Inheriting Someone Else's Network: What to Fix, What to Leave Alone, and How Not to Destroy Your Credibility
You just got promoted or changed jobs. Now you're managing a network you didn't design, with decisions you don't agree with, and configurations that make you cringe. Do you change everything? Leave it alone? How do you prove yourself without breaking things or alienating the people who built it? Here's what actually works when inheriting someone else's infrastructure.
Changing Culture as a New Manager: When "We've Always Done It This Way" Is the Enemy
Six months into management, I'm learning that changing culture is way harder than changing technology. You have a title but no political capital. Your team might embrace change, but other departments resist. Here's what's actually working (and what's spectacularly failing) when trying to shift "we've always done it this way" culture.
Managing Your Team Through a Major Outage: The Leadership Test Nobody Prepares You For
Major outages aren't a matter of if, but when. And when they happen, your job as a manager isn't just technical - it's keeping your team functioning under pressure, communicating to leadership, and ensuring you learn without creating a blame culture. Here's what actually matters when everything is on fire.
2025: A Year in Review - From Engineer to Manager to Blogger to... Whatever This Is
A year-end reflection on an unexpectedly transformative 2025 - transitioning into management, growing Layer8Packet, launching a newsletter, and learning that sharing the messy middle of a career journey resonates more than having all the answers.
Your First IT Budget: A Survival Guide for New Managers
So you're a first-time manager and someone just asked you to "create a budget for next year." Welcome to one of the most stressful parts of management nobody prepared you for. Here's what you actually need to know about IT budgeting - the categories everyone forgets, the political landmines, and how to not screw this up.
Job Hopping Every 2-3 Years: Career Strategy or Red Flag?
Should network engineers change jobs every 2-3 years for salary growth, or does loyalty to one company build deeper expertise? From both the engineer's and manager's perspective - the real data on compensation, the trade-offs nobody talks about, and how to think strategically about your career trajectory.
Both Sides of the Desk: Asking for a Raise (The Engineer’s Perspective)
Part 3 of the "Both Sides of the Desk" series tackles one of the most uncomfortable conversations in your career: asking for a raise. From the engineer's perspective, how to know if you deserve one, when to ask, how to build your case, and what to do when the answer is no.
Technical Debt: What Engineers Wish Managers Understood
Technical debt isn't just a buzzword engineers use to avoid new projects. It's real, it compounds like financial debt, and ignoring it eventually breaks your infrastructure. Here's what engineers wish managers understood about technical debt - and what managers need to know about prioritizing, communicating upward, and balancing debt paydown with feature delivery.
AI Tools for Network Operations: A Reality Check from the Trenches
Everyone's talking about AI for network operations, but what's actually working? A practical look at AI tools for network monitoring and troubleshooting - the real ROI, team adoption challenges, vendor evaluation pitfalls, and what's worth your time versus what's just marketing hype.
Should You Move to the Cloud? A Manager's Perspective After the AWS and Azure Outages
After recent AWS and Azure outages, every manager is hearing "see, the cloud isn't reliable!" But the cloud vs. on-prem debate misses the point entirely. Here's a framework for making infrastructure decisions based on your actual business needs, team capabilities, and risk tolerance - not headlines.
Both Sides of the Desk: Burnout (The Manager's Perspective)
The second post in the "Both Sides of the Desk" series examines burnout from the manager's viewpoint. From handling team members who are burned out to managing unrealistic executive expectations while fighting your own exhaustion and imposter syndrome - the reality of management burnout that nobody talks about.
Both Sides of the Desk: Burnout (The Engineer's Perspective)
The first in a new series examining critical issues from both engineer and manager perspectives. This post explores burnout from the network engineer's viewpoint - the relentless pursuit of the next certification, work overload, organizational chaos, and the exhausting disconnect between technical reality and management expectations.
What I Look for When Hiring Network Engineers: Beyond the Resume
A hiring manager's honest perspective on what really matters when evaluating network engineering candidates - from resume screening to technical validation. Learn how to stand out in the hiring process and avoid the common disconnect between interview performance and actual technical capability.
5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Network Engineering Manager
Real talk from a new network engineering manager about the unexpected challenges, hard lessons, and things nobody tells you before you take on your first management role. If you're considering management or just started, these insights might save you some painful learning experiences.
AI for Network Managers: Leading Teams in the Age of Intelligent Automation
As AI tools become mainstream, network managers must navigate the opportunities and challenges of integrating artificial intelligence into their teams' workflows. This guide explores practical AI applications for network engineering teams, implementation strategies, and how to address concerns while maximizing benefits.
Leading Remote Network Engineering Teams: Why Location Shouldn't Matter in 2025
As businesses push for return-to-office mandates, network engineering remains one of the most location-independent technical disciplines. This post explores why network engineers can work effectively from anywhere, how to lead distributed technical teams, and why smart organizations are embracing remote-first approaches for technical talent.
Managing Up as a Technical Manager: Getting What Your Team Needs
As a technical manager, your success depends not just on managing your team downward, but on effectively managing up to secure resources, remove obstacles, and shield your team from organizational politics. This guide covers practical strategies for advocating upward and getting what your team needs to succeed.
Making the Business Case for Network Modernization: Winning Hearts, Minds, and Budgets
Building a compelling business case for network modernization requires more than technical arguments. This guide explores how to communicate network upgrade needs to business leadership, especially in traditional industries that historically under invest in IT, while addressing the critical challenge of having the right technical talent to execute successfully.
Building High-Performing Network Engineering Teams: Beyond Technical Skills
Creating a high-performing network engineering team requires more than hiring skilled technicians. This comprehensive guide covers hiring strategies, team dynamics, skill development, and the cultural elements that separate good network teams from exceptional ones
The Technical Manager's Dilemma: Staying Current While Leading People
The struggle is real for technical managers trying to maintain their technical edge while effectively leading people. This post explores why trying to be both the top technical expert and the manager usually leads to failure at both, and provides practical strategies for finding the right balance.