Avenues for Networking professionals

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Gone are the days where a networking professional was just looking after the LAN/WAN and Server & Desktops setup in an organization. Now, there’s a lot more to play for a network professional in the areas of Security, Storage, WAN Management, Wireless, Server Consolidation, Unified Communication and many others. If you are thinking of getting into networking or are already a part of it, you’ll find a bright growth path ahead of you.

We interviewed Ram Kumar, Executive Director, Gemini Communications Ltd. to find out about the various hot career opportunities that are available for networking professionals. Gemini Communications Ltd. (GCL) has built up the reputation of being one of the most innovative networking companies in India. GCL provides consulting in various Networking, IT and Wireless domains.

Here is the excerpt from the interview with Ram Kumar.

PCQ: For an enterprise’s business Networks have become crucial. What are the various job roles that a networking professional has to perform for an organization?



Ram Kumar: The networking professional jobs have become more complex & more demanding now days. Gone are the days where networking professionals were just looking after LAN / WAN / Servers & Desktops in an Enterprise. Now networking professional have a lot of role to play in areas of Security, Storage, Server Consolidation, Network utilization /optimization etc. They have to run their networks more efficiently & effectively which ensures 99% plus uptime for users, faster ROI for company, better utilization of the available resources etc.

PCQ: Networking is a wide domain, can you talk on some of the latest trends and technologies that are coming and shaping up the future of networking arena?



RK: There are lots of exciting technologies & trends which are going to shape up in future but the mantra will be “Convergence”.  The technologies will unify & provide a common platform for communication which can be controlled by hand held devices like Cell Phone, Palmtop etc.

WiMax will be a strong contender on wireless front. Mobile internet connections will reach several Mbps speeds, at the same time WiMax will be challenged by other technologies like 3.5G / 4G on the cellular spectrum.

On the home front, Digital home will be the next big thing, all the devices / durables like Refrigerators, Air Conditioners, Microwave, Entertainment Units will be networked & controlled by hand held devices.

PCQ: For a beginner who want to build up his career in this computer networking domain, what advice do you give to him to shape up his career in this field and what all qualifications or certifications can help him to enhance his skillset?

Ram Kumar: As said earlier, the networking domain is a very wide spectrum which involves core networking technologies as well as other network related fields. When we look into core networking technologies, qualification / certifications in Cisco (Data front), Nortel (Date / Voice front) with specialization in optimization will be helpful for beginners. After few years of experience, they can enhance their skill set by specializing in areas of Security, Storage, Virtualization, & also in Wireless & Cellular technologies.

PCQ: MPLS VPN , VPNs, VoIP, Wi-Fi, Mobile IP and many others are some of the specific areas that are coming up and are high in demand for professionals. Can you mention some of the areas that would be lucrative for networking professionals where they can venture into such specialized domains. Also what all industry segments would be hiring such specialized networking professionals?

Ram Kumar: Everything mentioned has its own excitement space, today. We could be nearing the fag end of a technology evolution phase that would have taken us all, step by step to a place, where it would stand up without much evolutionary change. On the telecom front, MPLS VPN, IP based voice, Wireless would be demands which one could rely their career upon. On the IT front, it would be on Security, Storage, Optimization, Virtualization, and Maintenance Management etc... Overall, a new Networking professional can safely bet his career in any of these. He would have to just choose between IT & Telecom companies, though, sooner, the lines differentiating these companies, would further thin down.

PCQ: It used to be that professionals for Cisco router configuration were high in demand in the market. What is the market scenario now, and apart from Cisco what other network solution providers are there that give good opportunities to network professionals?



Ram Kumar: Storage, Security, Virtual Infrastructure (Server & Desktop Consolidation), Cellular technologies will be main focus areas in the years to come. Specialist in products like EMC, Hitachi, Netapp storage, Vmware, Nokia, Motorola, Firewall will be in good demand. IP based voice is high on everyone’s' agenda. With Unified Communication's assurance of a paradigm shift in our communication ways, the opportunities are plenty for Networking professionals.

PCQ: WAN configuration and WAN optimization is on priority list for organizations. What scope is there for networking professionals in this area and what skillsets do they require?

Ram Kumar:On the WAN configuration, a good working knowledge on routers, switches, basics of fire walling, VOIP, VPN with relevant certifications will be rewarding.  On the WAN optimization front; this involves efficient utilization of WAN bandwidth by compression, load balancing, prioritizing, caching etc. Knowledge on products like Cisco, Radware, Juniper, Citrix, Array Networks, Packeteer, Riverbed will add to the feathers.

PCQ: Network security is an important aspect and how can a network professional build a career as a Network Security Manager/ Analyst? What is the career scope for such professionals?

Ram Kumar:Security approach is shifting from the desktop to the server or Internet gateway security. Current threat scenario has moved from a simple attack to multi vector blended security attacks. The sophistication of security appliances have increased. They are viewed as complex black box. The capabilities of security appliance for a given security requirement requires special understanding of the problem at hand. A security analyst is expected to understand the security signatures of various appliances, with capabilities and operating protocols including zero day security issues. The recent migration towards WiFi, WiMesh and WiMax, SCADA initiatives have opened up new avenues for networking professional.  The fixed/portable broadband wireless equipment market (sub-11GHz) has grown from a $430 million market to $562 million a 30% increase. It is predicted that the fixed Broadband wireless market will pass the $ 2 billion mark by 2010. As evident wireless and wire line will handshake for data transfer. Networking and the security professional are expected to handle these requirements. He is also expected to understand the pain points of client and map client's security stack with security strategies and security best practices.  Thus there is a career path available to such professionals since the threat landscape is dynamic and new security appliances are emerging.  They could be specializing in one or more areas.

PCQ: Securing networks is always a major concern for organizations to prevent network based attacks. What is the scope of ethical hackers for network security and is there a career opportunity lying in there for networking professionals?

Ram Kumar: As seen the world is gravitating towards an information society. The frequency of operations is getting clogged. The levels of operational knowledge are reducing due to attempts on automation. It is therefore necessary to look for professional who are capable of working deep into the system and are not bound by the packaged products and applications. Ethical hacking is specialized knowledge in specific domains like win servers, Linux servers, Firewall, etc. Though varieties of tools are available, it the human brain which maps the security strategy for given problems.  Insurgents, DOS and DDOS bot operators identify loop holes and exploit. Insurgents have stabilized the Bot network and today it is a parallel industry to security. To understand and keep pace with the new developments, network security specialist and ethical hackers are very much required.  To counter such technology gremlins and outages caused due to insecure coding practices and improper configurations industry profiles in the areas of ethical hacking and network security professionals are required.  Hence these profiles have a career path by way of the knowledge they possess and their ability to understand the complex security requirements.

PCQ: Can you please share your thoughts on what areas/ domains of networking arena will be hot-spots where professionals will be high on demand and how the market demand for network professionals will be in coming years.

Ram Kumar: WAN traffic management, traffic engineering, WAN and LAN security, WiFI, WiMesh and WiMax security, Wireless BOTs identification and management, Patch management,  Risk and threat mapping. Threat mitigation, Business continuity planning, disaster recovery are some of the hotspots where professionals will be of high demand. The market dynamics will see new enterprises emerging through these professionals.