Key Points:
- If workloads are coming home, they need a place to stay and hallways to roam around in the middle of the night. Our own research indicates a significant rise (from 13% in 2021 to 50% in 2024) of organizations that have or plan to repatriate workloads. ??
- Both storage and database workloads were the top workloads moving from the public cloud to a data center near you. Because of the reliance of AI on that data, the return of data-related workloads to the data center is indicative of future AI workloads—in the data center.
- Strategic control points are those locations within the network architecture where services can be inserted to control traffic for purposes of scale and security. And just as important as identifying those control points is recognizing that traffic flows are going to be bi-directional.
- Some of those control points will require a service capable of managing and securing outbound traffic. And not the ‘URL filtering/web content’ kind of capabilities. This is more along the lines of API security turned inside-out.
- AI is disruptive in every sense of the word. It’s changing industries, it’s changing jobs, it’s changing expectations, and it’s changing the network. When we talk about digital transformation and the need to modernize enterprise architecture, we call out the importance of its most foundational component: infrastructure.
- It’s time to engage in some network planning exercises before it's overwhelmed with workloads and new traffic requirements that existing network infrastructure can't handle.
You already know that every day at Network Computing brings the how and why behind next-gen networks, data centers, storage systems, communications, and cloud architecture.
That means original reporting from our team of journalists and unique commentary you won’t see anywhere else! But in case you missed them, here are some of our other must-read favorites from this week:
The Future of AI in the Workplace
Key Points:
- HP just published its second annual Work Relationship Index (WRI) report. It’s based on a survey of more than 15,000 workers from 12 countries, from Australia to the United States. The survey includes 12,000 knowledge workers (1,000 from each country), 2,400 IT decision-makers (200 from each country), and 1,200 business leaders (100 from each country).
- AI usage has “exploded,” which could be vital to driving a better relationship with work while unlocking a personalized work experience for knowledge workers. But it’s also concerning for workers.
- Beginning with some not-so-great news: Only 28% of global knowledge workers say they have a healthy relationship with work. That’s up just one point from 2023. India had the highest score in this area (50%) in 2023 and again this year. However, the country’s score declined to 46% in 2024.
- Expectations and fears about AI aren't improving among those not using it. One issue is not knowing when to use AI at work. That’s concerning for 55% of knowledge workers, 48% of business leaders, and 52% of IT decision-makers.
Inside MEF's Enterprise Leadership Council (ELC)
Key Points:
- Enterprises are on the cusp of having several new choices in global connectivity services, including enhanced SD-WAN, SASE, and Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) offerings. MEF’s approach goes beyond ensuring bare-bones interoperable connectivity. It's going deeper into the back offices, into the provisioning, into the automation of services.
- Last year, MEF formed the Enterprise Leadership Council (ELC), which provides input to MEF on key initiatives and projects.
- The ELC was formed last year with four founding members and, since then, has grown to twelve members that represent various industry verticals such as Entertainment, Financial services, Banking, Retail, Technology, Healthcare, and Consulting.
- “My vision for developing MEF's enterprise program is to enable enterprises to collectively express their requirements and work together on important initiatives with decision-makers and technology experts from key stakeholder communities such as technology providers, cloud providers, and service providers on our industry’s one-of-a-kind, non-profit, independent MEF platform," says
Sunil Khandekar
,
MEF Forum
Chief Enterprise Development Officer.
What's the PLAN for Broadband?
Key Points:
- Politicians hope the Proper Leadership to Align Networks (PLAN) for Broadband Act, if implemented, will help enterprises, states, overlooked rural areas, and small businesses looking to expand their business opportunities in a burgeoning broadband economy.
- The bipartisan PLAN ACT would require the Biden administration to develop a national strategy to close the digital divide and a plan to implement that strategy. The 133 funding attempts are the products of entities attempting for years to close the digital divide by providing Internet for all.
- Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the heads of the covered agencies, must develop and submit a plan to the appropriate committees of Congress, a National Strategy to Close the Digital Divide, according to the bill.
- The challenges faced by the PLAN Act underscore the importance of IT departments keeping an eye on emerging bills that could change the way they view broadband evolution, network expansion, and timing for expanding business operations.
Catching the Drift
Key Points:
- Configuration drift creates significant vulnerabilities and is a frequent cause of security breaches and outages. As such, preventing it is critical to network and security operations teams.
