Professional Network Engineer Skills Deemed Unnecessary For 2020

Network engineers are a valuable asset to any organization, but with the increasing complexity of the network, specialized network skills may become obsolete by 2020.

According to a report by Sapio Research on behalf of technology integrator and consulting firm Teneo Inc., organizations now prefer general network engineering skills to specialized skills. The survey included 300 senior IT executives from organizations with more than 1,000 employees, 200 from the United States and 100 from the United Kingdom. This study investigated why network requirements are changing to support digital transformation and networks in general.

According to the report, the constant transformation of the network and the increase in network monitoring tools reduced the need for professional skills. Organizations find it difficult to keep their network equipment up-to-date with the latest technologies and tools, and they struggle to balance and meet these needs.

Network Complexity Leads To Convergence Of Network Roles

By 2020, 72% of respondents will see their internal network teams play a larger role than before. With the growth of connectivity technologies such as software-defined WANs, carrier networks, MPLS, and cloud-based applications, network engineers must be adaptable. Users expect their networks to function quickly and smoothly, so network teams must understand and monitor a variety of network technologies to meet their needs.

The professional skills of the network engineer are often less useful in an ever-changing network environment, and it is difficult to keep up with delicate infrastructure. 72% of respondents said they do not need to require special skills from network engineers. This is the result of increased workloads, as well as the exponential need for modern skills.

The growing repertoire of network monitoring tools also makes it difficult for organizations to maintain a balance. Research shows that network teams should use more monitoring tools to provide acceptable and reliable operations for networks and organizations. Keeping up with current management and monitoring tools and updating the skills of network engineers is a huge challenge for organizations.

Continuous Transformation Of The Network Nullifies The Skills Of The Network Engineer

26% of respondents want their network teams to perform non-network functions, such as those related to compliance and innovation. These converging roles can pose challenges for skill development network teams. Research shows that improving skills is not a budget problem, but rather a challenge for teams to stay up-to-date with complex infrastructure and network tools.

Due to the increased complexity of the network, 48% of respondents were forced to dedicate most of their team's resources and budget to updating network monitoring tools. Therefore, the received skill received fewer resources. Additionally, too many supervisory tasks can be placed on the IT team, leading to inadequate supervision and control and unskilled staff members.

Another area where network team resources and budgets are directed is recruiting and outsourcing resources to managed service providers. With the growth of network monitoring tools, the skills of network engineers (especially specialized ones) have become very complex and are now redundant rather than beneficial.

Impact On Global Network Engineer Skills

Respondents in the US USA And the UK generally gave similar answers, but the top three concerns of respondents in the US. USA They are:

1.       Suboptimal network monitoring and management without new hires.

2.       Personnel lacking necessary or appropriate skills; and

3.       Spend more on network monitoring tools.

Network equipment can make it difficult to understand network performance if they cannot train engineers. Overall, ensuring that the right skills of staff focus on top global IT executives over other common concerns, such as understanding application performance.