As digitization transforms how organizations operate, it is changing how the network operates in profound ways as well. As significant as the move from analog to digital, it is a shift away from hardware to virtual functionality. The speed of this change should not be underestimated – it is unprecedented and requires focused skill development that will benefit businesses in the short and long term.
Software-defined networking (SDN) is the engine that powers the digital transformation of the network. SDN automates network management that was once manual. Network function virtualization (NFV) is another technology that plays a key role in the digitization of the network. NFV allows for flexibility and scalability of critical network functionalities. Both allow organizations to gain a competitive edge when completing digital projects.
The market for these technologies is growing fast. Leading analyst firm IDC forecasts that the worldwide SDN market will grow almost 54% between 2014 and 2020. By 2020, this market will approach $12.5 billion. SDN has established its place in the market, and NFV is gaining ground.
Analytics is also critical to building a digital-ready network. Analytics uncovers rich contextual insights about users, applications, devices, the status of resources and threats. Insights derived from analytics help organizations and their IT professionals make well-informed decisions, proactively improve performance and deliver better business outcomes.
SDN, NFV and analytics technologies cannot be adopted without the proper talent onboard. The deployment of a programmable, virtualized network requires the redefinition of job roles, restructuring of teams and development of new skills.
How can companies enable their employees to deploy a digital network? First, they need to understand how roles will be redefined in this new era.
IT job transformation
As organizations go digital, IT job functions are shifting towards more secure, policy-based services with business-focused analytics capabilities. These services are enabled through the creation of infrastructure abstraction models allowing automation via high-level controller-based architectures and are focused on business outcomes rather than foundational resource deployment.
IT professionals must evolve their skillsets in order to support a digital-ready network. By adopting rapidly changing technologies, such as SDN, enhanced security, flexible access and virtualization, they can take full advantage of the cloud and integrate technologies to build a secure, digital network. In this environment, IT professionals able to detect and respond to increasingly insidious cybersecurity threats have a clear competitive advantage.
In this evolving landscape, automation and programming skills are highly marketable. Professionals who are trained and certified with the programming skills to take advantage of SDN and NFV can help organizations deploy a digital network. Beyond programming skills, IT professionals also are expected to connect the adoption of new technology to business outcomes. Organizations need IT professionals that understand the relationship between business and technology. Without this critical skill set, the real value of SDN and NFV cannot be realized.
New skills for the digital network
Network engineers and programmers need a broader skill base to tackle the challenges of building a digital network. They need to be able to collaborate, to communicate and implement business goals, to understand the design of an IT system and to be able to program that design. In smaller organizations, individuals can bridge the skills gap by developing both programming and IT design skills. In organizations with more resources, IT professionals benefit from developing improved communication skills to foster cross-departmental collaboration between IT and programming teams.
On a fundamental technical level, every IT professional should understand basic scripting because it enables the automation of tasks, and many tasks are automated in digital networks. While today’s network engineer may have these basic scripting skills, advanced programming skills are becoming equally important. Python is a good language choice because it allows users to learn both procedural programming and object-oriented programming. In today’s world, working with Application Programming Interfaces (API) on the Linux OS is crucial to keeping pace with technology.
Beyond fundamentals, network engineers should explore infrastructure programming. Common automation protocols like NETCONF REST, and the relationship with YANG data models also are key. Network engineers will benefit from developing an expertise in types of SDN controllers, such as APIC, APIC-EM and OSC. Additionally, network programmers must be able to use APIs that reside in devices.
Understanding how to automate infrastructure is fundamental to software programmers who want to get started in networking, using APIs and toolkits to interface with SDN controllers and individual devices. Becoming well acquainted with the way the network works and the more sophisticated network functions are also key skills – you cannot automate what you do not understand. Programmers and network engineers need to collaborate and share their knowledge of virtualization since digital networks are largely virtualized and highly fluid.
As the network rapidly changes in response to digital transformation, IT job roles are also quickly changing. Organizations that want an IT staff capable of addressing the many and evolving requirements of the network need an action plan and trusted partners to support new paths for learning. By encouraging employees to obtain advanced skills and certifications, the promise of advanced digital networks can become a reality that supports continued growth, innovation and transformative success for businesses in the digital age.
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