Skills Enablement for Cloud Networking, Wireless & Edge Computing, Intelligent Networks and Network Automation

A guide for aspiring and experienced network professionals

Author: Mallikarjuna Rao Dubisetty, MBA (Telecommunications & Business Management), Network and Edge Practice, Kyndryl Inc.

Introduction

The network industry is undergoing a rapid and profound transformation, driven by the increasing demand for cloud services, wireless connectivity, edge computing, and network intelligence. These trends are reshaping the way networks are designed, deployed, managed, and secured, and require new skills and competencies from network professionals. In this document, we will describe the importance of skills enablement for network professionals who want to succeed in this dynamic and evolving field. We will also focus on four key areas of network innovation: cloud networking, wireless and edge computing, intelligent networks, and network automation. We will highlight the technical skills required, the career opportunities, the network automation careers, and the technology transformation in each area.

Cloud Networking

Cloud networking is the practice of using cloud-based services and infrastructure to provide network connectivity, security, and performance. Cloud networking enables network professionals to leverage the scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency of the cloud, while also ensuring consistent and reliable network performance across different locations and devices. Cloud networking also enables network professionals to access and manage network resources and services through web-based portals and APIs, without having to deal with the complexity and maintenance of physical network hardware and software.

·       Technical skills required: Network professionals who want to excel in cloud networking need to have a solid understanding of cloud computing concepts, such as cloud service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), cloud deployment models (public, private, hybrid, multi-cloud), cloud security, and cloud management. They also need to have skills in cloud networking technologies, such as virtual networks, virtual routers, virtual firewalls, load balancers, VPNs, SD-WAN, and cloud-native network functions. Additionally, they need to have skills in cloud networking platforms and tools, such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Cisco, VMware, and others.

·       Career opportunities: Cloud networking offers a wide range of career opportunities for network professionals, such as cloud network engineers, cloud network architects, cloud network administrators, cloud network security specialists, cloud network consultants, and cloud network instructors.

·       Network automation careers: Network automation is the process of using software and tools to automate network tasks, such as configuration, provisioning, monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization. Network automation is essential for cloud networking, as it enables network professionals to manage and scale network resources and services in the cloud with speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Network automation careers include network automation engineers, network automation developers, network automation architects, network automation analysts, and network automation instructors.

·       Technology transformation: Cloud networking is transforming the network industry by enabling network professionals to deliver network services and solutions in the cloud, with greater agility, scalability, and reliability. Cloud networking is also transforming the network profession by requiring network professionals to acquire new skills and competencies in cloud computing, cloud networking technologies, and cloud networking platforms and tools.

Wireless and Edge Computing

Wireless and edge computing are two interrelated trends that are changing the way networks are designed and deployed. Wireless refers to the use of wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi, 5G, Bluetooth, and IoT, to provide network connectivity and communication. Edge computing refers to the use of distributed computing resources, such as edge servers, edge devices, and edge applications, to process and analyze data closer to the source, rather than in centralized cloud or data center locations. Wireless and edge computing enable network professionals to deliver network services and solutions that are faster, more responsive, and more efficient, especially for applications that require low latency, high bandwidth, and real-time processing.

·       Technical skills required: Network professionals who want to excel in wireless and edge computing need to have a solid understanding of wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi, 5G, Bluetooth, and IoT, and their protocols, standards, and security. They also need to have skills in wireless network design, deployment, management, and optimization, as well as wireless network troubleshooting and testing. Additionally, they need to have skills in edge computing concepts, such as edge servers, edge devices, edge applications, and edge analytics, and their architectures, platforms, and tools.

·       Career opportunities: Wireless and edge computing offer a wide range of career opportunities for network professionals, such as wireless network engineers, wireless network architects, wireless network administrators, wireless network security specialists, wireless network consultants, and wireless network instructors. They also offer opportunities for edge computing engineers, edge computing architects, edge computing developers, edge computing analysts, and edge computing instructors.

·       Network automation careers: Network automation is also important for wireless and edge computing, as it enables network professionals to automate and orchestrate wireless and edge network resources and services, and to integrate them with cloud and data center networks. Network automation careers for wireless and edge computing include network automation engineers, network automation developers, network automation architects, network automation analysts, and network automation instructors.

·       Technology transformation: Wireless and edge computing are transforming the network industry by enabling network professionals to deliver network services and solutions that are more adaptive, resilient, and intelligent, especially for applications that require low latency, high bandwidth, and real-time processing. Wireless and edge computing are also transforming the network profession by requiring network professionals to acquire new skills and competencies in wireless technologies, wireless network design and management, and edge computing concepts and platforms.

Intelligent Networks

Intelligent networks are networks that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to automate, optimize, and secure network operations and performance. Intelligent networks enable network professionals to leverage the power of data and analytics to gain insights and make decisions about network behavior, performance, and security. Intelligent networks also enable network professionals to use AI and ML to create network services and solutions that are more adaptive, resilient, and intelligent, and that can learn and improve over time.

·       Technical skills required: Network professionals who want to excel in intelligent networks need to have a solid understanding of AI and ML concepts, such as supervised learning, unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, deep learning, neural networks, and natural language processing. They also need to have skills in AI and ML technologies, such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras, Scikit-learn, and others. Additionally, they need to have skills in data and analytics, such as data collection, data processing, data visualization, data mining, and data science.

·       Career opportunities: Intelligent networks offer a wide range of career opportunities for network professionals, such as network AI engineers, network AI architects, network AI developers, network AI analysts, network AI consultants, and network AI instructors.

