Network Engineering Insights with James Bensley

What does it mean to be a Network Engineer?

We recently had the opportunity to find out. James Bensley is Principal Network Architect at Inter.link and in this article he explains what a typical day is like in his role, along with sharing insights about the telecoms industry, and giving advice for new network engineers.

As a Network Engineer, what does your day look like?

A normal day for me usually involves a few different things because I perform a split role at Inter.link. I am a product owner as well as an engineer.

A typical day for me might start with my product owner hat on. I will have few calls to discuss new product ideas based on feedback from customer opportunities. I will then look in their implementation details and work with other engineers to produce a technical design for the product and a plan for it’s implementation. Then in the afternoon I switch to my engineering hat and spend the afternoon maybe coding, or testing, or troubleshooting.

I really like having a hand in the product strategy and another in the product implementation. It helps me to better align the end-to-end process of product delivery for the company when compared to two separate people, one who is purely engineering and the other who is purely product development.

What is your favourite task?

My favorite task is doing something technical. Even though I enjoy the more strategic work that comes with being a product owner, I am a techie at heart. When I have an afternoon with no meetings that allows me to just put on my headphones and focus on something technical, I am at my happiest.

What advice would you give to a new network engineer?

One must fully understand the fundamentals. I have seen many engineers struggle to grasp new technologies, fail interview questions, incorrectly diagnose faults, and so on, all because they didn't understand the fundamentals. Technology moves forwards in small increments, not big leaps. Ensuring you thoroughly understand the fundamentals ensures you will understand whatever comes your way.

What is something that has changed since you started working in the telecoms industry?

The most obvious change is the progression from network operators automating the odd task here and there, to network operators automating all tasks but with several tasks required to deliver some sort of result, and then finally to network operators automating their entire business processes end-to-end which are even triggered automatically.

At Inter.link, not only have we fully automated service delivery for our customers, we’ve even automated things like our carbon emissions tracking. We have finally reached the status quo that automation of all aspects of the business is required, not just the low hanging operational fruit.

What is one thing most people don't know about internet connectivity?

Despite the amazing advances in technology, the penetration of Internet connectivity into the global population, and the commoditisation of connectivity services, the Internet is still heavily reliant on human networking; meaning that having the right contacts is integral to finding the best opportunities, procuring the best connectivity, making technological progress, and overcoming issues when they arise. There is a fantastic community of network operators behind the Internet, built over decades and ever changing, and it simply wouldn’t function without that community.

Interested to join the Inter.link team?

Visit our careers page and to find out more!