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Key Takeaways
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- See how the network engineer’s role is fundamentally shifting.
- Address the widening IT skills gap by establishing a new focus on upskilling existing teams.
- Employ modern network observability platforms, which are a critical “force multiplier,” augmenting an engineer's expertise.
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A little while ago, I wrote a piece with the provocative title, "The End of the Network Engineer as We Know It?" It struck a chord because it articulated a shift many of us feel in our bones: the ground is moving beneath our feet. The traditional, well-defined corporate network has dissolved into a sprawling, borderless ecosystem of public clouds, SaaS platforms, and the vast, untamed internet. The old role, focused on the care and feeding of devices within our four walls, is no longer sufficient.
But that piece was about the what. It was a diagnosis. The most important question is the one that follows: what comes next? If the old role is fading, what new one is rising to take its place? This is not a story of extinction, but one of true evolution. It's a story about upskilling, and redefining what it means to be a network engineer today.
A new map for a new world
The main challenge is that the map we used to navigate our careers no longer matches the territory. The IT skills gap is real and widening. A recent paper from Dimensional Research reports that 65% of organizations admitted they rely on third-party resources for network operations because they lack internal expertise. The skills in highest demand are not just in traditional routing and switching, but in cloud architecture, automation, and security. It’s a direct reflection of the new landscape.
This creates the demand for a new kind of engineer—a hybrid expert. This isn't about discarding foundational knowledge, such as expertise in TCP/IP, BGP, and subnetting. These skills remain the bedrock. Instead, it’s about building upon this foundation and adding new layers of expertise. The network engineer of tomorrow must be fluent in the language of the cloud, understanding the nuances of an AWS VPC or an Azure ExpressRoute as intimately as they once knew their core routers. They need to be programmers, capable of using automation frameworks like Ansible or Terraform to scale the orchestration of complex environments. They need to be security conscious, treating the network as a critical control plane for a zero-trust world. And most importantly, they need to be data analysts, capable of interpreting performance in the context of business outcomes.
The role is shifting from a device manager to a service delivery guarantor. The key question is no longer "Is the router up?" but rather, "Are users in the London office having a flawless application experience?"
Your tools as a force multiplier
Expecting every engineer to master this entire spectrum of skills overnight is unrealistic. On the other hand, the competition for talent is already intense, and trying to hire your way out of the problem is a losing battle. This is where we must change our thinking about the role of our tools. The right technology is not about replacing the engineer; it's about amplifying their reach and effectiveness. It's a force multiplier for the team you already have.
Think of the captain of a modern airliner. The modern glass cockpit provides holistic visibility, integrating weather radar, flight path data, and engine telemetry into a single, contextualized view. Simultaneously, the autopilot handles the constant, minute-by-minute adjustments required to keep the aircraft on its precise course, drastically reducing manual intervention. This doesn't make the pilot's role obsolete; it makes it more strategic. Freed from the fatiguing task of simply "flying the airplane," they can now focus on managing the journey—anticipating turbulence, optimizing the route for efficiency, and ensuring the safety of the entire mission.
A modern network observability platform does the same for your engineers. By providing a holistic, end-to-end view and automating the soul-crushing task of manual data correlation, it frees them from the reactive firefighting that burns out your best people.
By providing an end-to-end, unified view of the entire service delivery path—from the user's device, across any ISP or cloud network, to the application itself—observability platforms handle the data collection and correlation. This allows your engineers to apply their deep analytical skills to problem-solving at a strategic level. It transforms their role from reactive firefighter to proactive architect, a shift that is not only more valuable to the business but also infinitely more rewarding for the engineer.
Investing in the people who built your network
As a leader, the most strategic choice you can make is to invest in the people who already possess the most critical asset: deep knowledge of your business and its history. The solution to the skills gap isn't just to search for elusive "unicorns" in the market; it's to cultivate them within your own walls.
Providing them with the right tools is a foundational part of this upskilling journey. When you equip your team with a platform that provides true end-to-end visibility, you are giving them the context they need to learn and master these new, complex environments. You are making an investment in their professional development, their job satisfaction, and their long-term retention.
The end of the network engineer as we knew it is not a threat; it is an opportunity. It is the chance to elevate the role from a tactical, operational function to a strategic one that is central to the success of every digital initiative. The path forward requires a dual investment in your people and in the tools that empower them. It's about giving your team not just the training, but the vision to see the entire landscape they are now responsible for.
The path to creating the network engineer of tomorrow starts with giving them the tools to see the complete picture. Visit our Network Observability by Broadcom page and discover how modern network observability provides the vision needed to transform your team and secure your digital initiatives.
