The technology landscape is operating at a speed of innovation faster than anything we have experienced before. As a result, enterprises are finding it difficult to remain competitive and are seeking ways to stay ahead.

Enhancing agility, speed, productivity and resilience is essential. To do this, leaders must evaluate the gaps in their business to discern where they can make improvements—and networks are no exception.

Network transformation is at the center of digitization initiatives—and might be the key to successfully navigating evolving business needs. In this article, I’ll explore what enterprises need to succeed in this process.

Defining Network Transformation

Network transformation is the process of fundamentally altering an organization’s network infrastructure to better serve its evolving business and technology needs. This transformation can involve changes in network architecture, technologies, protocols, hardware and software to make the network more agile, efficient and adaptable.

While many enterprises are grappling with the need to undergo a network transformation, most lack a strong roadmap. A successful journey starts with clearly defining the business goals to understand what the organization wants to achieve. Whether the goal is to improve performance, enhance security or enable new capabilities, identifying specific, measurable, achievable and relevant goals is essential.

For any successful network transformation, regulatory compliance, performance monitoring and continuous improvement are key elements to include in your roadmap.

Once the organization has outlined its goals, the next step is choosing the right technologies for the business-specific needs. Examples include technologies such as SD-WAN, virtualization and cloud services—with each of these, scalability should be at the core.

However, the question remains: Why is it essential for modern enterprises to undergo a network transformation?

Before leaders can truly embark on this journey, they must understand the industry drivers.

Digital Transformation

Organizations undergoing digital transformation initiatives need agile and adaptive networks to support the integration of new technologies, applications, and services. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the gaps in remote infrastructure but also exemplified how quickly innovation can be sparked in emergency scenarios.

The continued need for secure remote access to business applications and corporate networks has fueled network transformation needs. Because enterprises recognize the competitive advantage of digital transformation, network requirements and IT architectures have come increasingly into focus.

Cloud Computing

My organization’s research shows that big telcos will spend, on average, $1 billion each on network cloud transformation in the next few years, with 46% of telco network capacity projected to be entirely cloud native in the next three to five years.

The growing shift toward cloud-based services and applications demands networks that can efficiently connect users to cloud resources, requiring greater bandwidth, reliability and scalability. Enterprises that begin this process now, otherwise known as early adopters, will reap the most benefits from a financial, business and sustainability perspective.

Growth Of IoT devices

Data is essential to the modern technology landscape, and mobile networks enable the transmission of data across cell phones and IoT devices. The increasing ownership of IoT devices is a major driver of network transformation, as the applications on these devices require functionality and complex network setups.

These devices require flexible, low-latency, high-capacity and high-speed connectivity to collect data as efficiently and effectively as possible. Perfecting your organization’s network transformation in the era of IoT devices will unlock significant customer experience (CX) benefits.

Security

The evolving threat landscape requires more sophisticated and resilient network security measures. Businesses that suffer a cybersecurity breach not only risk the private and confidential information of employees and customers but also have the potential to do irreparable damage to their reputation.

A successful network transformation puts cybersecurity at the forefront and includes the integration of robust security protocols and features to protect against cyber threats.

Bandwidth, Performance And CX

Customer experience is key to a successful brand strategy—meaning that performance is of the utmost importance. Users expect seamless, fast and reliable connectivity. Network transformation aims to improve the overall customer experience by delivering better performance, responsiveness, and quality of service.

For example, network function virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) allow for more flexible, scalable and cost-effective network management. The explosive growth of data traffic—driven by the proliferation of connected devices, IoT, video streaming and other bandwidth-intensive applications—necessitates network enhancements and optimizations.

Cost Efficiency

Undergoing a major business transformation can be costly, and many leaders may be evaluating whether this process is good for their bottom line.

Though upfront costs can be daunting at first glance, virtualization and automation technologies contribute to cost efficiency in the long run by reducing the reliance on expensive hardware, optimizing resource utilization and enabling more efficient network management.

Compliance And Regulations

Though many organizations have begun to embark on their network transformation proactively, others are up against evolving requirements facing their organization.

Similar to many other digitization initiatives, changes in regulatory environments may necessitate network transformations to ensure compliance with new standards and regulations.

Embracing The Network Transformation Journey

The push toward improved networks is not slowing down. In fact, it is only becoming more vital.

There are many benefits to be considered, such as improved performance, enhanced scalability and security, cost efficiency and simplified management, but there are also barriers that can sink a network transformation initiative.

The complexity of this process is a major challenge. If your organization’s existing technology is not up to standards, it can lead to integration issues and roadblocks undergoing a successful data migration. From an organizational perspective, change management and skills gaps within your existing workforce will make training and upskilling initiatives an essential investment.

Uprooting and rebuilding a core component of your organization is never an easy task, especially when considering an element as complex as networks. Despite the challenges, leaders will soon be faced with the growing pressure to transform their organization’s network to further innovation.

Leaders who understand the drivers of network transformation will be better equipped to begin their journey.