Aviatrix Blog 
Aviatrix wants to elevate the work of cloud networking heroes who labor to keep networks secure, effective, and performant. We’re proud to highlight people who have taught themselves the necessary skills, designed and managed successful networks, and have the expertise to share.
Our next hero spotlight is on John Bristol, Secure Modern Network Practice Leader. See our previous hero spotlights here.
Background: Engineer to Architect, Consultant to Management
John entered networking at the foundation of both his career and the industry. “I got started in tech working for a large utility in 1987 when I was 20 years old,” he said. “I was fortunate to enter into I.T. (or I.S. as we used to call it back then) right at the transition from Mainframe (IBM SNA) to TCP/IP and when a small networking startup called Cisco Systems hit the market.”
John helped deploy a very large enterprise network using Cisco multi-protocol routers and formally launched his career in networking. He left the utility after almost 10 years to join a small channel VAR to follow his passion of designing networks, something he would not have been able to do if he stayed at a large Fortune 150 organization. He earned his Cisco CCIE certification shortly after joining his new company (#3356) and spent the next 25 years designing and deploying networking technologies including LAN, WAN, Wireless, Unified Communications and Security.
“My role evolved over my career from engineer to architect, to consultant and eventually into management, ultimately running a $1B P&L for a large national solution provider,” he said.
Challenges and Accomplishments: Building Architecture and Skillsets
John’s favorite part of his role is that he still gets to help his team architect modern networks for their clients. “At EVT, we don’t manage people, we empower them,” he explained. “That enables me as the practice leader to be more creative and involved in our client engagements. I also chart the course of the practice and Aviatrix has been a large component of my secure modern network strategy at EVT.”
John named his biggest accomplishment so far: helping one of their newest clients build a new multicloud environment and leveraging Aviatrix as the core platform to provide a secure, standardized multicloud network in AWS and Azure.
John’s largest challenges tend to revolve around growing his technical team with the best talent available. “Our clients tend to be very large and complex, so technical expertise is paramount, but just as important are the soft skills needed to be a consultant and trusted architect,” he said. “Additionally, having both traditional network expertise as well as deep cloud networking expertise using modern IaC principals is often a skillset that individuals that have been in networking 10 to 20 or more years just don’t have.”
One of John’s strategies for tackling this challenge is helping fill the cloud skills gap for his team. “Because most seasoned network professionals do not have the modern cloud networking skills needed, I usually mandate new hires take the Aviatrix Certified Engineer (ACE) training to retool and uplevel their traditional on-prem networking knowledge,” he explained. “ACE is a great training program to evolve network engineers into modern cloud network engineers and architects.”
The Evolution of Technology: Full Circle
John described seeing significant changes in networking during his career – but noted that still, in some ways, the industry has “come full circle back to where it began.” For example, terms like “gateway” and “route tables” used in the cloud today were original terms used in networking in the early days of TCP/IP networks. He also noted that in many ways, the cloud service providers (CSPs) have networking services that are just as limited as the technology of on-prem networks almost 30 years ago.
“I would say the biggest change in networking I’ve seen in my career has been the shift from on-prem technology dominated by the likes of Cisco, Juniper, and Arista to cloud networking services provided by AWS, Azure, and the other major CSPs,” John said. “And now, with the need to architect multicloud networks, new networking technologies like Aviatrix fill the gap between CSP native network services and on-prem networking capabilities.”
Over the next decade, John sees integration as key. “I think as the cloud providers evolve, ubiquitous cloud networking will be even more critical and will be less siloed within each cloud provider,” he said. “As micro-clouds become more mainstream, organizations will require more cloud-to-cloud communication for applications to operate vs. running one application in one cloud and another in another cloud. Cloud networking is going to be instrumental in allowing all clouds of any size or service to communicate securely and most effectively both in terms of end user experience and cost.”
The Network is the Cloud: A Cloud Highway
To John, “The Network is the Cloud” is an idea that mirrors the traditional way that on-premises networks operated. “Just as on-prem networks are the ‘highway’ connecting applications, the network is the foundational element connecting users to applications,” he explained. “So essentially, the network is your ‘cloud highway,’ giving you secure, high-performance connectivity in and across all your clouds.”
Outside of Work
Outside of work, John loves adventure. “In my personal time, my passion is being on the water with my family and friends,” he said. “I’m a boater and my water of choice is the Colorado River, so most summers you’ll find me somewhere between Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu, enjoying the perfect mix of the hot desert sun and the cool river water.”
When he’s not on the river, he and his wife Laura love traveling and spending time with their doodles, Brixton and Maverick, in Arizona.
Curious about other cloud networking heroes like John?
- We’ll keep highlighting networking professionals on this blog.
- Learn more about the Cloud Networking Heroes program and apply on The Cloud Network Community.