LR readers list those two and virtualization as the things they most want to see taught in a telecom university.

March 22, 2016

2 Min Read
IoT, Cloud Hot Topics for Training

The Internet of Things, virtualization and cloud platforms/services are the topics about which our readers think they need the most training, according to our most recent unscientific poll.

Just about 50% of the 1,000-plus respondents listed those topics as the ones in which they were personally most interested. That's not surprising, since each is not only currently hot but represents a major break with past ways of doing business. And each, in its own way, signifies the wave of the future where services are concerned and the introduction of new complexities.

Analytics, which ranked fourth at 34%, is a similarly complex arena, often linked to big data. Understanding how analytics can impact how networks are operated and services are delivered going forward -- not to mention how customer experiences can be improved and personalized -- is something worthy of lengthy discourse.

Next on the list is security at 30%. Now, the glass half-empty types will bemoan the fact that less than a third of those polled think they need to learn more about security, when almost everyone can use extra training in keeping networks, services and data more secure. Security is never the sexy answer, though, and likely never will be.

Learn more about how carrier security strategies are evolving at our upcoming Big Communications Event in Austin, TX, May 24-25. You can register now.

Telco data centers come close behind security at about 29%, and there is real geek sex appeal here. How data centers are changing, as they push to the edge, and whether central offices become the new data centers -- plus how hardware and software are both evolving to the data center model -- make this a topic ripe for discussion.

Then comes network management at about 27% and that's a perpetually interesting topic. And a perpetually confusing one, hence the interest in more training.

The next two categories were more specific and both fall into the category of IT-telecom convergence, with both garnering about 20% of respondents: That's the number of folks who think they need to understand more about open source, and also about dev/ops, the new way of working to more rapidly develop and iterate software.

Like the security question, this is potentially a depressing outcome, since it seems that four fifths of respondents don't understand how these new developments are critical to telecom's future.

Network assurance and monitoring, systems integration and customer experience management all came in below that 20% threshold, to round out the field.

— Carol Wilson, Editor-at-Large, Light Reading

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