The first thing you should explain up front is what you need the network engineer to do. As mentioned above, what you need from a network engineer is going to largely depend on the size of your network and its complexities and requirements. Are you setting up a new network from scratch? If so, you’ll likely need a highly skilled network architect to determine what systems you need, what bandwidth your business is going to require, then have them design and configure the system with the appropriate tools, technologies and hardware if applicable.

how much do network engineers make?

Do you need to upgrade any existing server hardware to address performance issues? If so, you’ll want a network engineer who knows the latest hardware options to help you optimize your network. to run an audit that assesses the health of your system and to then provide a plan for upgrading, augmenting, and expanding your hardware and software to beef up bandwidth.

Finally, briefly explain your goals. What do you need from your network architect to get you from where you are now to where you’d like to be? Do you feel like systems and hardware are underutilized? Are you culturally shifting toward a more DevOps approach and need to reconfigure how your network supports you?