Networking is one of the pillars in the IT world, because it supports the infrastructure, allows the exchange of all the data necessary for the business, both inside and outside the company, and enables the creation and adoption of new solutions. You can easily understand how networking is a delicate area, complex and constantly evolving. However, what we are witnessing in many companies is the obstinacy to a traditional approach to networking that is now limiting and not very effective. This article lists the main challenges of a traditional approach to networking in the modern era and gives some suggestions for adopting a different approach and for structuring effective network governance.
The challenges of traditional networking in the modern era
Going into the merits of the main challenges that customers face every day in the networking field we find:
- an increase in complexity and management effort: the rapid proliferation of cloud environments, of mobile devices and the IoT has effectively eroded the boundaries of modern networks, making them more difficult to manage and more vulnerable;
- expansion of the attack surface: in this regard, the question to which it is advisable to be able to answer is «how is it possible to guarantee effective network protection without interfering with the growth and fluctuations of workloads in cloud and multi-cloud environments?»;
- fragmented and inconsistent visibility and integration between local data centers and cloud environments: adding isolated monofunctional network products to deal with communication problems increases the complexity, IT staff costs and workload;
- changes in branch office connectivity: the trend of corporate realities, geographically distributed, sees the replacement of expensive MPLS connections with more affordable direct Internet connections, but which do not always allow to reach the same levels of quality and performance.
All of this translates into specific critical points that I have encountered with our customers over time:
- High costs and a lot of complexity
- Many network solution vendors with poor integration
- Too many alerts with slow and manual responses
- Lack of properly trained internal IT personnel
Adopting a modern approach to networking
In the light of these considerations, it becomes essential to adopt a modern approach to networking able to better face all these challenges, going to reduce complexity and improve efficiency. Identify and implement network architectures designed for digital transformation must occur through:
- A networking based on security which guarantees and speeds up the network and user experience.
- A dynamic and transversal management of any environment to secure and control on-premises infrastructure and applications, in hybrid environments and public clouds.
- Integrated solutions to connect the components of the entire network infrastructure, helping organizations adapt to a changing and increasingly challenging environment.
- A monitored and controlled ecosystem to detect and respond to malfunctions, to security threats and to optimize operations, lightening the workload on staff.
How to structure networking governance
In the context of IT governance, it certainly deserves a dedicated chapter network governance which must contemplate a set of processes through which it is possible to guarantee an organization a effective and efficient use of IT resources in the networking field, in order to achieve their goals.
Network governance must also include the application of:
- controls that help the company mitigate risk and create “guardrails”
- measurements to check for potential problems
The main disciplines that emerge in the Network Governance are:
- Compliance and security baseline
- Vulnerability management
- Identity management and access control
- Acceleration, control and consistency in the deployment and change processes of network solutions
- Optimization and efficiency of wired and wireless networks
Importantly, all of this needs to be done for IT resources in scope networking in any environment, both on-premise and in cloud and multi-cloud realities with a structured approach, consolidated and holistic.
Microsoft, also in this area, offers different tools and solutions that allow you to face the challenge of network governance in the Azure environment, to which it is necessary to support experience to implement consolidated and reliable processes.
Conclusions
In recent years, the adoption of hybrid architectures has attracted considerable interest from many companies, attracted by the possibilities offered and the benefits. In order to best create these environments and promote innovation, it is also essential to adapt the approach to the use of network resources and extend the governance processes of the IT environment to the networking area.
