Strengthening network transformation with cybersecurity and connectivity

Fundamentally, network transformation involves more than just upgrading the infrastructure. To accommodate data-intensive applications and better facilitate communications and collaboration within organizations that have increasingly adopted cloud computing and other cloud-native transformations, leveraging emerging, innovative technologies and cutting-edge solutions is key to addressing the challenges and inefficiencies posed by legacy networks.

For many enterprises, the network transformation journey has resulted in benefits like improved flexibility and scalability, optimized performance, as well as streamlined operations and management. But more than these advantages, network transformation calls for the readiness and the maturity towards future trends and threats – one that is secure by design and revolutionary in its connectivity experience.

Hence the topic of my blog article – how do we strengthen network transformation with cybersecurity and connectivity put together? Well, let’s dive in.

Cybersecurity leads the way

The dynamic growth of network solutions meant that they, too, are increasingly being exposed to cyber threats and data breaches. To safeguard confidential and sensitive information and ensure business continuity, the strategic imperative with implementing robust security measures that include proactive detection of threats and unwarranted access as well as those that mitigate risks and conform to regulatory and ethical compliance has never been more pressing.

The evolutions surrounding the cybersecurity ecosystem today meant that bad actors have become even more sophisticated than before. As organizations launch or deploy their own artificial intelligence (AI) tools for different uses and functions, the misuse of AI has also taken off ground with AI-powered cyberattacks. Such acts would certainly put an organization’s defense mechanisms and cyber resilience to test and serve to undermine the traditional network security model that was in the past managed via the perimeter or firewall-on-the-edge approach.

When the advent of cloud computing flung organizational assets far and wide, and users, devices, and storage started moving out of the corporate network, the approach to network security undoubtedly required an overhaul to the architecture to meet the shifting security requirements. Enter Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), which converges security and networking in the cloud, supporting secure Internet connectivity, ensuring asset users’ identities and their right of access to applications regardless of location or premises, based on its Zero-Trust Network Access model as a security component.

With SASE, too, its consolidated approach to network and network security services meant that complexity and costs could be reduced, since it leverages the seamless and scalable capabilities of cloud computing and the cloud-native network that does away with the need for a complex number of vendors, branch devices and agents. Additionally, SASE’s model not only helps to boost network performance but introduces lower network latency compared to traditional network security architectures.

Connectivity at the heart of the digital experience

Network and connectivity have long been a foremost priority for enterprises since the emergence of the pandemic that forced employees to work remotely and to collaborate virtually. A sustainable digital workplace solution that is designed for performance was hence the answer to employees’ user and work experience that takes into consideration factors like quality, comfort, agility and security.

Fast forward to years after the pandemic, enterprises have no reason not to get it right – and understand that robust and reliable connectivity forms the digital backbone to their end-user experience, which should be at the heart of a network design. As the hybrid working norm continues, the quality of connectivity for employees working in the office or from home has become more significant than ever. Having the right network infrastructure in place is no longer the exception, and a strengthened network counts performance and resilience that can withstand changes in traffic patterns.

The SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network) solution by Orange Business, for example, offers network performance monitoring that is supported by visibility, optimization and control, while helping to overcome complexity and security concerns through a cloud-first networking strategy. There’s also the Flexible SD-WAN, which enables enterprises to benefit from a cost-effective solution and optimized end-user experience when deploying a new application in cloud.

With our 12 years of experience interconnecting networks and clouds, organizations can look forward to end-to-end design and implementation with a network that is unified and streamlined across multiple cloud environments. By first aligning on the desired business outcomes and digital strategies with your organization’s stakeholders and finding out the applications and assets that run on your network, it goes a long way to supporting a seamless, uninterrupted migration of your network as the spine of your digital business.

Learn more about what Orange Business can do for you by contacting us here.