How to Predict the Impact of New Applications, Trends and Technologies on Your Network

Which straw will break the camel’s back? An EarthLink guide to staying a step ahead of change

More than ever, networks are the vital backbone of enterprise activity – on premises, in the cloud and in hybrid environments.

Yet the crush of new traffic, data, users, applications and devices across complex new landscapes makes it harder to predict when additions to your

technology stack (not to mention your workforce or partnerships) will degrade – or even crash – enterprise network operations.

No wonder many IT managers are uncomfortable guaranteeing their network is ready to handle new workloads, or that they’re hesitant to add applications without knowing if the network can support them.

The problem: Most organizations don’t know exactly what’s happening on their networks, including the number of applications, traffic priorities or available bandwidth. That makes it difficult to assess the impact that adding a new technology or application – even a “small” one – will have on performance.

Yet moving from guessing to knowing is crucial for three reasons:

• Slowing or limiting the introduction of new technologies invites angry blowback from customers and internal users (IT’s other “customers”) familiar with easy on-demand consumer technology and apps.

• Hybrid IT environments encompassing both data center and cloud will work only if networks connecting it are reliable and meet performance requirements.

• Companies that don’t take proactive steps risk loss of market share, workers and perhaps even IT job security.

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About this guide

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to predict the impact of new applications, trends and technologies on your networks. As always, your “best” solution depends on where your organization is now and where it wants to grow and go.

This guide will help sharpen your ability to assess and manage the impact of new technologies on your enterprise network. It identifies six of the biggest “straws” likely to cause unexpected breakdowns or performance degradation. Then it introduces useful capabilities and technologies to help your enterprise successfully keep these straws from breaking the camel’s back, including:

• Cloud application optimization

• Hybrid wide area networks

• Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN)

Alone or together, these powerful technologies can help you optimize your networks without strain or breakdown at every stage while taking the guesswork out of growth.

of enterprise traffic is destined for the internet

80%

more mobile data traffic by 2016

6xof CIOs expect to operate via cloud by 2016

50%

more demand for bandwidth every

18 months

2x

A variety of forces bringing rapid change for the WAN1

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Identifying the challenges: Don’t let any of these technologies, trends or applications become hidden bandwidth back-breakers.

New network-straining technologies and business realities are growing daily. Recognizing them is the first step in avoiding guesswork and smartly managing their impact.

1. Rise of cloud and everything-as-a-service (XaaS)

2. Shadow IT and the world of unauthorized apps

3. Unanticipated and seasonal demand surges

Whether it’s storage, computing, software applications, networking, infrastructure, platforms or security, network-delivered services are growing fast.

Enterprise investments in XaaS are growing five or six times faster than traditional on-premises spending, according to new surveys by IDC.2 Already, SaaS is the preferred delivery method for CRM and ERP is close behind. That’s projected to double over the next two years.

Of course, the XaaS boom brings a huge corresponding strain on all network traffic, drastically changing traffic patterns and pushing much of it from LANs to WANs. Few enterprises are prepared for this, let alone assessing, prioritizing and optimizing the performance of any given application or service.

In today’s world, anyone with a credit card can easily start using a cloud-based application without IT’s knowledge or approval. In a recent audit by EarthLink’s Professional Services team, one company discovered its enterprise network was supporting fourteen applications vs. the four it had been aware of due to hidden spending by rogue users/departments.

The exploding growth of SaaS and the Internet of Things (IoT) are forecast to further fuel under-the radar use of IT equipment, services and software, further straining enterprise networks. Soon, you may find yourself in a doubly difficult position: blind to the network impact of apps and services you know about, AND even more so to those that you don’t.

You’ve probably heard how millions of text-message votes for “American Idol” unexpectedly overwhelmed AT&T’s network. Or how major retailers like Target and even PayPal suffered Black Friday/Cyber Monday outages, and other similar tales. The short but vital moral: even if you know a tsunami is approaching, it may be too little, too late. Whether they’re expected seasonal crests or mundane surprises (too many employees streaming a major weekday sporting event, for example), sudden surges in traffic can quickly swamp and sink your network if you’re not ready.

Enterprise SaaS sales to double by 20182

2x

of total IT spend will come from shadow IT

by 20183

30%

jump in total payment volume on Cyber Monday for

subscription-based merchants4

230%

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4. Big data and analytics

5. Internet of things (IoT)

6. Emerging and fast growing bandwidth-hungry apps

Sure, “big data” may be overhyped. But the continued boom in analytics apps and services should convince you: huge new data sets are coming soon to a network near you, especially if you work in financial services, manufacturing or healthcare.

