Which Network Administration Areas Do Organizations Have Skill Gaps?
Notice: This blog post was originally published on Indeni before its acquisition by BlueCat.
The content reflects the expertise and perspectives of the Indeni team at the time of writing. While some references may be outdated, the insights remain valuable. For the latest updates and solutions, explore the rest of our blog
Key takeawaysKey takeaways are generated with AI assistance. Because automated summaries can occasionally contain errors or miss important context, always refer to the full blog post for complete information.The article examines how rapidly changing threats to networks and data centers force network and security professionals to continuously update skills while managing diverse vendor devices with non-standard interfaces. Operationally, administrators spend most of their time firefighting system issues, leaving little bandwidth for proactive monitoring, planning, or training, which creates knowledge gaps across device setup, scripting, logging, data processing, security, cloud, and analytics. The piece highlights Runbooks as a critical codification and automation tool that can save time, improve prioritization, and reduce reliance on single individuals, noting under 30% adoption despite over 80% of users finding them effective and identifying barriers to uptake such as inaccurate procedures, unused or undocumented Runbooks, and reliance on scripts.
What real-world operational problem does the article identify for network and security administrators?
The article identifies that administrators are spending the majority of their time firefighting arising system issues, which leaves them little time for proactive monitoring, planning for future needs, or undertaking training to update skills. This operational load is worsened by managing heterogeneous devices from diverse vendors with non‑standard interfaces, forcing admins to continually learn different technologies while also executing daily tasks. As a result, organizations develop knowledge gaps in areas like device setup, scripting, logging, data processing, security, cloud and analytics, which increases risk and reduces operational resilience.
How do Runbooks address the knowledge and operational gaps described in the article?
According to the article, Runbooks codify knowledge and automate routine tasks for network and systems administrators, taking the form of programs or written procedures. They save administrators time, help prioritize work more effectively, and reduce single‑person dependency by enabling others to perform duties by following documented steps. While the survey shows fewer than 30% of respondents use Runbooks, more than 80% of users find them effective, indicating Runbooks can mitigate gaps in device setup, diagnostics, scripting, logging, and routine operational workflows when properly used and documented.
What reasons does the article give for the low uptake of Runbooks despite their effectiveness?
The article lists several barriers to Runbook adoption observed in the survey: Runbooks may inaccurately represent required procedures, staff might not read them, and some Runbooks are not documented at all. Additionally, reliance on scripts rather than documented Runbook procedures can reduce their perceived value or usage. These factors — inaccurate or undocumented procedures, lack of engagement by staff, and preference for ad hoc scripts — help explain why fewer than 30% of respondents use Runbooks even though over 80% of those who do find them effective.
The nature of threats facing networks and data centers has been changing rapidly over the recent past and security infrastructure has been forced to evolve to keep pace. In order to stay abreast with changing technology, network administrators and security professionals are required to update their knowledge.
This is easier said than done as they manage devices from diverse vendors operating on diverse technology. Network and security devices such as routers, switches and firewalls do not have standard interfaces. Operations teams therefore has to take the initiative to continually upgrade their knowledge and skills on the different technologies.
Due to the pressing demands of their daily schedule this has proved difficult for many of them. Having their hands full with pressing network and security tasks, they have little time to proactively monitor systems to forestall future failures. This was made clear in a survey that ranked the tasks that IT professionals spend time on in order of priority.
Firefighting arising system issues takes up the majority of network and security administrators’ time. This leaves them with little time to do planning for future needs or undertake training courses that will upgrade their skills. Knowledge gaps have therefore arisen in organizations’ IT operations in the following areas:
- Device setup of physical and virtual devices
- Prioritization of problems diagnosed
- Creation of scripts to extract system data and parsing the data from scripts
- Logging onto virtual and physical devices to obtain data
- Processing and analyzing the data obtained
- Data centre setup and management
- Information security
- Cloud technology and virtualization
- Big data and advanced analytics
Runbooks is a critical tool in codifying this knowledge and automating the routine tasks undertaken by network and systems administrators. It can take the form of a computer program or a list of written procedures.
Using Runbooks can save admins time and help them prioritize their work better. It also makes their work less dependent on a single individual as other admins can carry out their duties simply by following the procedures.
Less than 30% of the survey’s respondents use Runbooks. However, more than 80% of those who use it find it an effective tool. So why the low uptake? Below are some of the reasons:
- Inaccurate representation of required procedures
- Staff not reading the Runbooks
- No documentation of Runbooks
- Use of scripts
Find out more about organizational skills gaps in network and system security knowledge in the complete survey report.
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