·       Network automation careers: Network automation is closely related to intelligent networks, as it enables network professionals to use AI and ML to automate and optimize network tasks, such as configuration, provisioning, monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization. Network automation careers for intelligent networks include network automation engineers, network automation developers, network automation architects, network automation analysts, and network automation instructors.

·       Technology transformation: Intelligent networks are transforming the network industry by enabling network professionals to use AI and ML to create network services and solutions that are more adaptive, resilient, and intelligent, and that can learn and improve over time. Intelligent networks are also transforming the network profession by requiring network professionals to acquire new skills and competencies in AI and ML, data and analytics, and network automation.

Network Automation

Network automation is the process of using software and tools to automate network tasks, such as configuration, provisioning, monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization. Network automation enables network professionals to manage and scale network resources and services with speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Network automation also enables network professionals to reduce human errors, improve network reliability, and enhance network security. Network automation is a key skill and competency for network professionals who want to succeed in the network industry, as it is essential for all the areas of network innovation mentioned above: cloud networking, wireless and edge computing, and intelligent networks.

·       Technical skills required: Network professionals who want to excel in network automation need to have a solid understanding of network automation concepts, such as network programmability, network orchestration, network virtualization, and network testing. They also need to have skills in network automation technologies, such as scripting languages (Python, Bash, PowerShell, etc.), automation frameworks (Ansible, Puppet, Chef, etc.), network APIs (REST, NETCONF, gRPC, etc.), and network simulation tools (GNS3, VIRL, EVE-NG, etc.). Additionally, they need to have skills in network automation platforms and tools, such as Cisco, Juniper, Arista, VMware, and others.

·       Career opportunities: Network automation offers a wide range of career opportunities for network professionals, such as network automation engineers, network automation developers, network automation architects, network automation analysts, network automation consultants, and network automation instructors.

·       Technology transformation: Network automation is transforming the network industry by enabling network professionals to manage and scale network resources and services with speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Network automation is also transforming the network profession by requiring network professionals to acquire new skills and competencies in network automation concepts, technologies, and platforms.

Reference Terminology:

1.       TensorFlow is a free and open-source software library for machine learning and artificial intelligence. It can be used across a range of tasks but has a particular focus on training and inference of deep neural networks. It was developed by the Google Brain team for Google's internal use in research and production.

2.       PyTorch is a machine learning library based on the Torch library, used for applications such as computer vision and natural language processing, originally developed by Meta AI and now part of the Linux Foundation umbrella.

3.       Keras is an open-source library that provides a Python interface for artificial neural networks. Keras acts as an interface for the TensorFlow library

4.       scikit-learn is a free software machine learning library for the Python programming language. It features various classification, regression and clustering algorithms including support-vector machines

5.       Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes code readability with the use of significant indentation. Python is dynamically typed and garbage-collected. It supports multiple programming paradigms, including structured, object-oriented and functional programming

6.       Bash is a Unix shell and command language written by Brian Fox for the GNU Project as a free software replacement for the Bourne shell. The shell's name is an acronym for Bourne-Again SHell, a pun on the name of the Bourne shell that it replaces and the notion of being "born again"

7.       PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management program from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and the associated scripting language.

8.       Ansible is a suite of software tools that enables infrastructure as code. It is open-source and the suite includes software provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment functionality.

9.       A chef is an open-source configuration management tool that uses Ruby to develop essential building blocks like recipes and cookbooks. It is an automation tool that converts infrastructure to code. It focuses on writing code instead of using the manual process.

10.   Graphical Network Simulator-3 is a network software emulator first released in 2008. It allows the combination of virtual and real devices, used to simulate complex networks. It uses Dynamips emulation software to simulate Cisco IOS.

11.   REST API (Representational State Transfer Application Program Interface) is an architectural style that allows software to communicate with other software over a network or on the same device. Most commonly, developers use REST APIs to build web services.

12.   The Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) network management protocol that provides a secure mechanism for installing, manipulating and deleting the configuration data on a network device, such as a firewall, router or switch.

13.   gRPC is a cross-platform open source high performance remote procedure call framework. gRPC was initially created by Google, which used a single general-purpose RPC infrastructure called Stubby to connect the large number of microservices running within and across its data centers from about 2001.

14.   Cisco Virtual Internet Routing Lab (VIRL) is a software tool Cisco developed to build and run network simulations without the need for physical hardware. Cisco Modeling Labs - Personal (CML-P) is the successor to VIRL.

15.   EVE-NG PRO platform is ready for today’s IT-world requirements. It allows enterprises, e-learning providers/centers, individuals and group collaborators to create virtual proof of concepts, solutions and training environments.

16.   EVE-NG PRO is the first clientless multivendor network emulation software that empowers network and security professionals with huge opportunities in the networking world. Clientless management options will allow EVE-NG PRO to be as the best choice for Enterprise engineers without influence of corporate security policies as it can be run in a completely isolated environment.

Conclusion

Skills enablement is the process of acquiring and developing the skills and competencies that are needed to succeed in a given field or profession. Skills enablement is crucial for network professionals who want to succeed in the network industry, as the industry is undergoing a rapid and profound transformation, driven by the increasing demand for cloud services, wireless connectivity, edge computing, and network intelligence. These trends are reshaping the way networks are designed, deployed, managed, and secured, and require new skills and competencies from network professionals. In this document, we have described the importance of skills enablement for network professionals, and we have focused on four key areas of network innovation: cloud networking, wireless and edge computing, intelligent networks, and network automation. We have highlighted the technical skills required, the career opportunities, the network automation careers, and the technology transformation in each area. We hope that this document will inspire and guide network professionals who want to enhance their skills and competencies, and to pursue their career goals in the network industry.