Make a résumé outlining your software experience and release manager skills before applying. Check online or get in touch with software businesses to see whether any positions are available.

Career Map

Release managers frequently come to their role from various tasks since interpersonal skills are at least as vital as technical expertise. Whether you work as a regular developer, a release engineer, or in quality assurance, if you become a team leader or get promoted, you will have many opportunities to start filling the shoes of a release manager without the job title: setting up automation, coordinating and creating alignment across teams, or choosing whether a build should be shipped to market are all typical tasks of a release manager.

Career Map

The next role of a release manager might vary greatly depending on the organization's sector, nation, and size. Here are a few traditional choices:

  • Becoming an Enterprise Release Manager with accountability for a more extensive portfolio of apps after being promoted from a smaller business.
     
  • Working as a Release Train Engineer for a SAFe-adopting company, Release managers may be well-suited for positions managing all aspects of IT(Internet Technology) operations, rising to the level of VP(Vice President ) of IT Operations, or even VP of Engineering, in organizations that use DevOps.
     
  • Release managers can start lucrative careers in the service sector by helping clients set up CI/CD pipelines(continuous integration and continuous delivery/continuous deployment), for instance, thanks to the breadth of their technical vision.

Resources for Preparation

You can search for many resources, but we always need a systematic way to learn things. Here are some necessary resources which help to become a Release Manager at Cisco:

Resources

You may look into the following to have better practical knowledge,

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the role of a release manager?

Release managers work with various stakeholders to coordinate requirements, testing, and the release schedule for essential components. They make sure that daily operations execute simultaneously. The release manager's duties include corresponding with various software development teams.

What distinguishes a release manager from a project manager?

Although the release manager is responsible for making sure the dependencies are available in accordance with their release schedule, the project manager is aware of them and must verify that the dependency product is ready to test against.

What are the steps of release management?

There are five steps of release management: Plan release, Build release, User acceptance testing, Prepare release, and Deploy release.

What is the process for release management?

The process of scheduling, designing, testing, deploying, and managing software releases is called release management.

Is release management part of DevOps?

Release management acts as a method for filling the data gap in DevOps.

Conclusion

This blog covered the role of a Release Manager at Cisco. We went through responsibilities as a Release Manager at Cisco with salary and perks, skills and experience required, a career path as a Release Manager at Cisco, and a roadmap to becoming a Release Manager at Cisco.

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