In this exclusive article, Sulagna Saha writes about the growing concern over the viability of network engineering as a career, highlighting how it has shifted from a once-booming field to one perceived as a dead-end job. The discussion at the Networking Field Day event reveals that automation, the rise of cloud services, and the allure of new IT niches like cybersecurity and AI have significantly reduced the demand for network engineers, leading to a shrinking profession.

In this Cisco Live article, Sulagna Saha writes about the future of quantum networks, which promise to transmit data at unprecedented speeds and with unbreakable security, making today’s internet seem outdated. Cisco is actively exploring this frontier, unveiling its advancements, including quantum switches and quantum key distribution, at its newly opened Quantum Lab. However, these technologies are still in the early stages of development, with researchers testing prototypes and building the foundational elements necessary for a quantum internet.

In this Networking Field Day article, Sulagna Saha writes about the ongoing debate on whether hardware or software drives innovation, likening it to the chicken-and-egg dilemma. While software has surged in importance, particularly with the rise of AI and digital transformation, the hardware remains crucial, especially for powering specialized workloads. The article concludes that hardware and software are symbiotically linked, each enhancing the other’s capabilities, making it impossible to determine a single driving force behind innovation.

In this Networking Field Day article, Sulagna Saha writes about the rapid advancement in networking technologies, emphasizing the significant innovations seen in recent years. The Intel Infrastructure Processing Unit (IPU), co-designed with Google, exemplifies this progress by offloading infrastructure services from the CPU to an improved Network Interface Card (NIC), thereby enhancing performance and providing greater control for cloud service providers.

In this Cisco Live article, Sulagna Saha writes: The OODA loop, standing for observe, orient, decide, and act, is a key decision-making model known for its effectiveness in combat operations. Cisco XDR is built to hyper-enable this loop in cybersecurity, described by distinguished engineer Matt Robertson as “an efficiency tool for Security Operations Center” (SOC).

In this Cisco Live US article, Sulagna Saha writes on the inevitable trade-off of upgrading to a new technology, which often results in complex operational workloads for network operators. Cisco’s Nexus One Fabric Experience aims to simplify this by providing a unified management solution for different data center network fabrics, making operations more consistent and reducing the technical burden.

In this Cisco Live article, Sulagna Saha writes on the increasing frequency and complexity of network outages and disruptions, which can have disastrous consequences for businesses and users. To address these issues, Cisco ThousandEyes emphasizes the need for comprehensive digital experience assurance (DXA) through enhanced visibility, AI-augmented intelligence, and closed-loop operations, introducing new solutions like Cloud Insights, Traffic Insights, and Shared Cross-Domain Context to improve troubleshooting and service reliability.

In this Qlik Connect article, Sulagna Saha discusses how Qlik is allowing for more access to AI-driven data analytics. Joey D’Antoni, Gina Rosenthal, Keith Townsend, and Stephen Foskett discussed AI and that Qlik particularly emphasizing responsible AI and sustainability. The company has been proactive in using its analytics platform to support non-profits and international organizations in addressing global issues like climate change and humanitarian crises.

In this Networking Field Day article, Sulagna Saha discusses Arrcus and their new solution, EgressCostControl (ECC), which aims to minimize data egress costs for multi-cloud enterprises. With cloud app development on an upswing, companies have more than doubled their cloud spend in the past two years. Despite the economic slowdown, businesses are scrutinizing their cloud expenditures, and ECC helps by calculating and displaying the most cost-effective data transfer paths.

In this Networking Field Day article, Sulagna Saha discusses the limitations of AI tools like ChatGPT in network monitoring due to their lack of domain-specific knowledge, as explained by Nitin Kumar of Selector AI. Kumar highlights Selector AI’s approach to democratizing data access through a conversational interface and smart alert system, simplifying network issue analysis for non-specialized IT personnel.