The Changing Landscape of IT Networking

Networking has evolved over the years, essentially progressing from dirt roads to highways, linking devices and people from across the globe, enabling seamless communication, and information exchange. Today, the internet looks like a highway of information, allowing access to data from anywhere in the world.

My knowledge within this field has only expanded as I’ve become more involved in the world of recruitment and networked my way into the industry. I’ve learnt about the history of networking and will be exploring the modern changes that have reshaped this field as we know it giving a glimpse of the past and a look into the exciting future of this ever-evolving landscape.

?

ARPANET – 1969

Essentially known as laying the foundation for today’s internet, is ARPANET, the world’s first public packet-switched computer network, mainly used for academic and research purposes, playing a pivotal role in shaping the course of computer networking and information exchange allowing for more efficient and reliable data transmission.

?

Eventually becoming one of the first networks to implement the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite to allow flexible communication and data exchange between networks led to what we now know as the internet and marks a major changing point in the development of computer technology. It laid the groundwork for what we use in our everyday lives such as social media, email, and ecommerce, and was just the beginning.

?

Ethernet and Local Area Networks (LANs) – 1970s

During the 70s, Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Centre created the development of Ethernet, changing the way computers connect with one another within a circumscribed location using cables and networking hardware. This is known as a significant advancement as computers in the same area or building could share the same files and information by using Ethernet. And like a domino effect, this innovation led to Local Area Network (LAN) using Ethernet to connect devices which led to network engineers needing to engage in continuous learning to keep up with the new evolvements.

?

The invention of The World Wide Web – 1989

As the end of the 80s approached, so did Tim Berners-Lee’s idea of the internet. In 1989, the world of work kept changing for network engineers as the World Wide Web came to fruition, taking text-based browsing to multimedia-rich websites and introducing new learning curves for the industry.

?

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) – 1990s?

As an alternative to a phone line, was broadband internet connection—a transition to digital communication where people could begin making voice calls online. Speak Freely, the 100% software-based VoIP phone, was the first of its kind when it launched in 1991. This has eventually morphed into what we all use daily in the office and at home, such as Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Skype, WhatsApp, and Zoom. This advancement at the time required network engineers to adapt new skill sets once again to manage these technologies and stay relevant in their field of work.

?

Mobile and Wireless – The 2000s

As mobiles kept evolving, we also saw the development of 3G and 4G technologies—the beginning of high-speed mobile internet—as well as the Wi-Fi revolution, which prompted the need for security, coverage, and quality of service, which once again changed the jobs of network engineers.

?

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) – 2010s?

In the 2010s, the industry became more complex for those who worked in the field. When SDN was introduced to the world, it altered the industry immensely, with network engineers needing to learn programming and software development skills to remain relevant. But what came with this was the ability to automate—AI was making its way into the industry, which proved efficient and has become one of the most essential skills for a network engineer to have today.

?

The Future

As any network engineer would know, this industry is a challenging but rewarding field to work in, with the need to up-skill a prevalent part of the role. The network never stops, and as technology advances, it will continue to follow, meaning there will always be room and the need to enhance your skills.

?

My best advice? Stay as up to date as possible with new technologies and keep evolving your expertise to remain relevant with skills such as SD-WAN and DevNet — I’ll share more on this in my next article; keep an eye out.

?