Enterprise networking sees age of SASE and network as a service

The rapid shift to cloud services and the complexity in dealing with the a hybrid workforce have changed how modern IT leaders view network and security, and network and security leaders must investing in both application performance and security, according to the latest edition of the annual Enterprise network transformation report from Aryaka.

The study from the managed SD-WAN and unified SASE solutions company was compiled from a survey of more than 230 C-level, vice-president and director-level leaders at global enterprises in network and security roles. It set out to uncover the priorities, challenges and opportunities that these leaders plan to address in the coming year.

The main context of the trends uncovered by Aryaka in the report was that an uncertain economy is affecting network and security team investments, but CIOs, CISOs and IT leaders were doubling down on investment in the cloud.

It also revealed that network as a service (NaaS), the continued decline of multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and a need to consolidate a sprawling supplier stack was forcing legacy telcos to lose their long-time stranglehold on the enterprise network. However, Aryaka noted that NaaS was not only emerging, but “exploding on the scene” as one of the only viable solutions for IT leaders to solve the growing complexity of an anytime, anywhere world.

Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, 98% of those surveyed indicated they plan to increase their investment in cloud services, said Aryaka, which counters the narrative of a “technology slowdown” and instead indicates that IT leaders are shifting from traditional IT to the cloud.

This is aligned with the workforce’s adoption of hybrid and remote models along with the continued need for networks to connect people, applications and enterprises to datacentres, edge devices and cloud infrastructure.

Furthermore, 94% of respondents believed secure access service edge (SASE) solutions will play a larger role in their networking and security plans, while 62% planned to eliminate MPLS from their operations.

Aryaka added that the findings underline that enterprise leaders see networking and security as vital to their organisations’ long-term success, with 47% of survey respondents indicating they plan to accelerate cloud and network services adoption despite current economic conditions.

These executives, it said, recognise the critical need for ongoing cloud investments, hybrid work and better application performance and security, while anticipating the decline of MPLS and the arrival of NaaS as a key long-term investment.

“In this current era of uncertainty, chaos and unprecedented times, one of the consistencies we are seeing is that businesses need to be flexible, adaptable and ready for anything,” said Matt Carter, Aryaka CEO.

“Our report indicates that the vast majority of CIOs, CISOs and IT leaders are preparing for this uncertainty by investing in and adopting architecture, policies and technologies that converge networking and security, as these disciplines are critical to business success.”