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 Roy Illsley, Chief Analyst at Omdia. See our previous hero spotlights here.
Background: From Electronics Engineer to IT Analyst
Roy started his IT career by accident. Originally, he was an electronics engineer with a BSc (Honors) in Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications, an international MBA, and a Chartered Engineer (CEng) at the Institute of Engineering Technology (MIET).
In his role as an electronics engineer at a UK defense consulting firm, his company won a contract that required top secret need-to-know clearance: UK and US eyes only. The work involved programming in Fortran, a language Roy had learned as part of his BSc. This project helped move him into the role of systems manager of the data center. Eventually, Roy worked his way up to data center manager and senior IT manager before leaving the field in 2006 to become an IT industry Analyst.
As an analyst, he has done extensive work in the thought leadership space, including:
- Publishing major reports, including vendor comparison reports on cloud computing, backup and data protection, cloud management, AIOps, hyperconverged infrastructure, and preparing the business case to replace an organization’s manufacturing and supply chain systems.
- Serving as an IT leader, including becoming the supply chain and manufacturing lead IT analyst for a proposed UK£2.9 billion company merger, IT architect of a major RFID project, and IT project manager for a major new financial reporting and business change initiative.
- Writing thought leadership reports on container management platforms, hybrid- and multicloud management, edge computing, data protection for the cloud, AIOPs maturity model, sovereign cloud, and IT Strategy and Architecture.
- Conducting primary research for leading global organizations.
Roy’s work covers IT strategy and policy and his experience includes data center technologies, Quantum Computing, and IT Service Management. In his current role, he works in the Cloud and Data Centre practice and is recognized as Omdia’s expert on Cloud, Virtualization, and Management. His favorite part of his role as an analyst is getting to see all the new and latest technology.
Cost Management: Navigating Cost Models
Roy shared advice for networking professionals who are working to manage mounting cloud costs. “Understanding the resource allocation and cost is only one aspect of cost management,” he said. “The other is navigating the different cost models the cloud providers use. Therefore, as a network engineer, you also need to consider if the cost model is suitable. For example, using spot pricing is cheapest, but less predictable in terms of availability, while committed spend is the most predictable but the least flexible. Therefore, understand the business need and match the price model and resources to the need.”
The Evolution of Networking: A Former Black Hole Becoming Visible
The networking landscape has changed dramatically during Roy’s career. “When I started, networking was a separate team, and the Data Center Operations and the IT project teams did not typically share any information,” he explained. “As a data center manager and IT project manager, the network was a black hole. This began to change in the 1990s as the network became more intrinsically linked to the operational success of IT.”
This transition changed the way networking teams worked. “Slowly, network engineers became more integrated into the wider IT teams, and the NOC worked closely with IT Operations,” Roy said. “Cloud networking is following a similar pattern, it is the black hole of the cloud, and cloud operations teams have very little visibility into it. This is beginning to change as the visibility into the cloud network is opening through third-party tools.”
The Network is the Cloud: The Brains vs. the Body
When asked what “The Network is the Cloud” means to him, Roy used an analogy. “The cloud is a collection of data centers, which can be connected together to present the resources to the user as a singular entity,” he said. “However, it is the network that connects and coordinates this activity, so the Network is the brains of the cloud, while the DCs are body that does the work.”
Outside of Work
Outside of work, Roy’s time is full of family: he has 6 children and 8 grandchildren.
He also stays active: he loves to hill walk and has become interested in wildlife photography. But one hobby stands out: “My biggest passion is my football team, Derby County,” he said. “I am a lifelong supporter, and generally a sports fan, F1, Cricket, and Rugby.”
Curious about other cloud networking heroes like Roy?
- We’ll keep highlighting networking professionals on this blog.
- Learn more about the Cloud Networking Heroes program and apply on The Cloud Network Community.