CIO OPINION the users and business leaders care about . They are not as interested in how esoteric aspects of the network are performing , but rather , they ’ re more concerned about whether a specific user had a poor Zoom experience .
Staying the course on automation in network operations
Tied to understanding the needs and experience of end-users is the maturation of network automation . But automation progress is not equal across the entire networking paradigm . In the data centre , which is a more controlled environment when compared to the WAN or LAN , adoption is farther along . Changes in a data centre are driven mostly in a naturally hierarchical structure and is thus easier to understand and manage through automation scripts .
The metric du jour is user satisfaction which , from the CIO standpoint , is tied to employee productivity that can ultimately impact business profitability .
The Edge ( both LAN and WAN ), on the other hand , is a more chaotic environment because changes are triggered by factors that are not totally within IT ’ s control – namely human and device behaviour patterns that are constantly changing . There is a big need for leveraging AI and Machine Learning models to sense changes as soon as they occur and respond to the ones that seem persistent , even if for a short period of time . The maturity of deployed solutions that provide this learning component of automation at the Edge will improve significantly in 2021 . workloads – both private and public – all the more requiring dynamic approaches to security policy that must evolve beyond the user-centric workflows that Zero Trust is primarily optimised for today .
End-user satisfaction is king
Key IT metrics are also evolving . It ’ s no longer sufficient to just keep the network infrastructure up and running . The metric du jour is user satisfaction which , from the CIO standpoint , is tied to employee productivity that can ultimately impact business profitability .
Networking and security teams are now focused on dynamic experiences that end-users want and expect with the services and applications they choose to use for improved productivity . Instead of asking just what kind of devices are connecting to the network , they are also required to focus on maintaining flexibility and agility while minimising risk . The goal of network control goes hand-in-hand with business agility . By applying the appropriate security measures , CIOs can better facilitate this increasingly dynamic IT environment .
Ultimately , CIOs want insights beyond the network itself and into availability and performance applications that
There will also be significant progress in combining these with APIs and other automation tools that will deliver on the promised efficiencies and insights that IT leaders crave . The pandemic has also heightened the interest in networking automation at the Edge among CIOs and IT leaders . According to a survey of 2,400 IT decision makers across the globe , 35 % plan to increase their investment in AI-based networking , as they seek more agile , automated infrastructures for hybrid work environments .
Making 2021 a success
In 2020 , businesses and the economy were rescued by a raft of communication technologies developed over the past 40 years , ranging from security , cloud connectivity , to managed and supported applications over the network . Now in 2021 , the four trends outlined here can provide CIOs and IT leaders with the tools to be better equipped for navigating the unpredictability of today and beyond .
They empower IT leaders from the top down to strategically position IT as the crucial function businesses need to successfully maneuver whatever the future holds , from pandemics to accelerating shifts in work culture trends and environments . p
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