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SCADA Engineer

Communication network management

Enhances✓ Available Now

What You Do Today

Maintain the utility communication network — fiber, microwave, cellular, and serial links connecting field devices to control centers. Troubleshoot latency, packet loss, and failover issues.

AI That Applies

AI monitors network performance metrics, predicts link degradation before failure, and models traffic patterns to identify capacity constraints.

Technologies

SolarWindsPRTGCisco IOSMiCOMHarris Stratex

How It Works

The system ingests network performance metrics as its primary data source. The processing layer applies the appropriate analytical models to the structured data, generating scored outputs that surface the most actionable insights. The results integrate into the practitioner's existing workflow — presenting recommendations, flags, or automated outputs alongside their normal working context.

What Changes

Reactive troubleshooting when links fail shifts to predictive maintenance as AI detects degradation trends.

What Stays

Physical infrastructure work — climbing towers for microwave alignment, splicing fiber, and coordinating with telecom carriers for leased circuits.

What To Do Next

This section won't tell you what your numbers should be. It will show you how to find them yourself. Every instruction below produces a real, verifiable result in your organization. No benchmarks, no projections — just the steps to build your own evidence.

1

Establish Your Baseline

Know where you are before you move

Before adopting AI tools for communication network management, understand your current state.

•
Map your current process: Document how communication network management works today — who does what, how long it takes, where the bottlenecks are. You need this baseline to measure improvement.
•
Identify the judgment points: Physical infrastructure work — climbing towers for microwave alignment, splicing fiber, and coordinating with telecom carriers for leased circuits. These are the boundaries AI won't cross.
•
Assess your data readiness: AI tools for this area need data to work. Check whether your organization has the historical data, integrations, and data quality to support SolarWinds tools.

Without a baseline, you can't measure whether AI actually improved anything. You'll adopt tools without knowing if they're working.

2

Define Your Measures

What to track and how to calculate it

Time per cycle

How to calculate

Measure how long communication network management takes end-to-end today, then after AI adoption.

Why it matters

The most visible improvement is speed. If AI doesn't save time, question whether it's adding value.

Quality of output

How to calculate

Track error rates, rework frequency, or stakeholder satisfaction scores before and after.

Why it matters

Speed without quality is just faster mistakes. Measure both.

When to check: Check after 30 days of consistent use, then quarterly.
The commitment: Give new tools at least 30 days before judging. The first week is always awkward.
What NOT to measure: Don't measure AI adoption rate as a KPI. Adoption follows value — if the tool helps, people use it.
3

Start These Conversations

Who to talk to and what to ask

your engineering manager or VP Eng

“What data do we already have that could improve how we handle communication network management?”

They're deciding which AI developer tools to adopt team-wide

your DevOps or platform team lead

“Who on our team has the deepest experience with communication network management, and what tools are they already using?”

They manage the infrastructure that AI tools depend on

a senior engineer who's adopted AI tools early

“If we brought in AI tools for communication network management, what would we measure before and after to know it actually helped?”

Their experience shows what actually works vs. what's hype

4

Check Your Prerequisites

Confirm readiness before you invest

Check items as you confirm them.

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