Struggling to hire top network tech talent? AI could help fill the gap

Digital enterprises need strong network infrastructure to grow – but the battle for people who can manage and support those networks is only getting fiercer. Despite most employers in the tech sector already upping salaries, 87% of Aussie tech employees still think they deserve higher raises. Even if your business can afford those wages, finding the right talent amidst skilled migration issues and chronic labour shortages isn’t going to be easy. And your current network teams can only expect rising pressure for increasingly flexible and high-fidelity user experiences.

How can IT teams navigate this perfect storm of rising wage costs, scarce skills, and demanding users? AI could help keep them afloat – and even speed up their voyage to growth.

Same team, stronger user experiences

AI-driven networks can help even the smallest IT teams to deliver a powerful user experience – one that not only meets current requirements but future use cases and growth. Take Juniper Networks’ Marvis virtual network assistant, powered by Mist AI platform. Marvis not only detects network anomalies and diagnoses the root causes of performance issues, but also answers network admins’ questions – typed to it in everyday language – with on-demand knowledge and recommendations.

In most cases, that substantially cuts down on the time and effort needed to resolve downtime errors or connectivity issues that might cripple the average user experience. Marvis doesn’t replace the net-admin’s decision-making skills and expertise, but it does handle all the grunt-work so the team can focus on what matters, faster. And given the always-on nature of AI, such systems can also deliver much more proactive insights into where users’ experience might face issues, allowing IT teams to fix things before users even notice. A stitch in time saves the online, as one might say.

What jobs can the machines do? 

When it comes to improving user experience, AI’s key advantage stems from allowing network managers to do more with less. And that advantage grows in significance when you’re struggling to bring on new talent while keeping operating costs in check.

AI-driven networks can bear some of the burden in two ways. First, they automatically perform many of the base tasks – and even more advanced ones – required for network maintenance and growth, removing the need for certain skill sets at least in the short-term. You may still need to bring on a network engineer or support person at some point, but you mightn’t need to do so as urgently as without some AI help.

Second, AI-driven networks can significantly lower your network costs, freeing up budget for future hiring or upskilling. Platforms like Juniper Mist, for example, will automatically optimise resources like radiofrequency, and streamline processes like provisioning network fabric across different hardware, clouds, and campuses. Mist AI also provides a high level of network performance and security, minimising the potential impact of risk events like breaches or downtime.

Through the Mist AI dashboard, network admins can tap into Juniper Networks’ Wi-Fi Assurance, Wired Assurance, and WAN Assurance services to:

• View clear and simple metrics of application experience
• Analyse metrics across different network components for potential causes of performance drops
• Detect and diagnose issues relating to specific apps

And by consulting with Marvis, admins gain immediate and precise guidance on not only the issues that a user might be facing (like low-grade quality on a video call), but also the root causes of the issue (like abnormal high latency on the gateway).

Not only does that reduce existing IT personnel’s workload, it also trims down costs associated with running an unoptimized, manually-delivered network. Add to that the performance and stability gains that users will typically enjoy because of real-time optimisation, and you’ve got a trifecta that’s hard to beat.

In other words, “outsourcing” some maintenance and optimisation tasks to an AI-driven network can lessen the pressure on IT teams, giving them more runway and resources to make the best hiring decisions possible. Even without current Australian labour market pressures, that’s a win-win-win for businesses, potential employees, and the customers or end-users they serve.

Stronger support, not a silver bullet

AI-driven networks like Juniper won’t solve IT teams’ hiring challenges; wage increases and skills crunches will affect them no matter what. However, AI can give IT teams the support they need to better support their users, even in situations where they’re lacking manpower to support your entire wireless, wired, and WAN infrastructure. The cost reductions and time savings that AI-driven networks generate can fuel greater investment in growth – whether to technology, talent, or a combination of both. It’s one way to help future-proof both your customers’ networks and the capabilities of your business – talent crunch or not.