Over the last few weeks several clients and friends have asked if they should move into wireless networking to expand or redirect their IT careers.

My short answer is a very loud YES.

Market Demand

You don’t need research from a high priced analysts to validate that the market demand for wireless savvy individuals is very real.

A very good indicator is at the local electronics store. Try this the next time you are there….ask them if they have a laptop without wireless local area networking (WLAN) capability. Or ask them if the Nintendo Wii or Sony PS3 has WLAN capability. Or see if you can find a cable/DSL router without integrated WLAN features.

Regardless of where you are in the world you will find that WLAN capability is virtually standard in all computing and entertainment products.

Short History Lesson

You are probably wondering, “What does this have to do with work or career selection?” Keep reading…

Around the year 2000, low cost 802.11b products and the desire to easily share broadband Internet connections caused many consumers to purchase wireles gear instead of using traditional cabling methods to connect PCs.

These consumers loved the mobility and ease of deployment of wireless LANs and wondered why the couldn’t use the same technology at work. They convinced employers to install wireless LANs in conference rooms, lab rooms, and/or guest areas. The typical goal was to provide basic access to email and Internet to visitors and employees during special events such as training sessions or company meetings.

Most IT departments avoided deploying wireless LANs that connected to the main production network because they didn’t have the resources to implement, secure and manage another network.

While IT departments continued to resist deploying wireless LANs, end users started deploying unauthorized wireless networks by bringing their home wireless router to work. These unauthorized networks became a major security issue for IT and network security managers. Without the proper wireless LAN security architecture all the investment in firewalls, wired intrusion detection systems, and physical security could be compromised by misconfigured unauthorized wireless networks.

After resisting for several years IT departments finally decided to embrace wireless and started deploying “sanctioned” wireless networks that they could control and manage.

Missing Link

Wireless networking and wireless LAN security technology is mature and the productivity benefits are real. What is missing are people with wireless design, implementation, management, troubleshooting experience.

The ideal candidates to take advantage of this shortage are IT professionals experienced in wired networking and wired security that are able to complement their existing knowledge wireless related subjects. It is possible to start cold with no IT background or a background only in server/PC technology but it will be an up hill battle because the person will have to learn the basics of networking and security at the same time they learning wireless related subjects.

Market Research

OK..if you are still not convinced and want more proof than my electronics store method see data from from Infonetics Research.

• Over 80% of North American organizations will adopt wireless LANs by 2010
• Employee demand tops the list of wireless LAN adoption drivers, rated highly by 50% of respondents
• Laptops are by far the most popular device for accessing the WLAN, but WiFi VoIP handsets — especially dual-mode WiFi/cellular handsets — show strong growth
• The strongest driver for deploying VoWLAN is convergence of the voice and data networks, considered a driver by over half of the study’s respondents
• There is a discernible shift away from distributed to centralized intelligence in WLAN architecture
• 46% have a wireless policy that defines how employees can use the WLAN, WiMAX, or 2.5G/3G data services available to them
• Security concerns top the list of reasons why organizations have not adopted WLANs, with 63% of non-adopters citing this as an important factor

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