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Network engineers are some of the busiest people in the companies they work for. They’re always buzzing from one department to the next, preventing small disasters and providing peace of mind to their less tech-savvy coworkers. The life of a network engineer is exciting. It might be a life that suits you if you’re a tech aficionado.

There are plenty of great reasons to go into computer networking, including great pay and plenty of job opportunities. So, what are some of the things network engineers do that make them so valuable? We’ll discuss some of the many ways network engineers help their companies connect to the world.

IT Integrations

Businesses rely on many different software applications to run their business. They use tools to manage customer, employee, and company data. They also have software for managing their inventories, marketing, and communications. All these different enterprise software applications are what make up an IT infrastructure, and we’re just scratching the surface of the various types of business software companies use.

It’s the network engineer’s job to integrate new software applications into the company’s IT infrastructure. Imagine a retail store getting a new POS system or inventory management app. The company would need to make sure the application is compatible with the rest of its IT infrastructure. They also need the new application to communicate with others to share important information.

The network engineer manages IT integrations to make sure new components fit seamlessly with the rest of the IT infrastructure. If the software is vendor-managed, the network engineer will work hand-in-hand with the vendor to keep the software running at peak performance.

Cybersecurity

We live in a hyper-connected world. It’s got many benefits, but there are some negative consequences of all this connectivity as well, and one of them is cybercrime. Hackers, social engineers, and cyber terrorists prevent a great danger to all businesses and their networks. Network managers work tirelessly to fortify IT infrastructures to protect against intruders.

One of the ways a networking engineer manages cybersecurity is by building firewalls. They also grant and limit access to different systems based on employees’ permissions. Furthermore, they’re always troubleshooting and scanning systems, looking for anything that presents a cybersecurity threat.

Maintaining IT Infrastructures

System updates don’t always run smoothly. Can you remember a time when you ran an update on your smartphone and it seemed to have more bugs than fixes? Considering how frustrating it can be when it’s only one phone, can you imagine what it must be like for an entire organization?

Network engineers initiate system updates and monitor them closely to make sure everything goes as planned. They create workflows for the updating process and test along the way to ensure all the updates are performing as they should.

Tech Support

Tech support is one of the most common tasks network engineers provide. When you have a company with dozens (or hundreds) of computers on a single network, a lot can go wrong. Network engineers are ever-present to prevent minor tech issues from becoming nervous breakdowns for their coworkers.

Network engineers provide a full range of services for the companies that employ them. Every office manager secretly (or openly) hates when their IT person is out of the office or on vacation. Indeed, many companies would fall apart without their network engineers. Some of the tasks network engineers tackle include cybersecurity, tech support to fellow employees, maintaining IT infrastructures, and IT integrations. And, those are merely some of the many things network engineers do while on the clock.

Becoming a network engineer is one of the best moves you can make for your career. It’s a job that’s in demand and always will be. As our world becomes more reliant on technology and digital connectivity, network engineers will only become more essential.