Aviatrix Blog 
As the cloud networking experts, 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, including several who joined Aviatrix in New York at the NASDAQ tower.
Our next hero spotlight is on Jian Zou, Principal Network Architect. See our previous hero spotlights here.
Background: Mastering Technology and Business
Jian Zou began his cloud networking career by earning a Master’s in Computer Networking at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. While working on the degree from 2013-2015, he began building on-the-job skills through a networking engineering internship with a leading e-payment service provider. He credits this role for allowing him to “apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges, particularly in designing and maintaining a highly available data center for a financial organization.”
After earning his degree and both CCNA and CCNP certifications, Jian joined a value-added reseller in the New York Metro area. There, he worked on pre-sales architecture and post-sales implementation for various technologies, including switches, routers, firewalls, wireless, IP phones, domain controllers, and virtualization.
As he worked closely with different customers, Jian’s interest in bridging the gap between technology and business deepened. He earned an MBA from Monroe University in 2020 and continued to learn through multiple certifications such as Aviatrix ACE, Cisco CCIE, HPE Master ASE, Palo Alto PCNSE, Fortinet NSE 7, Aruba ACNA, and Nutanix NCM.
In his work, Jian moved from network architect to his current role as a principal network architect, piloting his company’s network and security solutions practice. “I enjoyed working across industries, customizing network designs to meet specific business needs,” he said.
The 2020 era brought new challenges to networking (and everywhere else). “During the COVID pandemic, I assisted customers in transitioning to remote and hybrid work setups, leveraging VPN and SD-WAN technologies to enable secure and efficient operations,” Jian said. “The diversity of business and technology strategies I encounter continuously drives me to stay current and provide effective solutions.”
Merging technical knowledge with business acumen has given Jian a unique ability to solve his customers’ problems. “My favorite part of my work is helping customers design and implement technology solutions that address their business needs,” he said. “Each time I receive gratitude from my clients, it inspires me to keep moving forward on this path.”
Jian offered some advice for organizations facing one of the most common challenges: managing costs. “Controlling costs involves more than just considering the subscription price,” he said. “When assessing a new cloud networking solution, potential benefits like faster deployment, improved operational efficiency, and reduced time to resolution (TTR) can contribute to quicker time to market (TTM) and enhanced business continuity. Factoring in all these aspects, adopting a new cloud networking solution is likely to result in increased profits.”
Changes in the Industry: Speed, Centralization, Virtualization, and More
When asked how the networking industry has changed throughout his career, Jian described drastic shifts in connectivity and design. “I still recall manually configuring IPSec VPN and DMVPN through CLI to connect my customers’ remote offices to data centers before SD-WAN became available,” he said. “What once required hundreds of lines of CLI commands for DMVPN can now be done with just a few clicks using SD-WAN.”
He mentioned ways in which networking has evolved, including:
- Increased bandwidth through faster-wired speeds and new WiFi protocols
- Centralizing the control plane via SDN
- Virtualizing network hardware
- Enhancing security with zero-trust architecture and micro-segmentation
- Shifting from on-premises data centers to hybrid cloud environments
Over the next ten years, he sees cloud networking evolving from these perspectives:
- Integration: “An integrated and centrally-managed network for a hybrid cloud environment will be available. A centralized platform can control and manage networks in different public clouds and on-premise with appliances from different vendors. “
- Visibility and Security: “Visibility and security will be embedded into every layer of the networking as well as between each endpoint with more advanced tools for threat prevention, access control, and observability.”
- Consumption: “With big data and AI, cloud networking deployment and operations will be simplified. Cloud networking will be more affordable with different methods of price metering.”
The Network is the Cloud: On-Demand and Flexible
Jian defined the concept of “the network is the cloud” as a shift in networking models. “To me, ‘cloud’ refers to a usage model where you pay only for what you consume, with minimal setup time or ready-to-use services, and access to DevOps and automation tools. When we say ‘the network is the cloud,’ it means the network should offer a similar on-demand, flexible experience.”
Outside of Work
Outside of work, Jian continues to share networking expertise. “In my free time, I write exam content for certifications in the networking industry,” he said. “I also actively contribute to LinkedIn Community technology pages and have been recognized as one of the Top Voices on LinkedIn in areas such as Technology Management, Network Engineering, Network Administration, Network Security, Computer Networking, Cybersecurity, Telecommunication Services, Sales Engineering, and Solution Architecture. I also enjoy hosting technology podcasts.”
When he’s not immersed in tech, he loves exploring various cuisines, hiking, and playing video games.
Curious about other cloud networking heroes like Jian?
- We’ll keep highlighting networking professionals on this blog.
- Learn more about the Cloud Networking Heroes program and apply on The Cloud Network Community.