I was thinking about this on the way to a meeting recently. We don’t think twice now about going on holiday at the other end of the country, or in fact anywhere around the world. Because the transportation of today makes that possible. But 100 years ago, that would have been a major event to organise. Only managed by the few. And 200 years ago, not a chance!
That revolution in transportation that took 200 years, is now happening in the blink of an eye in the network.
We all work faster, we all expect to be able to do whatever we want or need to do, wherever we are, whenever we want to. And as you will know if you are a network professional, this places expectations on the network.
We all expect ‘Tesla’ networks now
Maybe you have been shopping while sat on a bus or a park bench, set up a direct debit while on your sofa, or booked a table at a restaurant while out and about. And this expectation extends to the workplace. You want to look up the details of a piece of machinery, make the diagnosis, order the parts while out on site. Have customer data and the ability to respond to a customers’ requirements instantly, wherever they are. And to do this in the quickest and most efficient way.
This means the network needs to be able to respond. Whether to better support customers or the workforce. To ensure they all have the best user experience that they expect, demand and need. And to do this in the most efficient, and most secure way.
While the network equivalent of the cart and horse still does the job of getting your data from A to B, it’s not the most effective. Nor will it offer you the security you need, and it won’t be agile to evolve at the speed you need it to.
Do you still have a horse?
Less than 10 minutes of your time can help you find out. With the digital readiness assessment developed in partnership by IDC and Cisco, you can quickly get a view of where your network is and, crucially, how you compare to your peers within similar sized organisations within your industry.
The IDC research that underpins this assessment enables you to get a deeper understanding of the challenges, and opportunities. You can see the highlights in this infographic.
Results indicated that 63% of organisations are operating at best effort and manual (still plodding along with that horse), while 14% are at semi-automated and self-driving (the ‘Tesla’ of networks). Those 14% will be the most agile, most responsive, and critically, most easily able to adapt to and capitalise on market trends and opportunities. To keep pace with digitally-savvy customers.
What should I do?
Critically when you complete the assessment you’ll also receive a personalised report to help you identify what steps you could be taking to support your key network challenges and objectives, and ultimately to become the best in class.
It will place you on the 5-step digital readiness model, starting at best effort and manual and ending at self-driving for the most advanced, sophisticated and capable networks, and give recommendations on where to focus. Because this isn’t an overnight rip and replace, it’s a journey. And, unless you’ve already got to Tesla status already, you need to start now.
To find out more about Cisco Digital Network Architecture and how it can support you to get your network digital-ready, check out all our resources here.
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Good article David, thank you for sharing