Want to see what the future of networking looks like? Just look up. Advances in cloud computing are making networking more secure, mobile-oriented, application intelligent, and optimized.

From AI, to the rise of IoT (Internet of Things) and SDN (software-defined networking), businesses should be prepared for dramatic changes in how networks will be shaping their IT departments and beyond.

Making informed decisions with AI

AI enables organizations to collect, analyze, and process huge data sets that not so long ago would have been insurmountable. Aside from improving the employee experience, AI and machine learning can help handle everything from policy setting and network control to security. By combining huge amounts of human-supplied data with the power of AI, it’s possible to leverage analytics to gather insights that help network managements move from reactive to proactive. Nowhere will this be more valuable than in security, managing threats by processing and analyzing millions of data points at incredibly high speeds.

The autonomous network

A network environment that requires nominal manual intervention to configure, monitor, and maintain can greatly benefit IT. Human traffic rerouting, outage prevention, fault detection, and other management tasks are being replaced by networks that can self-correct and make optimal independent decisions. This autonomy will greatly increase cost efficiency and save countless work hours that used to be spent keeping a network operating like a well-oiled machine. For end users, there’s better response rates and lower turnaround times. Perhaps most exciting of all: significant movement towards real-time IT in every sense.

IoT device management

As more devices are connected with the aim of gathering and sharing data, the IoT will continue to expand its reach into businesses, homes, and other environments. As businesses adopt IoT technology, IT departments are better equipped to gain insights regarding the organization’s entire ecosystem. However, as technology evolves, the IoT ecosystem itself grows more complex, with the number of connected devices increasing. Device management makes managing, monitoring, and updating devices easier and businesses will see enhanced productivity, reduced downtime and, perhaps most importantly, minimized operational and maintenance costs.

Software defined networks

The evolution of the internet has created a revolution in the digital world we now live in. SDN is a new way of implementing computing on the broadest scale of infrastructure. With almost everything connected and accessible from anywhere, SDN has, due to its flexibility and programmability, become the technological focus. At its core, SDN dramatically intensifies the processing ability of servers, allowing IT to create cost-effective, robust network services tailored to individual needs, a boon to a remote work environment. As with most innovations, there are challenges, but SDN architectures offer an exciting future for security, scalability, and performance.

As the world moves ever closer to a completely connected world with the IoT, smart cities, and flexible work environments, IT has the opportunity to be a part of a network revolution that creates new business models across all industries. Those companies that invest now and capitalize on machine learning and network automation management stand to reap the benefits the fastest.