Organizations around the world are preparing for a post-pandemic workplace by investing in networking technologies that support the changing needs of employees — and that’s having a profound impact on the network.

Recently, ZK Research conducted a Work From Anywhere Study. One of the questions asked if the COVID-19 pandemic had raised the value of the network and a whopping 58% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with that thesis. For many businesses, the network is the business — and the way it’s purchased, managed and deployed needs to change.

An interesting proof point of this comes from a global survey done by Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. company. The study contained responses from 2,400 information technology decision makers and found the adoption of cloud-based networking is expected to grow by nearly 40% within the next two years, as businesses adjust to the new normal. 

Traditional networks are managed by network engineers having to change each device one at a time. That creates long lead times for network changes. In fact, ZK Research has found that the average time it takes to implement a change networkwide is four months. That has never been ideal but never hurt the business.

Today, digital transformation is based on moving fast and that requires the network to be increasingly agile. The rise of software-defined networks allows for the control aspect of a network device to be decoupled from the hardware and moved into the cloud.

Another interesting finding from the Aruba study is that more and more companies are looking to shift procurement to a subscription-based, network-as-a-service model. NaaS allows remote workforces and related networks to be managed at a large scale without incurring additional costs. Providers have pushed the idea of NaaS for years, but it has been viewed by many as a solution looking for a problem.

It appears COVID-19 is the problem NaaS solves. The pandemic brings in a lot of uncertainty to the network, such as where workers connect from, how much bandwidth is needed and other factors that make replacement cycles unclear. NaaS lets customers buy the equipment, pay for it monthly and upgrade or downgrade when needed.

The survey found that IT services consumed via subscriptions will grow by 38% within the next two years. The number of companies that consume at least half of IT services via subscriptions is much higher – forecast to increase by 72%. Globally, 55% of IT decision-makers will explore new subscription models for hardware or software, while 53% will seek out managed services for turnkey hardware or software.

The managed-services element is ideal for technology transitions because the managed service provider can close the skills gap the customer may have when making the shift to new technology. Secure Access Service Edge, software-defined wide-area networks, Wi-Fi 6, AIOps and automation are all coming down the pipe, increasing the appeal of managed services.

Networking subscription models are more in demand in Asia Pacific countries (61%) than in the Americas (52%). Asia-Pacific also leads (45%) in increased investments in cloud-based networking. The AsiaPac interest in NaaS is driven by the fact the region tends to be more bandwidth-constrained than North America, so upgrades are more frequent.

Industries that are most likely to embrace subscription models include hotels and hospitality (66%), technology and telecom (58%) and education (57%). All of these industries put a premium on network services. In fact, it’s arguable that with these industries, the network is the business and competitive advantage is driven through networking — and the subscription nature of NaaS enables organizations to bring in innovative features faster.

IT leaders are particularly interested in better tools for network monitoring and insight, so they can troubleshoot networks more easily as demand grows with a distributed workforce. For that reason, 34% plan to boost their investments in analytics and assurance. 

I believe that’s an area where all businesses should be looking at investing more. The rise of network value means the long lead times to troubleshoot and find the source of problems no longer exists. One bad experience can lose a customer, so shifting to a proactive management model that can find problems before they hurt the business is critical.

Others are seeking innovative technologies that automate manual tasks and allow IT teams to focus on higher-level functions. The survey found artificial intelligence automation is on the rise. In fact, 35% of IT leaders worldwide plan to allocate their funds to AI-based networking technologies. AI will be the biggest “game changer” in networking since the birth of networks.

Networks generate massive amounts of data – far too much for people to analyze manually. Machines can see things – even tiny anomalies that can be used to optimize application performance or find breaches – much faster than people. Some network pros still view AI as the enemy but it’s really the engineer’s best friend.

Most of the surveyed organizations (74%) feel COVID-19 has had a moderate to significant impact on their employees and their short-term network investments. Since COVID-19 began, 77% of the respondents postponed networking projects and only 28% have cancelled projects altogether.

I understand the rationale as the business climate is uncertain, but delaying or canceling network projects is short-sighted. Digital businesses are network-centric and companies should be investing in the network now best to position themselves as we start to return to “normal.”

The post-pandemic workplace will likely be a hybrid of employees moving between home and office, as well as permanent teleworkers. Organizations need more flexible solutions designed for complex, distributed networks. Network-as-as-service purchasing models can let companies buy what they need today and let companies scale up or down as the work environment changes. 

It was Charles Darwin who said it’s not the strongest that survive but the species most adaptable to change. In the business world, agility is the key, and NaaS brings purchasing agility to network services. The ultimate goal is to create an environment in which people can work successfully regardless of their location, and that requires a rethink of the way we manage and purchase network infrastructure and services.

Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting. He wrote this article for SiliconANGLE.

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