Identifying Components Of The Network Skills Gap

Organizations are upgrading their infrastructure with technologies that improve network efficiency, performance, security, and management. As a result, IT ops pros' roles must also evolve in network, system, service, and operation management skills. These areas of expertise are important because they: 1) help cut costs by optimizing the network and eliminating underperforming components; 2) provide a better rate of return by consolidating infrastructure; and 3) provide granular visibility to address application and services bottlenecks. In essence, to ramp up their future skill set, infrastructure and operations pros need to understand: 1) the services-based network; 2) the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework; 3) network performance and optimization; and 4) the compliance-driven network.