Don’t let NetOps “gotchas” derail your digital transformation
Over
the
past
few
years,
technological
and
business
advancements
have
created
increasingly
grand
expectations.
Your
customers
expect
an
“always
on”
experience.
(Today,
you
can
also
add
“always
fast,”
“always
intuitive,”
“always
successful,”
and
so
on.
Over
the
past
few
years,
technological
and
business
advancements
have
created
increasingly
grand
expectations.
Your
customers
expect
an
“always
on”
experience.
(Today,
you
can
also
add
“always
fast,”
“always
intuitive,”
“always
successful,”
and
so
on.)
Fundamentally,
if
customers
find
it
too
difficult
to
engage
digitally
with
your
business,
they’ll
engage
elsewhere.
Digital
transformation:
The
implications
for
network
operations
Meeting
heightened
customer
expectations
is
basically
what
digital
transformation
is
all
about.
In
the
race
to
meet
these
expectations,
speed
innovation,
and
stay
competitive,
organizations
continue
to
adopt
transformational
technologies
and
services,
such
as
cloud
offerings,
SaaS,
SD-WAN,
and
more.
However,
by
adopting
these
approaches,
network
operations
(NetOps)
teams
have
to
contend
with
some
fundamentally
different
requirements
and
challenges.
In
the
past,
organizations
like
yours
had
data
centers
and
remote
offices,
which
were
all
connected
via
a
network
your
teams
owned
and
managed.
Your
NetOps
teams
had
full
visibility
and
control;
they
knew
every
packet,
route,
and
device
on
the
network.
Today,
your
NetOps
teams
are
contending
with
a
completely
different
paradigm.
Now,
critical
services
are
fundamentally
reliant
upon
networks
that
the
NetOps
team
doesn’t
own,
manage,
or
have
visibility
into.
The
result
is
that
NetOps
teams
contend
with
more
complexity,
while
their
ability
to
meet
their
charters
erodes.
According
to
recent
research,
74%
of
enterprises
are
planning
to
deploy
10
or
more
new
network
technologies
over
the
next
two
years.
In
addition,
81%
currently
report
they
have
network
monitoring
blind
spots.
Another
report
found
that
between
2018
and
2022,
the
percentage
of
NetOps
teams
that
are
successful
with
their
overall
missions
has
declined
from
47%
to
27%.
Why
is
NetOps
getting
so
difficult,
and
how
can
you
beat
these
odds?
Keep
reading.
Broadcom
The
advantages
and
NetOps
obstacles
of
transformation
The
adoption
of
SD-WAN,
cloud,
and
SaaS,
and
the
widespread
reality
of
hybrid
work
have
completely
changed
NetOps.
While
each
innovative
approach
offers
advantages,
it
also
introduces
NetOps
challenges.
Public
cloud
Public
cloud
services
are
popular
because
they
offer
organizations
flexibility,
lower
costs,
and
more
rapid
deployments.
But
these
services
present
entirely
different
traffic
patterns
than
those
of
the
past.
The
reliance
upon
external,
third-party
networks
presents
significant
blind
spots.
This
results
in
lengthy
troubleshooting
times,
increased
operations
costs,
and
greater
risk
of
user
experience
issues.
SD-WAN
Similarly,
the
adoption
of
SD-WAN
presents
both
advantages
and
challenges.
These
technologies
can
give
the
business
a
more
secure
and
cost-effective
highway
to
the
cloud.
However,
SD-WAN
can
also
leave
already-stretched
NetOps
teams
contending
with
tens
of
thousands
of
new
events
and
alarms.
Further,
SD-WAN
vendors
don’t
offer
coverage
of
cloud
networks,
your
data
centers,
or
the
Wi-Fi
networks
work-from-home
users
rely
upon.
SaaS
Replacing
legacy
apps
with
SaaS
can
provide
an
array
of
benefits,
including
reduced
infrastructure
and
operational
costs.
However,
you
also
lose
visibility
and
control
when
your
users
start
relying
on
apps
that
are
running
outside
your
data
center.
Work-from-home
models
The
move
to
hybrid
and
work-from-home
models
provides
many
advantages,
enabling
employees
to
be
productive,
no
matter
where
they
may
be.
However,
without
a
way
to
gain
insights
into
the
ISP
and
local
Wi-Fi
networks
users
rely
upon,
your
NetOps
teams
have
no
way
to
spot
and
preempt
potential
issues.
They’re
stuck
reacting
to
problems
after
the
fact,
and
the
business
is
saddled
with
diminished
productivity.
Conclusion
Don’t
let
the
“gotchas”
of
digital
transformation
get
you.
Make
sure
your
digital
transformation
plans
include
a
plan
for
NetOps
transformation.
It
is
only
by
gaining
visibility
and
control
of
modern,
hybrid
network
ecosystems
that
you
can
safeguard
service
levels
and
maximize
the
potential
of
your
transformations.
To
learn
more
about
Experience-Driven
NetOps,
visit
Broadcom.
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