Network Services: Evolving Technology

In the world of expanding internet technologies, providers look for versatile employees that communicate well.

By Laura French, Star Tribune Sales and Marketing

Last update: November 5, 2007 - 8:19 AM

For a couple of decades, information technology's ultimate quest was the "killer app" - a breakthrough in software design. The network just had to get the software to the user. These days, innovative ways to get digitized data to customers are at the leading edge of IT.

It's moving so fast, says Stuart DeVaan, CEO of Minneapolis-based technology service provider Implex (www.implex.net), that, "it's not what you know but what you can figure out."

Internet Protocol: It's The Future

"IP everything, IP everywhere." That's the future of technology according to Stuart DeVaan. "Traditionally, telephone, TV and data were all separate networks," DeVaan says. Customers had separate service providers for their telephone lines, cable TV channels and Internet service. Now, Internet protocol (IP) is capable of delivering any or all of those technologies. "All of technology is evolving into the IP realm," DeVaan says. "Every kind of information can be digitized and teleported around the world."

After years of being merely reliable, network providers are suddenly among the fastest evolving areas of technology. "IT training is great for the basics," DeVaan says, "but things are moving so fast that learning how to learn is the critical skill. It's not that you know something - it's that you know how to figure things out."

"Continually Retool"

The employees at Implex have backgrounds in computer programming and satellite technology - but also in music, electrical engineering, marketing and accounting. They "continually retool," DeVaan says, with reading, online research, continuing education and seminars presented by Microsoft, Cisco and other technology innovators.

USFamily.Net is another Twin Cities company that is expanding its network capabilities. Started in 1997 as a dial-up Internet service provider, USFamily.Net now also offers telephone and Internet bundles to residential customers and businesses.

Tom O'Brien, director of operations for USFamily.Net, says, "The critical items I look for in employees are the ability to solve problems and to learn and learn fast." The majority of the jobs at USFamily.Net are in support. The company's local, in-house support team is a competitive advantage. Employees handle a range of problems from the simple - "I need the last three digits on the back of your credit card" - to complex - walking a telephone customer through the steps to fully reset their DSL modem.

Every Call An Opportunity

O'Brien hires people with a background in networking or computer programming. "People need the technical wherewithal to understand how our product works," he says. Beyond that, however, he needs "people who can communicate." In addition, O'Brien says, support staff, need to be "decent salespeople." When customers are frustrated with their dial-up Internet service, the support person can explain why DSL would be better, and why they should purchase the service from USFamily.Net. "Every call is an opportunity for success," says O'Brien.

Providing network services to customers also requires attention to "spam, identity theft, hacking and viruses, 24/7," O'Brien says. "As much as we are looking to protect our customers, there are a million others looking to exploit the holes. It's only going to get more challenging."

Inver Hills Community College offers an Associate Degree in Network Technology and Security, to learn more visit www.inverhills.edu.

Laura French is principal of Words Into Action, Inc., and is a freelance writer from Roseville.

Recent Jobs: Technology Careers stories

Lack of Laboratorians: A "Quiet Crisis" - November 5, 2007

Lack of Laboratorians: A "Quiet Crisis" - A year and a half ago, Michelle Briski, Medical Laboratory Technician Program director for Saint Paul College, called the shortage of laboratorians a "quiet crisis in healthcare." Today, according to Carol McCoy, Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) Program director for Fairview Health Services, "The shortage is only getting worse." More