Network upgrades you should consider in 2021

As 2020 winds down and the new year dawns, it provides a perfect moment to look forward to a hopefully happier and more peaceful future. It’s also a good time to review your existing network resources and identify where improvements can be made to improve service, performance, security, innovation, and other essential features and attributes.

Quality and collaboration

Ed Fox, CTO of telecommunications services provider MetTel, said that in 2021, end users will continue to demand more bandwidth, better Wi-Fi and improved quality of experience (QoE). "IT teams will need to adapt to these demands or risk alienating their user base," he said, noting that employees in 2020 became very efficient and productive working from home. "Now IT departments must find ways to make working in the office more like working at home," said Ed Fox. He predicted that collaboration tools and desktop/laptop softphones will create a unique environment in the office. "Those leaders who make the necessary shifts early in 2021 will be the winners."

Double down on safety

As threats continue to grow and evolve, many of the most critical network investments in 2021 will be security-related. "From DDOS mitigation to multi-factor authentication to IPsec, security investments come in countless forms," ​​said Ali Marashi, CTO and senior vice president of engineering at vXchnge, a coworking services provider. "Think of cybersecurity as an ongoing journey rather than a single event or annual checklist," he advised. Marashi added that security assessments should coincide with every new development or change to the network to mitigate the risk of exposure.

Improve your team's coding skills

Josh Hoium, director of global network communications engineering at Liberty Mutual Insurance and former director of engineering at Target, advises that every network engineer needs to start developing coding skills, whether it's Python, Ansible, or another coding language, to stay competitive and reduce time to market. He notes that having a network engineering team learn how to code is a big commitment. "It's a big investment in your team and there's usually some initial resistance," Hoium explains. "Don't expect to change overnight." It's important to remember that in today's competitive marketplace, businesses win or lose through their digital experiences.

Embracing AI and ML

If they haven’t already, network leaders should start leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies. These tools are critical to improving network efficiency and reliability, and preparing for the growing connectivity demands that come with emerging services and applications, advises Chris Bastian, CTO and senior vice president of engineering at SCTE-ISBE, the cable telecommunications industry association.

Network devices generate a vast amount of data, much of which today sits unanalyzed or unapplied. At the same time, networks continue to become more complex and critical to day-to-day operations. "AI and ML algorithms can automate the process of mining these vast amounts of data to detect and resolve correctable incidents, often before users even realize there is a problem," Bastian explained.

AI and ML tools can also have a substantial positive impact on network reliability, which directly impacts end-user QoE. "Enterprises that don't prioritize improving their networks put customer satisfaction and even employee retention at risk," Bastian warned.

It's important to shop AI and ML tools and services carefully to ensure the chosen technology matches the specific needs of the business, Bastien advises. The technology also needs to be deployed correctly. "Data sets should be cleansed and validated before they are analyzed, and even then, be cognizant of false correlations," Bastien cautions. "IT leaders should also get used to working closely with other business units to help determine what can be gleaned from automated reporting," he adds.

Consider deploying a hybrid cloud

Byron Chance, senior network engineer at IT support and services company Guardian Computer, observed that hybrid cloud infrastructure allows enterprises to address issues related to exponential data growth while also prioritizing privacy, security and compliance. He noted that hybrid cloud infrastructure combines public and private clouds, making it easier to connect multiple devices, consolidate IT resources, create tools to manage multiple clouds, and share information between different environments.

For best performance, hybrid cloud networks should combine tools and policies that view the network as a whole, rather than separate parts. "Remember that you have less control over the security of your information in a public cloud than you do in a private cloud.