2016 What a year it’s been! There have been some significant and surprising events on the world stage. From Brexit to Trump to the loss of some of our most loved rock stars, comedians and otherwise nations favourites.
And here in the world of networking, 2016 also proved pretty significant. A year ago was anyone saying ‘Digital Network Architecture’? Yet since its launch in March the urgent need to ensure networks are digital-ready has fast become the watchword across the networking world.
Anand Oswald, Senior Vice President Engineering in our Enterprise Networking group, took a look back at his networking year in review and my goodness there has been a lot going on! The concept of moving to a digital-ready network has been at the heart of it all. From connected lighting being launched at Cisco Live Berlin in February to CMX Virtual Beacon launching in September.
And in between the industry was recognising the value of all this rapid innovation, with APIC-EM winning best of Interop Tokyo 2016 in May and Gartner showing that Cisco continue to be a leader in the Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimisation in June.
So, what does 2017 hold?
Well you can’t second guess the future, that’s something that we are all very aware of given some of 2016’s more surprising events. And I can’t give away any trade secrets.
Jeff Reid, Senior Vice President Enterprise Infrastructure and Solutions Group here at Cisco has taken a look and pulled together his top 10 predictions of trends in enterprise networking for 2017.
From WAN redesign and network function virtualisation, to SDN, location-based services and network programming, it looks like there will be a lot going on. And it is all focused around accelerating the journey to digital-ready.
How do these technical innovations translate into business initiatives? My prediction is that 2017 is the year of shifting from talking about digital-ready to implementing it. Networks will become more agile, and transform into a platform for innovation. And with that comes a responsibility to ensure the highest levels of security. Five key trends will drive this transformation:
1. Software Defined Networking will become the de facto standard, not just an ideal that we are all striving for. Building networks that can be automatically updated, configured and adapted is now necessary not a luxury. Networks simply can’t afford the days and weeks it takes to make manual CLI changes to individual devices when business requirements change at lightning speed. One click updates to whole ranges of devices is now possible with Cisco’s APIC-EM, and devices can be deployed virtually with eNFV. A bit like switching from sending letters to chatting on email, once you have experienced the power and speed of working in a new way, or seen others benefiting from it, there is no going back.
2. More and more organisations will start harnessing the power of the analytics in the network. To get the most out of your analytics you need complete visibility, not just sampled data. Only Cisco’s NetFlow gives that deep level of granular insight. It enables much faster troubleshooting, visibility of bottlenecks and opportunities for optimisation. And critically it enables the network to act as a sensor, so that it self-diagnoses when unexpected activity takes place, so it can be automatically isolated. Stopping potential hacking and malware in its tracks.
3. Using the network as a security sensor and enforcer will no longer be seen as optional. Having the strongest and smartest perimeter defences will always be extremely important to any organisations IT security. But to rely on that alone will no longer be considered enough. If your network has the power to self-monitor and diagnose, why would you not implement that as an additional layer of defence? It can only make you stronger, and more resilient. If your next network refresh cannot offer you that level of built-in security, is it really the right choice?
4. Coders will become the new networking gurus. Open APIs and the need for businesses to differentiate and innovate mean that there is so much more potential from your network than ever before. The Cisco DevNet Data Learning Platform (DLP) consists of a set of the most common open source and commercial tools for data transformation, data visualisation, and the code you need to build innovative, network-enabled solutions. Whether you’re automating network management or hooking up a zillion devices in an IoT app you can now innovate your network the way you need it to.
5. Everyone will be delivering delightful customer experiences. Today increasingly, in all walks of life, everything is about instant and immediate access to whatever you want, whenever you want it. From online shopping to box-set TV marathons. In 2017 finding ways to enhance your customer experience will no longer be a luxury. Guest WiFi access that flexes to meet demand, enabling smart navigation around your venue, or delivering personalised time and location sensitive notifications and offers are simply expected as a minimum level of customer service. In retail and hospitality to care services, education and office spaces, harnessing insights from the network about where people are and what they are doing, and then using that data and the network to deliver enhanced experiences will become a differentiator that no organisation can overlook in 2017.
My top prediction
It’s certainly going to be an exciting year to be running or managing a network. IT are the custodians of the foundations that keep every and all organisation running. Those IT teams that deliver the best innovation, agility and the utmost security will be the ones at the heart of the most successful businesses and organisations. Cisco DNA can give you the confidence that you will be able to deliver.
Will 2017 be your networking year of innovation and acceleration? We’ll be here to help you. To find out more or get started with any of the innovations mentioned contact us here.
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