From incorporating cloud services to keeping the hybrid workforce humming, network execs and architects face myriad challenges every day.
The main goals of large organizations are to prioritize those challenges, adjust the network architecture to handle widely distributed applications, services and users, and keep corporate resources secure, according to Neil Anderson, area vice president with World Wide Technology, a $14.5 billion global technology services provider.
The pandemic exposed weaknesses in the ability of traditional network architectures to support distributed employees at scale, and while organizations managed through the crisis with quick-fix solutions like remote access VPN, it's become clear that fundamental changes to the architecture are needed for long-term success, Anderson stated.
"What's happening with automation is that we're moving into a new phase of SDN. The first phase was kind of proprietary, in that Cisco works with Cisco, Aruba works with Aruba, for example," Anderson said. "And I think customers experimented with that. They certainly took advantage of the benefits SDN offers, including programmability."
