Software-defined data center, SD-WAN, and the convergence between network operations and security operations were other notable drivers, according to the survey. So why did automation rise to the top? Shamus notes:
“Today, network automation is often limited to repeatable low-level tasks that require limited insight and understanding of network state. Unique high-level tasks usually require human intervention. However, as new solutions apply machine learning and other advanced heuristic techniques, they can gain an unprecedented understanding of the network. Analytics solutions can then feed this insight to automation tools, giving them the necessary intelligence to take on some of those complex, unique tasks without human intervention.”
In looking at the bigger picture, more organizations now have critical infrastructure running outside of their direct control due to digital transformation trends like automation, consolidation, and cloud. While these initiatives may speed delivery timelines and reduce cost, they can also add complexity to an organization’s network, which in turn, creates a greater need for analytics that unlock real-time visibility across environments and applications.
EMA survey respondents reported that network analytics bring ROI via the following ways:
In short, network analytics are driving cost savings, speed, scale, and optimized user experience — all of which, in the end, drive greater profitability.
While budget restraints typically top the list as a barrier for new technology adoption, it was interesting to see respondents say that risk is more of an obstacle for deploying analytics. Here are the top-5 reported barriers to entry:
In our industry, it’s not uncommon to see these barriers-to-adoption. In fact, Kentik’s co-founders previously ran some of the biggest network infrastructure for companies like Akamai, Netflix and Cloudflare, so they know firsthand what can slow down deployments. That’s why our founders built Kentik with:
Here are a few examples of how our customers are benefiting from our network analytics platform:
If you want to hear more about network traffic intelligence from Kentik, get a demo or sign up for a free trial.You can also download the full EMA report at: “Advanced Network Analytics: Applying Machine Learning and More to Network Engineering and Operations.”