Industrial Networking Isn’t What You Think It Is…

When most people hear the term “industrial networking,” they picture rugged devices, specialized hardware, and niche applications tucked away in some factory corner. Truth is, that’s the biggest misconception in our industry.

Industrial networking isn’t about hardened devices. It’s about operational technology that forms the backbone of an entire business. From the point of sale to the production floor, from field operations to corporate headquarters, connectivity is the thread that keeps everything moving. Helping companies understand and optimize that thread is exactly what we do at INS.

My Journey to INS: Experience Meets Opportunity

I’ve been working in this space for years, and my path to INS has given me a unique perspective. I started at Verizon and spent 15 years there, gaining hands-on experience in cellular technologies and large-scale deployments. In many ways, joining the INS team felt like coming home. Some of my former colleagues had already come on board, and the sense of being part of a respected, ethical, and innovative company was immediate.

Being part of the INS crew is humbling. Our culture isn’t confined to these four walls. It’s about integrity, accountability, and delivering solutions that genuinely help our customers succeed.

A Day in the Life: Balancing Strategy and Execution

My role here is multifaceted. I oversee our cellular engineering group, but I also wear an executive hat, bridging conversations between OEMs, carriers, and our internal teams. This allows me to ensure our engineers and frontline salespeople have the right insights, and to help develop the products and solutions we bring to market. A typical day can vary wildly: I might start in a deep dive on network architecture, jump into a carrier call about a new feature, and then shift to strategic internal planning, all while keeping our customers’ business objectives at top of mind. It’s never an 8-to-5 job, and it requires balancing immediate needs with long-term impact.

The Complexity Customers Don’t See

One of the challenges I wish I could fix industry-wide is how connectivity technologies are defined and communicated. Take 5G, for example. There’s 5G, 5G SA, 5G millimeter wave, reduced capacity, red cap devices… the list goes on. For someone outside the industry—or even a technically savvy decision-maker—it can be overwhelming. The reality is that not all 5G, or even all 4G LTE, is created equal.

You can think of it like buying a car: a Prius and a Ferrari can both get you from point A to point B, but the performance, cost, and capabilities are very different. At INS, part of our job is helping customers navigate this complexity, making sure they understand what their options really mean for their operations, and what trade-offs come with each choice.

Planning for Today and for Tomorrow

When customers first approach us, they’re usually at a point where they’ve tried to solve connectivity challenges on their own and reached a ceiling. They need a trusted advisor to analyze their current network environment, help them understand what’s truly necessary, and plan for the future.

The discovery conversation is critical. We focus not only on solving immediate pain points but also on uncovering opportunities they might not have considered yet.

A clear example comes from a financial services client who wanted to replace all their T1 lines with 100% cellular at their branch locations. Initially, they had strict performance thresholds in mind. But as we progressed, they realized the potential of 5G and started requesting additional capabilities mid-project. If we hadn’t had those discovery conversations upfront, the scope change could have caused delays and frustration. Instead, we were able to scale their network, delivering more value than they initially envisioned.

Delivering Reliability and Redundancy

What makes INS unique isn’t just our technical expertise, it’s our holistic approach to industrial networking. Historically, the company focused on industrial settings like production facilities and oil & gas operations, but today, our experience spans virtually every industry. We can advise, design, and implement solutions for any connectivity need. Our focus is on maximizing uptime, improving efficiency, and providing reliability across critical business systems.

Reliability is central to everything we do. Our goal is for customers to rarely, if ever, call us, because their networks are performing exactly as expected. But we also engage proactively, gathering feedback to continuously improve our processes. Whether it’s refining how we dispatch technicians or simplifying ordering paths, every insight helps us serve our customers better.

Innovation at the Edge

Innovation is baked into everything I do, and it’s why I love working at INS. In fact, before my time here, I developed a patent in partnership with Ericsson (formerly Cradlepoint) that enables simultaneous failover and out-of-band management—a technology now widely used in networking devices. It’s a reminder that innovation is everywhere, and small advancements can have a huge impact across the industry.

Looking forward, I’m excited about the role AI and edge technologies will play in networking. Imagine self-healing systems that learn in real time, or AI platforms that allow administrators to manage networks conversationally, telling the system to block or allow access, and seeing it applied instantly. These are the innovations that will redefine connectivity in the next three to five years.

A Final Note on Modernizing Your Networks

My advice to companies looking to modernize their networks is simple: start with today, but plan for tomorrow. Understand your current infrastructure, identify pain points, and think strategically about what your network needs to achieve in the next five to ten years. Don’t build for today’s problem alone; build for future capabilities, growth, and flexibility.

At INS, we’ve built our reputation on listening, designing, and implementing solutions that solve real problems. Our customers know that when they call, we respond, we understand their unique challenges, and we create systems that help them thrive. Demystifying industrial networking isn’t just about explaining technology. It’s about giving businesses the clarity and confidence to leverage connectivity as a strategic advantage. And that’s a mission I’m proud to help lead every day.