What to learn or where to move next? Need advice please (From Cisco to...)

Hello Guys,

I am new to this forum, and I am seeking for advice.

At the moment I am trying to decide in what direction I should develop myself.

Brief description of myself:

I have finished UK University with Networking course in 2011. For next 5 years I have been working as Network engineer in a few Companies(changed 2-3 Companies) and obtained CCNA, CCNA Security, CCDA, CCNP. Last three years I have job that combines Network Engineer and IT manager roles. During these 3 years and start loosing my networking skills as its only 30% of my daily routine.

Now its time to start think what to do next, and I have spent so many hours looking for what could be better for me.

First thought was to start preparing for CCIE. This would remind me all forgotten skills and I will learn a lot from it. Although, its difficult exam, I know this path, I been in Cisco world for so many years, I know how it works and what it requires.

But.. there is that mind in my head. Network Engineers are not on demand anymore. I remember time 7 years ago, when it was the most valuable IT job on the market with high Salary and a lot of vacancies on the market. I am not seeing this anymore.

I am living near London, so will use London as an example. Average Salary for Senior Network engineer is about 50k - 70k. But this mean you most likely will be responsible for entire Region, for example be responsible for entire EMEA. I am not against this, as even with my current position I am responsible for EMEA region and that's ok.

Now, if we will take average Python developer, his salary will be about 60k, and he will not have that much responsibilities on his shoulders.

Nowadays, if you compare junior job Salaries from different areas you will see something like this:

· Junior Network Engineer 25k

· Junior Java developer 47k

· Junior AWS engineer 42k

All this leads me to conclusion that network engineer job has no future. Yes, I can try to get CCIE in 2 years, and I will find the job with the salary of 60-80k, but I am pretty sure in 3-5 years time I will have the same question in my head, does the energy I spend worth the money I earn?

I can only imagine how much I can learn about Azure, AWS, Java or Python during these 2 years instead of CCIE preparation.

I cannot decide if I should start a new carrier or carry on with Cisco.

I like Security. You would say go for CISSP. But then it will be the same scenario, in the future I can find 80k job in Security, but this will most probably be Security department lead with huge responsibilities.

I like Ethical hacking and penetration tester jobs. But this is new carrier and I will probably not be able migrate from Networking to Penetration tester without loosing Salary. Junior penetration tester salary can be 35k, when my current salary is 50k. Also another thing is, at the moment I am responsible for EMEA region and this make me feel myself very important for the Company. it will be difficult to accept the fact that I will be junior again...

I do not mind programming paths, but I have a fear, what if I will spend 2 years doing programming, and then will come to conclusion that CCIE would be better choice.

I like Cisco and I like networking, but I just do not want to be that old school guy who is denying the fact that he need to evolve and learn something new.

As a last option, I think I am knowledgeable enough to open my own Company that will be providing Networking Services. But there is a fear:

1. What if this company will not be successful. I never had my own Company.

2. I will just reproduce what I have seen on the market(I have worked for a few Companies that providing Networking Services), I will not create something new. Hence, I will many competitors, competitors who already on the market for a long time.

It would be great to hear your opinion regarding this.

Thank you