“To be successful you have to be lucky, or a little mad, or very talented, or find yourself in a rapid growth field.”
Edward de Bono.
Regular readers will have seen my regular references to valuable tripods in the OSS world. They are the few who are able to make valuable connections across the following three domains:
- IT Systems – Databases, servers, high-availability architectures, programming, SDLC, application integrations, automated testing, etc
- Telecommunication Systems – network technologies/topologies, operational processes, CSP organisation structures
- Business Value – building assets that add value to the organisation, that bring competitive advantages, that strengthen the organisation’s brand
They are a rare breed found at the red intersection of the following Venn diagram:
But I think the yellow intersection is going to be a rapid growth field. Network virtualisation and software defined networking will be the driver behind this growth because they require both sets of skills.
Historically, network equipment vendors and their integration partners have focussed on devices / networks and haven’t had much need for programming / coding skills (relatively). The same goes for network operations groups at CSPs.
In coming years, all of these organisations will become far more software-centric than they’ve ever been before. This presents a great opportunity for the few who already have these cross-over skills or who are willing to invest the time to develop them.
Interestingly, OSS sit right at the junction of IT and networks, so there is likely to be a higher predominance of OSS experts in the red and yellow Venn intersects than at vendors, integrators or CSPs.
OSS organisations please take note: This could make your tripods even more attractive targets for poaching by vendors, integrators and CSPs than ever before.