This is an alternative to the Career Path route that allows a professional to develop particular skills around one area of networking technology. This is invaluable for anyone deciding to go into the field of networking. Not only does it make an individual more innovative and valuable in a traditional company, it also increases his or her demand for outsourced contracts. This is also a popular option, since it is getting harder and harder to be a generalist in the area of networking due to the rapid pace of change and expanded responsibilities of the network professional.
ATM applications and switching
LAN operating systems
Business process reengineering
LAN switches
CASE tools for network applications
LAN/voice integration
Cellular digital packet data
Lotus Notes application
development applications
Message-embedded applications
Client/server application development tools
Middleware products
Data compression
Multimedia networking
Disaster recovery planning
Network security
Electronic data Interchange applications
Object oriented programming Encryption systems
Distributed environments
FDDI networks
Distance learning applications
Personal communications systems
Distributed database applications
Personal digital assistants
Fast Ethernet networks and applications
Software reengineering and restructuring
Groupware applications
SQL servers and other database servers
Image processing and document management
Superservers
Optical switching
Systems integration
Intelligent hubs
TCP/IP applications
ISDN applications
Videoconferencing
.
Interactive television applications
Voice recognition and voice processing
Internet applications
Wide area wireless communications
Kiosk applications and networking
Wireless LANs
Another option available to networking professionals is to mold a career around a preferred lifestyle. When developing a niche skill, tele-computing allows a person to have portable skills and the ability to locate in whichever location the professional wants.