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Network Complexity Redefines the IT Pro

Sanjay Castelino

Network complexity has defined a new competitive skillset for IT professionals, according to a new SolarWinds survey.

Driven by new technology combined with the evolving needs of IT Operations and Business Operations, the job of the IT pro is more complex than ever before.

These results are part of a wide-ranging survey of 225 US and Canada-based IT professionals, which was conducted last month in an effort to further understand the driving forces behind growing network complexity and to determine the skills IT professionals need to develop in order to stay competitive.

Over 92 percent of IT professionals said network complexity has either somewhat affected or greatly affected their role/responsibilities within the last three to five years.

Respondents indicated that the top contributing network complexity drivers across Technology, IT Operations and Business Operations were:

- Technology – smarter/more complex equipment, compute virtualization and SDN

- IT Operations – BYOD and mobility

- Business Operations – security

Network complexity is driven by many factors, both real and perceived. Two great examples are SDN, which promises to change the way networking is done in the future but is still a nascent technology, and security, a far more present and tangible problem for IT pros today. However, like other factors, IT pros know that change is a matter of life in this industry, and they are focused on trying to manage these drivers to help their businesses thrive.”

While most IT professionals generally agree that higher education sufficiently prepared them for their current role, over 70 percent said their company needs to train IT staff to be as prepared as possible for growing network complexity.

Network Complexity skillsets needed today: Over one-quarter of IT professionals surveyed said understanding of the business is the single most important skillset needed to combat the challenges of network complexity, followed closely by network engineering and information security.

Network Complexity skillsets needed in five years: When IT pros look five years into the future to determine what will be the single most important skillset needed to combat the future challenges of network complexity, information security surpasses understanding of the business – cloud, or SaaS also moved up on the radar of those surveyed.

Just as networks become more dynamic, so does the role of the IT professional. Wide-ranging network complexity drivers like BYOD, mobility and security are making a real impact on how IT pros manage their environments, suggesting that the IT pro with the broadest, most comprehensive set of skills will be better equipped than an IT specialist to tackle growing network complexity.

The survey was conducted from May 23-28, 2013, resulting in 225 survey responses from IT practitioners, managers and directors in the US and Canada from public- and private-sector small, mid-size and enterprise companies. SolarWinds will be releasing additional survey data in the coming weeks on IT professionals in the UK, Australia, Germany and Brazil.

Sanjay Castelino is Vice President of Product Marketing at SolarWinds.

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Network Complexity Redefines the IT Pro

Sanjay Castelino

Network complexity has defined a new competitive skillset for IT professionals, according to a new SolarWinds survey.

Driven by new technology combined with the evolving needs of IT Operations and Business Operations, the job of the IT pro is more complex than ever before.

These results are part of a wide-ranging survey of 225 US and Canada-based IT professionals, which was conducted last month in an effort to further understand the driving forces behind growing network complexity and to determine the skills IT professionals need to develop in order to stay competitive.

Over 92 percent of IT professionals said network complexity has either somewhat affected or greatly affected their role/responsibilities within the last three to five years.

Respondents indicated that the top contributing network complexity drivers across Technology, IT Operations and Business Operations were:

- Technology – smarter/more complex equipment, compute virtualization and SDN

- IT Operations – BYOD and mobility

- Business Operations – security

Network complexity is driven by many factors, both real and perceived. Two great examples are SDN, which promises to change the way networking is done in the future but is still a nascent technology, and security, a far more present and tangible problem for IT pros today. However, like other factors, IT pros know that change is a matter of life in this industry, and they are focused on trying to manage these drivers to help their businesses thrive.”

While most IT professionals generally agree that higher education sufficiently prepared them for their current role, over 70 percent said their company needs to train IT staff to be as prepared as possible for growing network complexity.

Network Complexity skillsets needed today: Over one-quarter of IT professionals surveyed said understanding of the business is the single most important skillset needed to combat the challenges of network complexity, followed closely by network engineering and information security.

Network Complexity skillsets needed in five years: When IT pros look five years into the future to determine what will be the single most important skillset needed to combat the future challenges of network complexity, information security surpasses understanding of the business – cloud, or SaaS also moved up on the radar of those surveyed.

Just as networks become more dynamic, so does the role of the IT professional. Wide-ranging network complexity drivers like BYOD, mobility and security are making a real impact on how IT pros manage their environments, suggesting that the IT pro with the broadest, most comprehensive set of skills will be better equipped than an IT specialist to tackle growing network complexity.

The survey was conducted from May 23-28, 2013, resulting in 225 survey responses from IT practitioners, managers and directors in the US and Canada from public- and private-sector small, mid-size and enterprise companies. SolarWinds will be releasing additional survey data in the coming weeks on IT professionals in the UK, Australia, Germany and Brazil.

Sanjay Castelino is Vice President of Product Marketing at SolarWinds.

Hot Topics

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

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