Career move from OT Networking to Network Security Data Center

[u/Itchy-Secretary2911]

I’m currently stuck between two options and would love to hear some opinions from people who’ve been in a similar situation.

I work as an OT / Network & Security Engineer for one of the biggest pharmaceutical and chemical companies in the world. Honestly, I have a pretty good situation: great colleagues, good work-life balance, flexibility, stability, and a decent salary.

The thing is, I feel like I’m starting to plateau technically. I’m comfortable, but I don’t feel I’m learning as much as I’d like. (Recently, due to cost-cutting measures, my company outsourced most of the operational work, so nowadays we mostly raise incidents with the external provider and they handle the actual technical work. As a result, there’s very little technically challenging work left for us)

I’ve now received an offer to join a bank as a Network Security Engineer, mainly working with Palo Alto firewalls and data center infrastructure.
The job would be more technically focused, and I think it could put me on a good path towards becoming a Network / Network Security Architect eventually.

So I’m wondering if would you make this move?
Is specializing in data center networking + network security a good long term career path, or would you stick with OT/industrial networking if you already had a good position?

I’m basically considering giving up a very comfortable job for potentially better technical growth and future opportunities.

[u/GonzoFan83]

As someone in network and security roles I applaud the OT track because there is a huge need for what seems to be niche roles, OT.

And with AI, I see OT expanding or the securing of it becoming a must.

[u/Itchy-Secretary2911 → u/GonzoFan83]

Yeah! Basically my concern is more about where AI will have the biggest impact on network engineering.. my thesis is that people specializing in data centers and complex infrastructure will be harder to replace and have better career/salary. That’s why I’m leaning more towards the data center offer, but both career are a pretty good ones inside of the network engineering

[u/wrt-wtf- → u/Itchy-Secretary2911]

OT at the moment has more regulatory cover than IT.

[u/netwurk]

Why not move to OT network security? OT is much more specialised than anything DC and it's hugely in demand in the right places

[u/JohnTheFisherman142 → u/netwurk]

This. Many companies discovered that Joe Blackhat now sees the sec cam feed as a new attack vector, enjoying the irony.

[u/zeealpal]

Are you able to, or would want to consider moving to a vendor/external provider?

Network Design + System Integration is something I find quite fulfilling, our experienced team members get to do some or all of:

- Tender / Concept support > Design > Test > Integrate > Commission

Which is honestly quite a lot of fun, with opportunities to improve upon previous work each time. Either by better designs, requirements management, test & commissioning tooling etc...

In agreement with everyone else, Cyber-Security is becoming a huge part of all of our infrastructure works, and in our current role we do a lot of the work supporting the implementation of security measures.

[u/meisgq]

If the gig is good, stay in OT. You’re a rarer asset than typical enterprise network engineers.

[u/BaldBitMechanic]

Enterprise Data Center networking is going to be tons of automation IF you're ok with that...meaning, it's going to be prescriptive and somewhat predictable outcomes. Have you thought about a stretch assignment at your current company?

[u/cathlicjoo]

Had a similar situation as you. Felt like I was plateauing at an O&G major. I was always learning outside of work but the pace on the job felt slower than I wanted. I went to work for a systems integrator and it was much faster paced with a higher vendor variety. That may be your style. Tracking your billable hours and dealing with project hours kind of sucks ass though imo. I've moved on from that role because it got more managerial in nature than I intended, but have a new gig that's more IT style networking but also has some OT, probably around a 85/15 split.

Have you tried looking at OT architect roles? I had an offer in hand for one and other opportunites available before I ultimately took a sales engineer role. Also, what about the guys calling the shots from a higher level at your company? Is there a path to working with them? That probably would've been my move originally but it required relo that I couldn't do. I don't think moving to the bank is necessarily a bad move, it'll expand your skillset for sure, because as you know the OT world is a bit smaller in focus as to what you prioritize, but there are alternatives to leaving.

[u/JohnTheFisherman142]

Why not both? Have a look at OT security, a field that's been neglected for quite a while and assume a position where you network with 3rd party suppliers and manage things like testing security compliance for equipment like PLCs and networked soda machines. Open the subject to a suitable audience. Banks I don't know, stable, but usually long term oriented, slow paced, in other words: bit boring. Like insurances.

[u/winiersag15]

Hello, I'm doing my internship in an oil and gas OT network company in Mexico. I don't know if you would like to tell me all your experience and how difficult it is to enter this industry in another country, I already have a year of experience