Enterprise Network Security: Is Your Business Protected?

Today’s enterprises rely on their networks for operational success, productivity, and resilience. The rise of remote work and data-intensive applications has created an even greater demand for high-speed, secure, and scalable networks from the core to the edge and the cloud.

A well-maintained network provides seamless connectivity, strengthens cybersecurity, and supports innovation. If your users keep pointing to your network as a problem, it’s time to reassess and prioritize your networking initiatives.

Networking In The News: Acquisitions, Automation, And NaaS

First, consider the networking landscape. Which networking news items have caught your attention lately? Several news items and trends to monitor include:

• Cisco’s acquisition of Splunk. The deal will enable Cisco to make the most of Splunk’s AI and observability capabilities to improve security and network visibility. Stay tuned for more news from Cisco about the acquisition at Cisco Live in June.

• HPE’s acquisition of Juniper. Announced in January 2024, the $14 billion acquisition would double HPE’s networking footprint in terms of size and customer base. This will position HPE to go toe-to-toe with Cisco in the core data center routing and switching space. We’ll see how the potential tool overlap plays out, especially on the wireless side between HPE Aruba Networking and Juniper Mist.

• Network automation. Conversations with Sayers customers confirm that networking teams – and infrastructure teams in general – are running leaner than ever. Automation is key to helping them do more with less. 

According to Gartner research, enterprises still perform more than 65% of their networking activities manually. Network automation can fill that gap with technologies to manage device configuration and updates at scale, as well as create event-driven workflows that connect automation tools. Karen Brown, Director Analyst at Gartner, says:

“By 2026, 30% of enterprises will automate more than half of their network activities, an increase from less than 10% of enterprises in early 2023.”

• Network-as-a-service (NaaS) market. Network services such as Wide Area Network or Local Area Network offered on a subscription basis enable organizations to operate business services without investing in network infrastructure. 

According to research by MarketsandMarkets, the global NaaS market is expected to be worth USD 46.6 billion by 2027, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 28.7% during the forecast period (2022-2027).  

Networking tends to be more complicated in the cloud than on traditional legacy networks. NaaS platforms are particularly helpful for enterprise and large commercial organizations to simplify the overall management and administration of multi-cloud and multi-region cloud networking.

What’s Driving Enterprise Networking Investments?

What’s driving network investment this year and into the future? For starters:

• Business resiliency
• Data center build-outs and migrations
• Data center expansion or consolidation from mergers and acquisitions or corporate real estate lease decisions 
• Gen AI readiness
• Multi-cloud networking
• Technical refreshes

During the COVID pandemic, many companies focused on enabling work from home and cut back or paused other network investments. This created technical debt and obsolescence, notably on the wired or wireless networking side. 

Network and infrastructure teams are still running lean, which has caused network projects, maintenance, and upgrades to fall behind. Mark McCully, Director of Modern Data Center Engineering at Sayers, says:

“Lead times for networking gear have decreased compared to even a year ago. Network staff augmentation and managed networking services such as those offered by Sayers can help push specific projects forward, perform maintenance and upgrades, and be boots on the ground from an architectural standpoint and hands-on perspective.” 

Enterprises Rely On An Increasing Range Of Networking Capabilities

No longer viewed as a silo, networking has blended with other areas such as security, infrastructure, and platform engineering. Recent customer networking projects with Sayers have spanned a variety of areas including:

• Authentication
• Automation
• Core routing and switching
• Data center build-outs, migrations, or consolidations
• DNS, DHCP, and IP address management – network connectivity services known collectively as DDI
• Extranet-as-a-service and Network-as-a-service
• LAN / WAN design and implementation
• Observability methodologies such as Network Performance Management (NPM), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM), and Network Detection And Response (NDR)
• Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
• Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) and next-generation firewalls
• Staff augmentation and managed networking
• Storage area networks
• Wired and wireless design and implementation, including those driven by new Wi-Fi protocols such as 6E and 7
• Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Networking initiatives including a systems assessment and a new public Wi-Fi network have enabled the Lincoln Park Zoo to stabilize and secure the entire infrastructure, enrich the visitor experience, and improve customer engagement. Rena Solano, Chief Financial Officer at the Lincoln Park Zoo, says: 

“We no longer are worried about network-wide outages. We have stability throughout the network and, when there is an issue, the team is quickly able to identify and resolve it.”

Extranet-As-A-Service Platform Simplifies Multi-Cloud Networking

As a private network, your corporate extranet allows trusted third-party companies such as suppliers and partners to connect to your business in a secure, controlled fashion.

Extranet-as-a-service (EaaS) helps simplify the setup and operations of your extranet. The software service securely interconnects multiple companies so they can more easily share data between them using cloud services. 

EaaS can extend segmentation to internal and external users, integrate third-party virtual network functions, and quickly enable multi-cloud networking. 

Roland Olczak, Senior Network Engineer at Sayers, says:

“As companies move to the cloud, they start to take on many of the cloud-native constructs and complexities of connectivity to the cloud. With extranet-as-a-service, you can essentially treat extranet connectivity as a plug-and-play that helps alleviate a lot of those complexities for seamless multi-cloud networking.”

The Alkira EaaS platform, for example, can stand up a secure connection to shared application services the same day with the click of a button. Aimed at enterprise and large commercial organizations, the platform unilaterally applies uniform segmentation and policies across various partners accessing the same shared application services.

Next Steps In Improving Your Network

Concerned about your network stability, security, or obsolescence? Ask these questions about your organization’s networking:

• From automation to ZTNA, what network initiatives have you considered? Do you need help with design and/or implementation? 
• What vendors are you using for your core routing and switching? For wireless? How happy are you with those vendors? 
• Do you have equipment that’s approaching end of life or end of support? 
• What providers and platforms are you using for WAN or cloud connectivity and management? Have you implemented SD-WAN and/or SASE? 
• Do you need to simplify your cloud networking administration? Have you considered network-as-a-service and extranet-as-a-service offerings?
• Are you short-staffed or specifically in need of network engineers? Network staff augmentation or managed network services can include project-based support, an allotment of engineering hours, a virtual network architect, or customized managed network services.

Questions? Contact us at Sayers today and take advantage of a free half-day or full-day networking in-service assessment. Examples include an overall network maturity assessment, gap analysis, SD-WAN / SASE readiness, or a network automation workshop.

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