The changing landscape of global IT operations has added a level of complexity that is almost unimaginable. Today’s enterprise IT operations involve multiple application platforms that run across various cloud offerings, regions, and types of networks, resulting in users’ expectations being that performance remains consistent regardless of where the user or application is located.
This article examines why network management strategies have become vitally important to all businesses today as they operate in multiple countries using newer IT solutions.
Distributed computer architectures, increasing cloud usage, and continuously changing digital service expectations are examples of the many elements of technology that are causing changes to the way organizations manage their network environments.
Why does traditional network management fail at a global scale?
Even today, many organizations use legacy models to monitor their networks that were originally designed to monitor static, on-premise infrastructure. With the advent of frequent changes in a company’s infrastructure and a shift in the user base’s workplace environment, the old approach in monitoring global networks presents several challenges, which are as follows:
- Limited visibility across global regions
- Tools & silos fragment users’ operational picture
- Slow troubleshooting
- Manual processes cannot scale
All these factors ultimately impact the overall network performance & reliability as well as operationally effectiveness. The new strategies & technologies that are being developed to address the limitations of traditional strategies are entering the market and have shifted network management from an option to a requirement as per Slurp’it.
What modern network management enables global enterprises?
It is no longer simply designating tools, technologies, and processes to monitor network performance but rather has shifted to integrated, automated, and globally integrated network operations.
Specifically, modern network management is more focused on the following areas of development at a strategic level:
- Full End-to-End visibility across all environments
- Aggregate all tools by region
- Automated operations
- Ongoing validation & test
- Policy-driven governance
- Real-Time visibility into performance
Given the current need for constant connectivity between global enterprises, networks are no longer just regional utilities; today, global organizations consider their networks an integrated, shared platform that collectively functions to provide an excellent enduser experience. These strategies reflect this change as per Slurp’it.
What are the core capabilities required for operating global networks?
- End-to-end visibility across the world.
Global information technology teams need to see how traffic is transmitted among different geographic areas, multiple clouds, and various service providers. This visibility must cover:
Wide area network (WAN)/internet pathways;
SaaS connections;
Edge site locations.
When a global network team does not have this visibility, they will detect that symptoms are occurring but cannot identify the actual cause of the problem. A network’s end-toend visibility is therefore the foundation upon which it builds as per Slurp’it.
- Unified network observability and data.
Telemetric data from the distributed environment generates an enormous number of data points, but having this telemetry information stored in a variety of tools generally is not beneficial for any operational team as per Slurp’it.
Today, a unified network observability strategy provides the following:
Configuration data;
Topological relationships;
Performance metrics;
Flow data;
Policy state.
This provides teams with the same situational awareness across all regions; thus, the speed and accuracy of troubleshooting increase.
- Globalized automation.
The rate of change within a global infrastructure cannot be sustained using manual methods. Therefore, automation is critical in the following areas:
Validation of configurations;
Compliance checks;
Policy enforcement;
Change verification;
Incident response workflows.
- Continuous testing and validation of networks.
There is a constant change to global networks caused by new deployments, cloud updates, routing changes, and policy changes. Consequently, continuous testing and validation of networks must occur.
Continuous testing by modern teams confirms the following:
Reachability between geographic locations;
Policy enforcement;
Valid routing;
Redundant behavior;
Application connectivity.
Continuous testing allows for any incident to be identified prior to user disruption.
- Policy-driven governance across the globe.
Large enterprises with branches worldwide must apply similar business policies regardless of the regional differences that exist. Examples of the types of policies managed through policy-driven governance include:
Security segregation;
Access control policies;
Routing limitations;
Compliance regulations.
Policy-driven governance enables policy intent to be defined once and enforced at every location. Policy-driven governance thus allows for scalability and suitability of global companies.
How are global leaders evolving their strategies?
Global organizations are effectively managing their global network infrastructures through a very similar set of common practices.
- Networks are treated as a platform, not an infrastructure.
- Centralized network visibility is established while still allowing for regional execution.
- Automated network policy enforcement and validation are implemented.
- Network data is integrated into DevOps and security workflows.
- Continuous testing for connectivity and network performance occurs.
The result of alignment between operations and technology through this set of practices leads to the network remaining consistent, resilient, and supported by the organizations.
How do enterprises create a modern global network strategy?
Most enterprises create a modern global network strategy through a phased approach.
- Focus upon creating a unified view of the network.
The operational baseline is established by creating a unified view of the network across geographic regions, cloud networks, and the Internet.
- Normalize the data of the network.
Integrate topology, configuration, and telemetry to form a single set of data that can be accessed by all teams.
- Define global policies for the organization.
Establish enforceable network policies based upon the organization’s security and connectivity intent.
- Automate network management.
Use automation to validate network compliance, automate repetitive operational tasks, and perform compliance checks.
- Test continuously.
Continuously validate, verify, and monitor the reachability, policy, and integrity of network connections.
- Integrate all locations of network management into a global environment.
Connect the network management capabilities of the organization with incident management, DevOps, and security.
By completing the above six steps, enterprises can successfully move forward into the modernization of their process while continuing to operate their existing operations.
What enterprises can expect from modernizing their global network management processes?
Enterprises that modernize their processes will benefit from many of the advantages that modern networking technology provides.
Enterprises will see:
- Faster resolving of incidents globally
- Increased consistency of application performance across the globe
- Reduced operational complexity
- Improved security posture
- Greater ability to comply with regulatory requirements
- Infrastructure that allows for digital business to scale
Because of the way networks provide a common foundation for all of digital business, the improvements that are made at the network layer have a domino effect on the entire organization.
To conclude, the way businesses operate on a global scale has been fundamentally transformed. The infrastructure of networks has become global and is now connecting users from the United States to Europe and from Asia to South America. Using the oldstyle methods of managing networks does not work, so organizations cannot have the same level of visibility into, automation of, or consistency with network operations at the global level. For more information, contact us at Slurp’it!