FEATURE : 5G added , they must conduct an audit of their network infrastructures and plan a systematic upgrade or replacement of hardware or software to make way for 5G . Sakhnini pointed out that the ultimate objective of any CIO should be the complete Digital Transformation of their business , supported by the IT environment and not just 5G . “ CIOs should not try to build a standalone 5G environment . 5G requires collaboration across enterprises , operators , integrators , cloud providers and equipment vendors ,” he said . “ Enterprises can benefit from multinationals experience in deploying 5G networks to bring private 5G to their corporation , working closely with application and cloud providers to build a strong ecosystem and use vendor and system integrators to complement the implementation with the rest of technologies to achieve a complete digitalisation beyond just 5G , including Wi-Fi , LAN or WAN .
Femi Oshiga , Vice President , Service Providers MEA , CommScope , said telco operators will not wait for the killer app and will be busy rolling out , densifying and powering the network in a variety of bands while working on driving the standards and technology .
Oshiga believes close co-operation between telco operators and telco equipment suppliers starts with identifying equipment that meets these needs . “ Networks come in all shapes and sizes but they must be designed using the right equipment . Consumers rightly expect this equipment to aesthetically blend into their environment . Form and function matter more than ever , he said .
Bridging the skills gap
Aside from 5G deployment challenges , CIOs in the Middle East are grappling with the IT skills challenge and how to bridge this gap especially with emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence , 5G , data science , Big Data , etc .
Ciena ’ s Mansouri explained that in order to bridge the existing skills gap , CIOs must acquire and retain staff and the skills needed for the increasing pace of technology changes . “ By doing this , they will be helping their executive team acquire business leaders who understand technology to become a trusted advisor ,” he said . “ Additionally , they must also recognise the importance of up-skilling their current team through an ongoing and effective training programme . Lastly , diversity plays a pivotal role and should be embraced across organisations . Diverse teams are able to add value through a more creative approach to problemsolving and , therefore , perform better .”
Oshiga said CommScope agrees that there is a huge skills shortage in the IT industry in general and training the ecosystem on skills related to colocation services ( e . g cloud ), breaking the gridlock around increasing diversity , catching people early and being mindful of criterion for ‘ quality ’ and the types of programmes that people can tap into now is critical now if the skills gap is to be shortened . “ CommScope is a founding partner of the Infrastructure Masons . This group specifically focuses on the best practices and developing new talent for the future ,” he said .
Juniper ’ s Sakhnini added that there are several ways skill shortages can be addressed in the data centre space . “ Looking carefully at the multinationals , partners and systems integrators working with your organisation can help CIOs to overcome some of these challenges .
“ Those with the ability to listen and respond to a CIO ’ s unique business objectives , those who pursue a strategy of open , interoperable networking across their portfolios and solutions , will be the partners who can provide meaningful support and managed services that effectively extend a small in-house IT team and that should be a key consideration ,” he said . p
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