Navigating Complexity: The Role of Expertise in Next-Gen Network Solutions

Part 1?: Things are Complex for a?Reason

I have been working in the Telecommunications domain for 10+ years, and still the emerging technological tools and solutions never cease to amaze me.? Nowadays chatting/video conferencing, sharing what we are doing in real-time and running multiple applications simultaneously are normal needs. We have come a long way in a short time. In the not-too-distant past but just a few years ago MSN Messenger was the dominating online communication application on the market. Today, playing video games and live broadcasting them to thousand of viewers can happen without any noticeable delay. We are way more connected to each other than ever before, and just a few years back, most of us would not even notice an ongoing network performance degradation issue. I guess, Nokia′s lifelong motto: “Connecting People” has already happened. This brings more pressure to the Service Providers and large enterprises, we, as consumers are demanding more (rightfully) than ever before. Thus, the infrastructure evolves, like anything else.

It is not the TCP/IP fundamentals that are different now or the high level of a network architecture (core-access-dist), but the variety of solutions that a Service Provider has in place is exponentially higher, and so does the number of technical challenges to tackle down. One of the key challenges in building and maintaining a service provider network is ensuring that they are capable of handling the massive amounts of data that are generated by modern applications and services. As data usage continues to grow, service providers must constantly upgrade and expand their networks to ensure that they can handle the increasing demands placed upon them. These constant changes are sometimes beyond configuration optimization, but rather, introducing a new technology that will work seamlessly with what has already been deployed before. Given the fact that the availability of the network service is critical to many businesses out there, there is absolutely no room for failure.

The below diagram shows a typical journey of a service provider who used to do cli-based device configuration, but now has the ability to operate an AI-based-predictive network. A network that automatically or with minimal intervention can do the network configuration changes to prevent an incoming failure. A network that absolutely does not require manual log analysis for RCA and cli-based configuration, but instead, has all the required elements to provide the greatest quality of experience for its users. in a nutshell, it is AI native, Experience First Networking.

While users do get the benefit from low latency, high throughput connection, service providers can focus on the actual business and the next-gen technology, instead of operating/troubleshooting/ticket consuming/maintenance-hungry workload itself. Considering the fact that an infrastructure like this can only be created by using many multiple solutions, Service Providers must rely on the expertise that only very few of us have.

Part 2: Solution to a Complex Problem does not have to be complex itself?—?call the?cavalry!?

Many of us underestimates the benefits of using consultancy services. I will try to explain the upmost importance of subject matter expert involvement for a successful project execution and completion.

• Time and cost efficiency: Time is the ultimate currency! An expert has already acquired the knowledge and the skills required to solve the problem, which means they can work more efficiently and effectively than someone who is new to the field. This can save businesses time and money in the long run. I personally witnessed many times that a customer is convinced that a new solution integration can be done by using the internal resources. This might be the case for some, but the majority of these engagements end up spending weeks to months of effort, just to go back to consultancy services and ask for taking the ownership of a failed execution.?

“An expert is someone like the plumber who sends a $25 bill for fixing a water pipe merely by tapping it,” The bill says, ‘$1 for taping the pipe and $24 for knowing where to tap.’”

• Higher quality results and Reduced risk?: Best Practices?!= Best Effort. An expert will produce higher quality results compared to someone who is new to the field. This is because an expert has a deeper understanding of the problem and the necessary steps to solve it. Therefore, using an expert reduces the risk of errors and mistakes that could have serious consequences for the business. No time for downtime!?

An industry leading consultancy services would be driven by the experience.?

• Knowledge transfer: Knowledge is power! By working with an expert, the business can gain valuable knowledge and insights that can be applied to future problems. The expert can share their expertise and experience with other team members, helping to build a stronger and more knowledgeable team overall.?
• Access to internal stakeholders: Future proof solutions and industry leading professional services team go hand to hand. It is no coincidence that companies leading the technological advancements have also incredibly talented and knowledgeable consultancy team. A deployment project requires team to oversee the existing current setup and tools in place, understand the desired outcome and come up with a detailed plan to achieve there as soon as possible. When consultancy services conducted by such a team, their access to internal stakeholders such as r&d and product management gives them the edge that an in house team cannot have. A hand to hand collaboration between these parties often cause project completion beyond the initial “excellent” expectations.?

I hope you found this helpful! If you are interested in discussing this further or have any questions, feel free to reach out - I'd love to connect.

/Eser