Top four network modernization trends for 2023

Modern enterprise should never be constrained by the limits of an aging network infrastructure. The successful modern enterprise ensures that the entire operation is equipped with the bandwidth it needs, delivered securely to the furthest reaches of its extremities. Fast, dedicated networks with symmetrical speeds up to 100 Gbps with redundancy options, are the base upon which the modern enterprise should build when sharing data, applications and processes. Time is money might be an adage your grandmother taught you, but it’s never been truer than in today’s business world where multi-million dollar deals may hinge on the efficacy of low-latency communications and applications. 

Most networks, however, have a mixture of bandwidth needs. Your network partner should be able to offer a variety of scalable options, based on your specific business needs and objectives. To get an objective view of what your current bandwidth needs may be, try our bandwidth calculator.

With a rapidly changing technology landscape, bandwidth needs will vary greatly among enterprises. It behooves us all to ensure that our network capabilities enable us to capitalize on new opportunities while getting the most out of our IT budget.  Here’s our take on the four main items IT decision makers should be considering on their journey to network modernization in 2023:

1.  Increased focus on cybersecurity

Some might think we’re already highly focused on cybersecurity.  Yet, the attack surface for cybercriminals expands every day. Digital technologies and digital transformation are almost table stakes now.  As a culture, and as business people, we have undergone irrevocable changes in the way we conduct our personal lives and in the way we fulfill our business objectives. 

According to the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA): Growing cybersecurity threats to today’s computing and communications systems are a result of the following factors:

• Data creation and transmission is constantly growing in both enterprise and consumer spaces, yet data flow and management may not be consistently implemented.
• Organizations have many disparate applications and services, but the dependencies of these applications are not always well understood by some organizations.
• New technologies, applications, and devices to collect and process data are introduced every day. Some next-generation communications systems or other applications may have less secure data transmission.
• Centralized data collection creates vast stores of information that may be breached by cybercriminals.

All these factors, and more, illuminate the need for a more measured and scalable approach to cybersecurity. There is an urgent need to secure users, data, and applications at the edge as cybercriminals are increasingly targeting these new, distributed environments. This means that the modern enterprise needs security controls that go wherever the data goes, which begs the need for solutions that offer SASE and ZTNA.

SASE, or Secure Access Service Edge, is a network architecture with built-in cybersecurity functions included, delivered in a single service through the cloud.  Zero-trust network access (ZTNA) solutions allow access on a per-session basis to applications only after devices and users are verified, and also apply when users are on the network, no matter the user's location.

Enterprises with different network solutions spread across multiple groups and locations should consider fully or co-managed managed services to help them streamline operations and standardize protection and VPN across all sites. 

2.  Enterprise WAN infrastructures must evolve to meet the explosion of  data and digitizing of business

The traditional approach to WAN assumed all data and applications are hosted in-house in a centralized data center. Traditionally this consisted of dedicated circuits such as MPLS to transfer data. WANs now require a variety of connectivity options, access to multiple clouds, centralized orchestration and enhanced security. They need to adapt to an organization’s changing needs.  

There is a growing and persistent need for a cloud-centric, application-driven approach to managing the WAN, provisioning sites and delivering applications to branch offices. Workers are returning to offices, but a larger number will remain remote or become hybrid employees. 

Maximizing your network’s performance is critical to your organization’s ability to be productive and efficient. With a managed SD-WAN, you can simply, efficiently and cost-effectively apply the right type of connectivity to each location across your entire network.

3.  Hybrid multi-cloud to digitize business

Cloud helps enterprises scale, be more agile, increase revenue and achieve strategic goals. The pandemic accelerated cloud use to support digital services. Last year, Gartner predicted that 75% of large organizations will use private WAN cloud connectivity services by 2024.¹ This year, Gartner predicts that, “By 2027, more than 50% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives.”²  That analyst firm states “Industry cloud platforms offer a combination of SaaS, platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) — along with tailored, industry-specific functionality to address specific vertical requirements.”³ 

Large organizations are embracing hybrid multi-cloud to digitize operations and speed innovation, with a strong focus on customer experience rooted in technology and intelligence. Further, they need hybrid cloud solutions to extend their reach into on-premises, edge, and even remote or disconnected environments that have historically been hard for cloud computing to serve.

Gartner predicts that “By 2025, 51% of IT spending… will have shifted from traditional solutions to the public cloud, compared to 41% in 2022. Almost two-thirds (65.9%) of spending on application software will be directed toward cloud technologies in 2025, up from 57.7% in 2022.

Multi-cloud is an IT approach that uses services from more than one public or private cloud provider. Organizations may turn to a multi-cloud approach to avoid vendor lock-in with a single cloud provider, to improve business continuity and disaster recovery, and to gain additional flexibility when choosing cloud services.  The modern enterprise should seek a partner that can offer a dependable, private cloud connection for accessing Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and IBM.

4.  New era in connectivity

The modern enterprise needs to keep pace with increasing bandwidth needs.  In the past few years, there has been a combined expansion of on-premises and private data centers, public clouds, and edge data centers designed to deliver ultra-low latency user experiences. All of these factors point to the need for Ultra-High Speed Data services across a national fiber network that deliver speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) for a range of data transport solutions, such as internet, WAN and Wavelength. These services should be paired with premium support, fully managed, and monitored to ensure that the requirements of applications using the services are met. 

Network modernization plans in 2023 should be focused on an enterprise’s ability to anticipate and supply the bandwidth necessary to take full advantage of emerging technology and opportunities that will best benefit an enterprise’s business strategy. Ultra-High Speed Data services enables organizations to increase agility and meet their evolving connectivity needs.

Find out more about how Ultra-High Speed Data services easily scale up to 100 Gpbs and offer a range of redundancy options. 

1. Gartner®, Predicts 2022: Operationalizing the Distributed Enterprise, By Bjarne Munch, Kenneth Gonzalez, Manjunath Bhat, Padraig Byrne, Josh Chessman, 19 October 2021.
2. Gartner, Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2023, by Gilbert van der Heiden, David Groombridge, Bart Willemsen, Arun Chandrasekaran 
3. Ibid