I have a (good?) problem at work....

I work for a small MSP (dozen employees). The bulk of our clients are SMBs that have pretty simple networks. A few have segmentation. The most complex system we support is a dozen dell/Cisco switches with a dozen vlans and a L3 switch.

We are picking up bigger/more complex clients and with that comes the need for a skill set to match it.

Since I am the only guy at work that enjoys net* anything my employer has essentially said, "we have a knowledge gap, we would like you to fill it...let us know what you need to get better and we will try to help you with that".

I already told them the best way for me to get better would be to work with this stuff and mentor with someone more knowledgeable than myself. Boot camp/etc...I doubt they would go for that, not to mention those don't appear to be what I would need (they are geared for certs).

My question is does anyone here have an idea I could use? Aside from taking some time of to lab more than I do now (or lab at work) the only thing I think I could do better would be to learn from someone else (which is nearly impossible since I am the top of the networking latter here).

I am currently working on CCNP switch (reading, labing, watching videos, labing...), this is helping...but I need to accelerate this learning curve.

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Comments

philz1982

Why not look at providing cloud services? That way you can maintain workload as you will not have to roll trucks and you can gradually deploy more complex cloud solutions as your skills advance. Eventually, you will build up enough clients that your cloud practice will need a director (you) and you will have direct reports that you hire who are motivated.

Or you could focus on a niche area and build out from there as well. Once you get into the larger network deployments you will find yourself having to compete against larger MSP's that can deploy army's of folks.

--chris--

philz1982 wrote: »

Why not look at providing cloud services? That way you can maintain workload as you will not have to roll trucks and you can gradually deploy more complex cloud solutions as your skills advance. Eventually, you will build up enough clients that your cloud practice will need a director (you) and you will have direct reports that you hire who are motivated.

Or you could focus on a niche area and build out from there as well. Once you get into the larger network deployments you will find yourself having to compete against larger MSP's that can deploy army's of folks.

I am "boots on the ground", I have zero say in that type of direction change. I agree with you 100%, I think VDI as a service is a great product but the middle ground between break/fix and fully managed is too lucrative for my employer to move past it.

systemstech

I'm in the same boat, man. The knowledge gap in my company was a Windows Server. They laid a guy off, and the rest of the IT staff was mainly Linux and networking. Once I came on and they saw I liked it, they asked me if I wanted to be the Windows Server guy. I only have a year and a half of IT experience, lol. Major knowledge gap for me too. The best thing I'd recommend is keep studying and GTS everything.

networker050184

Trial by fire I suppose. Read, lab, stay up to date on industry trends via blogs etc. Just be a sponge!

Good luck!

--chris--

I'm looking to pick up a l2 and l3 adtran switch, there are some affordable models on eBay but I need to make sure I'm buying hardware that's also current so the labbing translates into the work...anyone know these well enough to make a recommendation?