Your thoughts on my situation?

Beany

Hi All,

I'm currently working as an infrastructure Eng and have about 11 years of experience.

I am MCSA, ITIL and CCNA qualified. Currently attended a Security plus course and plan to do the CEH before the end of the year.

I need some advice on what I need to do. I'm sick of infrastructure and hoping to either go into networking or cyber security.

At my current job, I get paid well for what I do and have excellent flexibility.

It's highly likely that I could get into a networking role in the future with my company if I'm patient. Or I could go down the cyber security route with another company as is its not possible with my current company.

What my worry is that I'm beginning to believe that I'm joining the networking world too late and it's going down hill. I should go into cyber security as it's currently in high demand at the mo.

I would enjoy both but I need your advice on what the best route would be?

Is Cyber security what Cisco was 10years ago? In demand, good pay etc. Is networking dying? Do you think I should stay with my company and try and get into networking? Great company with flexibility, why take the risk and move to another company that I might not enjoy working for?!!!

What would you do?

Would appreciate any responses.

Thanks

Mike Bean

adrenaline19

Who told you that networking is dying? It might not be growing as fast as it was in the past, but it's still growing faster than most professions. It isn't dying, it's still thriving.

Which route would make you happier? Don't get into Cyber Security just because you think it's a better job. Take the path you enjoy.

scaredoftests

Networking isn't dying and I agree with #adrenaline19, do it because it is the path you enjoy. Also, it sounds like you already have a good job.

alias454

I would agree, if you enjoy networking then do that otherwise, look into the security space.

xxxkaliboyxxx

So I can tell you right now, I know people that joined information security for promotion opportunity and every other reason except they have a passion for it. Working day in and day out with them, they don't seem any happier and they let it be known. Me in the other hand, I stay late just a few more hours to figure how in the hell did that compromised happen and I enjoy every minute of it.

Moral of the story, follow what you enjoy doing because you can still be miserable for a little pay bump.

TheFORCE

The day networking dies is the day the internet and the current business world dies. Either one is highly unlikely to happen unless aliens visit earth.

adrenaline19

TheFORCE wrote: »

The day networking dies is the day the internet and the current business world dies. Either one is highly unlikely to happen unless aliens visit earth.

Dude, can you imagine what cool tools and toys aliens would bring with them? Give me an alien box to pentest! Let's see where this goes.

Networking is alive and well. No need to believe you can't get a job in that profession.

TwoJ

What don't you like about your job? Wouldn't being an infrastructure engineer mean that you're not chained to a desk all day?

I don't work in either field, but I can't fathom networking itself dying as there will always be demand for people who can maintain and setup new infrastructure. If anything cyber, despite the purported growth would be in more danger of dying off considering how much of it can be automated.

Queue

I assume you heard network was declining because of SDN or something. I can't see networking going anywhere except growing. There still will need to be access switches, distribution switches, APs, core switches, etc, etc. That's even if it's all centrally managed. So someone has to change all that stuff out, someone has to contact and keep up with vendors for WAN (even if it's to the cloud). So really just pick your passion and if you learn and do like what you do, you will succeed.

Phalanx

Without networking there would be no cyber-security in the first place. No one sector is dying. It's difficult to have a sector just disappear because of how all intrinsically intertwined they all are.

ITSec14

What exactly do you do in infrastructure? Servers?

Saying you want to get into cyber security doesn't really explain enough. There are so many different roles in cyber security.

Blackout

Virtualization is a skill set that every Network Engineer is going to need to get into... I highly suggest investing in Virtualization. SDN is picking up speed quickly.

jibtech

I would even go so far as to say that virtualization is something that will be needed by everyone in the tech field.

Otherwise, I agree with everyone else. Security is NOT a place to go for grins and giggles. You have to have a passion for it.

UncleB

I'm going to disagree here - networking in terms of demand for jobs has shrunk markedly in the SME workspace as the requirement for onsite networks and even virtualisation is fading while companies move to using cloud services.

I've seen many companies shedding the expensive infrastructure teams as they chose the likes of Office 365, SaaS and used service providers to look after the basic onsite infrastructure needed to connect staff out to the internet.

Sure the enterprise space still has demand for their in-house systems and there will always be a need for network skills in the meat grinder of service provider companies.

Cutting the overhead of infrastucture teams is very attractive for companies as they can shift the overhead to the OPEX budgets and effectively turn IT into a service they buy rather than the headache of looking after it themselves. Cloud services have evolved to the point that this is really easy and effective and I've had a lot of work moving companies down this route then getting rid of the in-house staff.

At the end of the day it is mostly driven by the finances of it all and quality is of secondary concern to the board who make the decisions and don't really care much for the IT so long as it works.

Security is on the up for the next few years but for longer term options I would suggest looking at a combination of cloud migration skills and integration of Iaas and PaaS to SaaS solutions to make the good money.

Beany

Thank you for all the responses.

Tbh, I'm sick of infrastructure, done it for too long. I've always had the ambition of getting into networking but with the cloud stuff coming through I'm thinking this results in reduced roles in physical networking.

Recently I've developed some interest in cyber security. It's in high demand and money is very good. I'm currently studying some security certs and I'm enjoying it.

Not sure if network jobs are valued as they were 10-12years ago.

ITSec14

Beany wrote: »

Thank you for all the responses.

Tbh, I'm sick of infrastructure, done it for too long. I've always had the ambition of getting into networking but with the cloud stuff coming through I'm thinking this results in reduced roles in physical networking.

Recently I've developed some interest in cyber security. It's in high demand and money is very good. I'm currently studying some security certs and I'm enjoying it.

Not sure if network jobs are valued as they were 10-12years ago.

The way I see it...if you have some interest in security, then give it a shot! But do it because of your interest, not because of money or demand. It really is an exciting field to be in if you discover a passion for it.

stryder144

If you have your CCNA (which you mention in your original post but your profile states CCENT), then consider getting your VCP6-NV. This will allow you to merge the networking and virtualization worlds a bit without having to take an approved VMware course to attain. After that, you can pivot to VCP6-DCV or move into a more security focused direction (such as CCSP from (ISC)2 or the CCNA Cyber Ops).

Danielh22185

Networking jobs are not dying. The traditional job function as you might be referring to is indeed losing it's weight on demand in the marketplace but most common sense network engineers adapt to this as the industry evolves (just as they always have, we got past Token Ring didn't we?). However there will ALWAYS be a need for people who understand core networking at it's roots.

Also, I agree do not just go after a line of work because it might be a good boost in your bottom line.
A story about that:
Around 2 years back I felt burned out and stressed and wanted to elevate my career locally inside my company. An infosec / cyber security job came along and I interviewed for it. Turns out they liked me and my networking experience and offered me the job. It would have been nearly a 20% pay raise. However not matter how hard I tried I could not force myself to get excited for this new role. It didn't feel right and I knew what my passion was (networking). I turned it down.

Now I have officially elevated my career (in networking) with a new job / company and making even more than if I were to have taken on that Security role that I would have been unhappy in.

Trust your gut and peruse what makes you happy. Your passions will literally reward you!

datacomboss

Beany wrote: »

Thank you for all the responses.

Tbh, I'm sick of infrastructure, done it for too long. I've always had the ambition of getting into networking but with the cloud stuff coming through I'm thinking this results in reduced roles in physical networking.

Recently I've developed some interest in cyber security. It's in high demand and money is very good. I'm currently studying some security certs and I'm enjoying it.

Not sure if network jobs are valued as they were 10-12years ago.

The physical and virtual network components and security controls are a part of the data center infrastructure, so I'm not sure what you mean by being sick of infrastructure?