ISE Magazine, August 2019

AUGUST 2019 WWW ISEMAG COM 35 ISE EXPO 2019 Topic KEEPING UP By 2020 77 of jobs will require technology skills Describe the ideal skills current telecom employees should learn to keep up How can they go about doing that while working full time Nichols Todays world is far more about understanding software and systems concepts and technologies than it ever has been Those not willing or capable of adding at least a basic grasp of Linux systems administration and high level working knowledge of coding with languages like Python will find themselves increasingly hamstrung in their ability to flourish with the next generation of networking Luckily there are no shortage of really good resources e g Udemy Linux Academy to learn the basics Theres no substitute for getting your hands dirty though so finding ways to apply the knowledge is vital Topic AGILITY A business needs to run 2 models simultaneously one optimized for today and one optimized for tomorrow How do you do that well without neglecting one or the other Nichols Ill admit that this one has been a bit of a challenge for me Our Technology group operates in a bi modal fashion with one side using classical telecom develop document and hand off processes optimized for efficiency and scale and another operating in a full blown KANBAN DevOps methodology optimized for agility and innovation There are good reasons for both to exist mostly stemming from the fact that large organizations cant transform instantaneously There are too many well developed systems process and cultures for that to be practical Its important not to tether one to the other from an expectation methodology or metrics perspective While Im not sure weve yet found the optimal approach I think its important that we be transparent about the successes and challenges within both and recognize that ultimately we need to reach a point where our corporate DNA as a world class managed service provider is infused with web style innovation empowerment and velocity Achieving that will deliver our customers amazing experiences and our employees will thrive through the opportunity to do so Topic CHANGE How do you embrace change and encourage risk taking across your team Nichols Perhaps its easiest to start with how this isnt accomplished through micromanagement or overly explicit or prescriptive direction It starts by ensuring the team is completely clear on and bought into the goals and vision for the company and team Thats tougher than it sounds but once its in place making sure the team understands the level of trust and empowerment they are being enabled with to find creative solutions and explore possibilities becomes the priority While change is constant in this industry and in my experience very few people embrace it by nature most deal with it much less emotionally when afforded the ability to determine the best way to respond themselves Its also vital not to be seen as punitive for what Ill call errors of enthusiasm where maybe someone just reached too far or tried to run too quickly I havent yet adopted the concept of celebrating failure as have some in Silicon Valley but how you react as a leader to these failures will go a long way in determining how willing someone is to take the next risk that could be a game changer for the company Topic MENTORING What hands on things should good mentors do Nichols Spend time n Art Nichols is the Vice President of Architecture and Technology at Windstream He has responsibility for network evolution hardware and software certification and technical product development for all business units and technical disciplines in the company A 20 year veteran of the telecom industry Nichols came into Windstream in 2010 through the acquisition of NuVox Communications where he oversaw the Network Architecture Team and played a key role in the launch of the companys flagship VoIP and converged access product While at Windstream Nichols has been instrumental in developing numerous products including IPTV Cloud Security SD WAN as well as advancing the evolution of the companys broadband packet optical and SDN enabled network He is active in numerous industry communities including the Metro Ethernet Forum and a Governing Board member for the Open Networking Automation Platform ONAP as well as the Technical Advisory Committee with the FCC Nichols considers himself a forward leaning technologist and takes pride in helping others understand and develop a well informed and technology centered vision Nichols is a graduate of Clemson University where he holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management