Intern Spotlight: Riding the Connected World

Five months ago, during a family road trip, I grew frustrated when my favorite mobile game, Clash Royale, kept lagging. “This shouldn’t be happening,” I thought. “I want to play now and expect to access the service anytime, anywhere.” Little did I know just how much effort it takes to truly guard the connected world.

For the past five months, I’ve been interning at NETSCOUT, where I’ve had the chance to learn the intricate details of keeping the connected world running smoothly and protected from disruptions and cybersecurity threats.

At first, the learning curve felt steep. I was suddenly immersed in project management, marketing, and business development within strategic alliances—an exciting but overwhelming mix that made me feel in over my head. In Clash Royale terms, it felt like sending Barbarians and Spear Goblins against a Mega Minion. But thanks to the guidance of a great manager, the support of my fellow interns, and countless coffee chats with NETSCOUT veterans, I quickly gained knowledge in networking, security technologies, and NETSCOUT solutions. This gave me a whole new perspective on what it truly means to be a Guardian of the Connected World.

Over time, I learned to decode the acronyms and technical language of observability and security solutions. I explored our partners’ strategies and discovered how they align with NETSCOUT’s product lines. I also gained hands-on experience with the tools and processes that keep business operations resilient.

I applied my new skills by researching partners’ corporate strategies and identifying synergies, digging into 10-K filings, reviewing solution architectures, and assessing compatibility with NETSCOUT technologies. NETSCOUT sits directly in the flow of digital traffic across enterprises, telecoms, and cloud providers. By capturing and analyzing traffic data at scale using patented deep packet inspection (DPI) technology, NETSCOUT delivers the real-time, low-latency metadata, called Smart Data, that trains artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) models. This empowers NetOps, SecOps, AIOps, and other IT teams to detect cyberattacks and service degradations in real time.

Before this internship, I had no idea that my ability to play Clash Royale without lag was connected to the unseen work NETSCOUT does every day to guard the connected world. NETSCOUT secures and assures the digital transformation that powers the services delivered by the world’s largest enterprises and service providers.

This internship gave me a new lens: Instead of just asking what AI/ML can do for me, I now think about how I can help enable AI/ML itself, by supporting NETSCOUT’s efforts to partner more effectively and convert NETSCOUT’s Smart Data into actionable intelligence in observability and cybersecurity. NETSCOUT continues to guard the connected world from disruption, and I’m proud to have been a part of it.

Learn more about NETSCOUT position in the networking ecosystem on our partner page.