Remote Network Problem
Career development, DataCenter, Hardware, Network applications management, Networking, Remote management
Hello. Can anyone give some advice on this subject? I have to say, this problem doesn't necessarily deal with the equipment or technology, but rather the people behind it. Has this happened already: if companies can outsource programming and other such tasks offshore deemed by the higher-ups, who's to say that, through remote technology, network administration and the like won't get put in the offshore picture either? Have I missed something since the beginning of the IT outsource era? No harm intended to anyone, but just wondered if anybody else thought of this?
Software/Hardware used:
Software/Hardware used:
ASKED:
June 14, 2005 11:30 AM
UPDATED:
June 14, 2005 12:39 PM
Answer Wiki:
I guess you didn't hear the collective scream when the USG renewed the visa regulations. Yes, there is signficant offshoring of network support and network operations centers. Businesses have been doing this, since there is a perceived cost savings. On the other side, potentially hundreds of thousands of our jobs have moved from Baltimore and Boston and Baton Rouge to Bombay and Bangalore...
As a security pro, it is also worrisome. a lot more protection would be needed since the data is no longer within a perimeter. Just think about all the network hops let alone all the data stores.
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In theory sure that is possible, and probably being done at some level. But you know that a lot of network admin relies on “hands on” being there type of work, especially at the user level. Many issues are either user related, or hard to figure out based on user information. Without being there, seeing what they are doing, checking cables, etc no way someone in Pakistan can really do the job.
I don’t see the issue here, if a device has an IP address and a connection to the outside world, you can remotely manage it. I can phone or IM the users that I administer in France, all I need is someone to flip a switch occaisionally. If you’re good at your job then competition from our friends in the East will not be a worry. Most of the time when you contact them they redirect you to the pro in your home country anyhow. You just have to be leet.
Its not about remotely managing a system in another part of the globe; not a challenge for the most part. The issue is that my job is potentially being sent to the other side of the planet. Its not about my qualifications, its that the same job can cost 1/3 what it does here. Its about the guy over there managing the cables, instead of myself doing it here. The only difference is the round trip over global network(s) which is essentially invisible to users (although the latency goes astronomic).
The simple answer is that any work that does not require a local physical presence is at risk to off shoring. In ICT, this includes all network and communications administration and management. I can’t think of any job that meets that requirement that hasn’t already been subject to outsourcing. EDS built itself on this back in the early 1960′s. Off shoring is possible when the necessary skill set is available at a lower cost than the in country prevailing rate.
Work that requires a local physical presence (such as hardware installation, move, and change) is immune to off shoring, but remains at risk for outsourcing.
The sad fact is that technology advances tend to reduce the overall human labor and expertise required. It happened in manufacturing, in administration, in finance, and finally in ICT. Moore’s Law has a human impact that many of us missed during the 1990′s because new markets balanced the gains in efficiency to where the workforce in ICT actually grew. Once the market growth slowed, layoffs began. Outsourcing and off shoring merely accelerated the impact in high salary countries.
Robert Theobold had it nailed back around 1970. Technology then had reached a point where human labor was no longer a factor. We can accomplish all necessary work through technology and automation if we can only figure out how to distribute the wealth equitably.