When Your Team Is Right, and Leadership Is Wrong (And You're Stuck in the Middle)
Your team says the timeline is impossible. They're right. Leadership says it has to be done anyway. Your engineers want to fix technical debt. Leadership wants features. You need tools and training. Leadership says no budget. Welcome to middle management - where you're stuck between technical reality and business demands, and nobody's happy with you.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Deep Dive into Software-Defined Networking (SDN): Transforming the Future of Network Management
Dive into the transformative world of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) with this comprehensive guide. Discover how SDN revolutionizes network management by centralizing control, enhancing agility, and optimizing resource utilization. Explore real-world applications, including a detailed case study of CorpX’s successful SDN implementation that boosted performance and reduced costs. Whether you're a seasoned network engineer or just starting out, this deep dive offers valuable insights into SDN architecture, benefits, and future trends.
Transforming Network Management with Infrastructure as Code: Best Practices and Cloud Integration
Explore the power of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in network automation with our latest blog. Learn how to simplify network configurations and deployments using tools like Terraform, featuring real-world examples with AWS, Cisco 8000v, and Palo Alto Firewalls. Discover how IaC can streamline your network operations, boost scalability, and enhance consistency in hybrid and cloud-native environments. Whether you're a seasoned engineer or new to automation, this guide will help you take your network management to the next level.
The Role of APIs in Network Automation: Transforming How Networks Operate
In today's fast-paced IT landscape, network automation is transforming how networks are managed, with APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) playing a critical role. APIs allow network engineers to automate tasks like device configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting, making networks more efficient and scalable. This blog explores the importance of APIs in network automation, highlights their benefits, and showcases real-world examples of API integration with platforms like Cisco DNA Center, Juniper Contrail, and Arista eAPI. Discover how APIs can streamline your network operations and enhance your automation strategies!
The Future of Network Engineering: Exploring Upcoming Trends and Technologies
Discover the future of network engineering in our latest blog post. As automation, SDN, NFV, 5G, and edge computing transform the industry, network engineers must adapt to new technologies and methodologies. Learn about the key trends shaping the future, from enhanced cybersecurity measures to the rise of AI-driven network management. Stay ahead of the curve and prepare for the next wave of network advancements with our in-depth analysis.
Unveiling NetBox: Empowering Network Management with Comprehensive Features
Discover the power of NetBox – your all-in-one solution for streamlined network management. From IP Address Management (IPAM) to device inventory tracking, rack management, circuit management, and network visualization, NetBox empowers organizations to take control of their network infrastructure with ease. With its robust suite of features and intuitive interface, NetBox simplifies complex tasks, enhances efficiency, and ensures optimal performance. Explore the possibilities with NetBox and revolutionize your network management approach today.