The traffic they create travels heavily in both directions. Many transactions start on premises, get pushed to cloud-based analytics then return home with even more data in tow. The usual result: network delays and greater latency.

Though still in its infancy, the networks that will be supporting physical objects that can “chatter” via embedded technology are the ones we all use now. And all that remote control, monitoring and sensing traffic from billions of new devices is about to get much heavier.

The number of IoT devices is forecast to grow up to 100x by 2020.6 Manufacturing (factory automation, robotics), healthcare (advanced devices) and retail (POS) are leading the way, followed by utilities (distribution and transmission), transportation (safety and integrity monitoring) and agriculture (increased yield). And it’s working its way into everything else as well.

Besides the huge new network burden, Gartner also warns of “ghost” devices – products with built-in IoT capability that suddenly create more unexpected traffic when activated.

If all the above weren’t enough, a host of other new and/or rapidly growing technologies are creating added network burdens: VoIP, hosted contact centers, video training and surveillance, digital signage, gamification and both augmented and virtual reality, for starters. And more will come.

Coupled with the non-stop growth of enterprise WiFi to support continued mobile device mania and tech-hungry millennials swamping the workforce, you’re facing a perfect storm of network strain.

growth in global network traffic driven by big data by 20195

350%

connected devices in 2020 compared

to 4.4B in 20156

20.8B

in digital signage sales are forecast by 20207

$23B

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Sharpen your predictive powers: Get visibility and take control

If you think it’s tough now to ensure your enterprise network is ready for new technology, just wait. Things are about to get harder – thanks to fast-growing new bandwidth-busting tools and technologies.

Whether your application environment is primarily private or cloud-based, or a hybrid of both, your ability to handle new technologies and growth depends on your ability to:

1. Gain an accurate, real-time understanding of your network traffic

2. Prioritize applications, users and locations most critical to business while optimizing performance for everyone

3. Anticipate and make changes proactively

Your network service provider can help you address these challenges. Here’s how:

Optimize your way to the cloud Go Hybrid Plan your move to SD-WAN

Moving applications from the data center to the cloud changes the application path. It doesn’t, however, change the need for performance, reliability and security.

Used in conjunction with MPLS, a cloud exchange service enables you to address that change by connecting your locations directly to leading cloud vendors, providing privacy and security while optimizing cloud application connectivity.

Take control by moving to a Hybrid WAN, which can help you improve cost-efficiency and security by deploying a mix of MPLS and IPsec VPNs.

Hybrid WANs also offer an excellent evolutionary migration path to a new software-defined WAN infrastructure, which represents a true long-term solution to continuous bandwidth management in an increasingly cloud-connected world.

Leveraging multiple connections as you find in Hybrid WANs, software-defined WANs add a layer of intelligence providing real-time visibility into – and control over – network and application performance. The resulting improvements in performance and reliability are unprecedented: a 50% increase in application performance and a 100x increase in available bandwidth, coupled with an 89% improvement in user experience and a 90% decrease in cost per megabit.

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Conclusion: Growth requires a strong backbone

New applications, trends and technologies – cloud, big data, VoIP and “consumerization” – are huge game-changers for everyone charged with enabling smooth, “anytime, anywhere” customer experiences and company growth.

This guide has shown how the right technology and approach can minimize guesswork about your network’s readiness to safely take on these new applications and workloads.

The key: Deploy network optimization and prioritization technologies that enhance network visibility and control and that enable you to optimize your business and cloud networks to achieve peak application performance.

Understanding and establishing traffic and application usage policies can

help eliminate bandwidth bottlenecks, serve diverse locations securely, balance cloud and private network resources, and meet escalating customer expectations.

Doing so is more important than many may think. A recent Boston Consulting Group study warns that enterprise networks could become the “Achilles’ Heel” of the cloud era.8 Not on your watch.

About Earthlink

EarthLink is a leading network services provider dedicated to delivering great customer experiences in a cloud connected world. We help thousands of multi-location businesses securely establish critical connections in the cloud.

Sources:

1 Boston Consulting Group Research, 2015

2 IDC, Worldwide SaaS Enterprise Applications 2014–2018 Forecast

3 Gartner Group, Gartner Predicts for IT Infrastructure and Operations, 2016

4 Recurly, Cyber Monday Starts Seasonal Surge for Subscriptions, 1/16

5 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), 2015

6 Gartner, 2015

7 Markets and Markets, 2015

8 Boston Consulting Group Research, Can Your Network Deliver the Potential of the cloud, 2016

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