Advancing technology tends to add job opportunities rather than replace them. Intent-Based Networking Systems (IBNS) are no different. Think of all those tasks on your to-do list that aren’t getting done today, due to some hardware device that isn’t enforcing a stated policy, or similar issue. 

Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to put out fires all day and to actually get to work on projects that are meant to grow the business? This would improve the quality of service and usually leads to a good outcome for everyone.  

Information Technology departments manage more people, spend more money on technology, and supervise more assets than ever before. The allocation of those resources has shifted over time, but the responsibilities and worth of well-qualified network admins and their teams have remained constant.

Just as the military still needs pilots to operate its flying drones, organizations still need admins to operate their IBNS.

Similar to a CEO, IT executives really need to stay out of the weeds so they may focus on clarity and high-level vision for their department. Network admins face unique challenges that are different from others in the organization. Their challenge is to continually resist doing work that others, including computers, could (and should) do.

  • No one leaves their desk to walk down the hall and deliver a note to a colleague. The email server should do that work.
  • No one carries corporate policy binders around. That storage and delivery mechanism is work the file server should perform.

A human should not have to spend time monitoring the network to ensure the devices do their job as designed.  With IBN, administrators manage the entire network by defining the desired outcome and letting the controller do all the heavy lifting, instead of configuring individual devices from a command line.  This frees up an administrator’s time and allows them to create new solutions and expand their role – and make the company more money.

IBN will help you do better work

Google’s Search and Amazon’s Alexa put machine learning to work in useful and effective ways. That same family of technical know-how can be useful to network administrators. In fact, it can add great value.

New IBN solutions from Cisco will help network admins design, manage, and scale their networks. Leveraging the same type of technology that makes chat bots useful, IBN architecture uses stable, proven machine learning systems to train network devices to respond the way you want, but without alerting you about it.

IBN can present massive value in terms of efficiency, zero-trust security, and reliability of network administration and operations.

  • No more 3:00 am alerts requesting help to re-route traffic from a failing router.
  • No more holes in the firewall because somebody forgot about a remote office.
  • No more mundane tasks on your desk so you can concentrate on great work. (And great sleep.)

Adopting IBN doesn’t mean you’re not family

The most significant capital in any company is its human capital. What organizations truly need is for IT and network admins to find ways to add value and stay out of the weeds.

The core strength of IT departments is their carbon element, their humanity, with its unique ability to understand the other important organic, users. You know, the people who pay the invoices.

Only with its people can IT respond to more than user needs, they can respond to their wants. The true value, and opportunity, from IBN to IT departments lies in finding ways to reduce the clutter and distractions of network management so their real value can be put to work.

Find your team’s true potential. Talk to us about the new IBN systems from the best network brand in the business, Cisco.