Others have their foundation in security and have supplemented with SD-WAN/networking. SD-WAN is a perfect example of security-driven networking, where having security in place as a foundation allows the network to scale and change withoutcompromising security. A small number offer SASE from the ground up. SASE delivers capabilities based on the identity of a user, its real-time context, security, and compliance polices. 

This fits well with the shifting focus to remote working and managing large numbers of users and uncontrolled devices. For more complex environments, a single vendor SASE solution might not be the best fit and they are more likely to take a best in breed approach – combining the elements of a SASE solution together form multiple technology platforms.

Managed Service Providers Offer Flexibility, Options to Support Digital Transformation

Managed service providers can play a key role across industries and enterprise sizes given their breadth of knowledge, and their ability to deliver and support multiple technologies to customize a solution that is exactly right for a specific enterprise. Unlike internal staff who will perform many disparate roles throughout the day, they are solely dedicated to managing networking and security solutions. These providers offer: 1) deep expertise to pull from; 2) experience operating multiple platforms in many cases and an understanding of how they fit customer needs; 3) data from across platforms to make the experience better than the sum of the parts; 4) capabilities in running the network so the enterprise can focus on its business.

As enterprise technology shifts from the highly controlled environment of the data center to public and hybrid cloud platforms, how do businesses today deliver the promise of Digital Transformation seamlessly, simply, securely, and cost effectively, while providing a user experience that enables users and businesses to operate efficiently?

In addition to supporting the ongoing operations, managed network service providers help during the “lift and shift” of data and applications – a complex, and carefully coordinated process that can involve moving massive amounts of data from one environment to the other. The right managed service provider can provide valuable guidance and project management expertise to establish the right strategy for businesses to access these new environments seamlessly, providing a positive experience for their users. The result is improved application performance and reliable, secure connectivity. As we examine innovative technology approaches to Digital Transformation, it is important to understand the challenges all organizations face when it comes to addressing this monumental paradigm shift in IT today and the role the network plays within it:

Lack of Technology and Dedicated IT Skills – A dedicated, highly skilled IT team is essential to the success of any Digital Transformation project. But building such a team is becoming increasingly difficult, especially in the area of networking. That’s why more organizations are looking for partners or managed services to help.

Application Performance – Quite often when data center applications are moved to the cloud or planned to be moved to the cloud, they must be re-written or optimized specifically for the new environment. Public cloud environments are by nature distributed geographically and that is why applications, many of which are custom, often need to be re-engineered to maintain their often custom nature, sustain or even improve their performance, work seamlessly with other applications and data stored in the cloud, and preserve a high level of security. It is important that enterprises understand this and are teaming with the right outsourced solutions provider who understands application performance.

Network Security – As enterprises move applications out of their data centers, which have become the fortified bastions of their security program, they need to re-evaluate their security posture for their physical locations as well as their remote and mobile users.