- The problem is that networks are rarely static, and the modern hybrid multi-cloud enterprise network consists of thousands of devices (routers, firewalls, switches) and billions of lines of code.
- “Drift” happens when gradual changes cause the network to “drift” away from the prescribed configuration, introducing risks to security and performance over time. One team might implement changes that other teams are unaware of, complicating troubleshooting when network issues arise, and each update represents an opportunity for human error that takes the network out of compliance.
- Network digital twins regularly collect state and configuration data from every device on the network to create a virtual, accurate copy of the network, capable of tracing every potential path a packet can take.
Commentary of the Week
Key Points:
- Imagine a new generation of spatial computing products that are unintrusive (think Apple Vision Pro shrunk down to the form factor of ordinary glasses) and that help you navigate the physical world in a way that connects you to your surroundings rather than causing isolation.
- In the early days of the Internet, centralized servers handled all traffic. Scaling a website meant buying more and bigger servers. This first internet epoch ended with the move away from this monolithic model to one using less expensive, distributed servers and software to optimize web traffic.
- We can’t expect a centralized data center model—one that was intended for the original web and cloud services of the 2000s—to withstand the forthcoming unfathomable strain that will come with AI alone, not to mention spatial computing devices, smart vehicles, and even normal data growth.
- Ultimately, highly distributed computing will be so ubiquitous that it will be transparent to users. But without the move to distributed computing infrastructure, the constraints of today’s architecture will soon become apparent—disrupting our digital lives and limiting the possibilities of emerging technology.
Latest Major Tech Layoff Announcements
Original Story by Jessica C. Davis, Updated by Brandon Taylor
Key Points:
- As COVID drove everyone online, tech companies hired like crazy. Now we are hitting the COVID tech bust as tech giants shed jobs by the thousands.
- Updated September 28, 2024 with layoff announcements from Northvolt, Drata, Moov, and IBM.
- Check back regularly for updates to InformationWeek's IT job layoffs tracker.
WATCH ON-DEMAND!
“How to Make Network Management Easier in 2024-25”
A LIVE virtual event on September 19:
As enterprise networks become more complex and demands increase, strained networking teams need as much help as they can get, improving efficiency, maintaining performance, sustaining security, and ensuring that staff aren't burned out.
In this event, learn what tools, technologies, techniques, and skills can help your team bear the weight of these demands.
In this event we’ll discuss:
? Ways that shifting network management into the cloud, via network-as-a-service (NaaS), can make life easier.
? NaaS fundamentals and how to determine if it's the right option for your business.
? Tools available like Automation and AI and how to make the most of them.
Our featured keynote speakers were:
Our featured panelists were:
This virtual event was moderated by:
- Steven Hill - Independent Analyst - Data Center Technologies at ToneCurve Technology, LLC
Network Computing's 2024 State of Networking Report
Networking budgets remain strong, with priorities centered on network security, network monitoring/observability, and network resiliency.
Download this Network Computing research report today which explores the current state of network management priorities, practices, challenges, and investments. Learn how the IT leaders responsible for architecting and managing enterprise networks are adapting for the future.
In spite of some economic headwinds and tech industry layoffs, the prognosis for network spending is still quite strong. The 2024 annual state of network management survey found that security, network monitoring, and network resiliency continue to be the focus of network spending and management priorities.
- Over half of organizations reported that they increased their spending on networking in the past twelve months.
- Network spending will likely remain strong through 2025, with 85% of organizations planning to increase or maintain the same level of spending next year.
- While a significant portion of network spending is allocated to keeping the lights on, more than one-third of existing budgets are dedicated to investing in new technologies and innovation.
- Many of the investment and management priorities in 2024 are focused on security, network monitoring and observability, and network resiliency.
- New technologies like SD-WAN, Zero Trust network access, cloud-based security and services (SASE), and Wi-Fi 6 are among the budgeted technologies for organizations surveyed.
This is just a taste of what’s going on. If you want the whole scoop, then register for one of our email newsletters,?but only if you’re going to read it.?We want to improve the sustainability of editorial operations, so we don’t want to send you newsletters that are just going to sit there unopened. If you're a subscriber already, please make sure Mimecast and other inbox bouncers know that we’re cool and they should let us through.
Our bi-weekly LinkedIn newsletters arrive on Saturdays, so keep your eyes peeled for the top stories you may have missed between now and then.
