Aruba to prioritize SASE, private 5G, data-center networking

Aruba Networks plans to prioritize development of a short list of key networking technologies – including data-center switching, private 5G, and secure access service edge (SASE) – that it finds are top of mind for enterprise customers.Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s network subsidiary is fresh off a successful first quarter that saw revenue climb 31% year over year. Aruba general manager Phil Mottram attributes the record revenue in large part to the company’s Intelligent Edge strategy, which includes technologies to help customers adopt and manage network and application resources.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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Network-as-a-service lets a shoe retailer take steps toward Zero Trust

Nigel Williams-Lucas, director of Information Technology at Maryland-based footwear retailer DTLR, faced a challenge that most IT execs will recognize: the business was pushing hard on digital transformation, and the IT infrastructure was struggling to keep pace.Store managers were seeking better data analytics and business intelligence from backend systems like inventory and sales. The business wanted IT systems to support customers ordering online and picking up at a physical store within two hours.The network needed to securely support real-time, bandwidth-intensive IP security cameras. And Williams-Lucas wanted to roll out beaconing technology, in which the network gathers information about customer in-store activity via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and can send discount offers to a customer’s phone based on where they are in the store and what they appear to be interested in.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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Extreme adds network fabric support to its SD-WAN

Extreme Networks has added network fabric capabilities to its flagship SD-WAN platform to enable customers to link and manage distributed resources more securely.Additional enhancements to the ExtremeCloud SD-WAN platform include improved automated workflows and direct connectivity to cloud systems such as Microsoft Azure and AWS.“The overarching idea is to help customers more effectively connect distributed sites, especially the smaller branch office, without increasing optical or management overhead,” said Rob Hull, product marketing director at Extreme. “For the smaller sites, especially, with maybe no IT person or few, it gives them the big-site quality-of-service feel and big-site centralized management capability.”To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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8 hot networking technologies for 2023

Despite the challenges posed by economic turmoil, epidemics, and political upheaval, network researchers are continuing to blaze new trails in innovation, performance, management, and security. In sum, 2023 is shaping up as a year of network evolution and transformation.Here are eight network technologies you will want to pay particularly close attention to.1. Unified SASE: Addresses hybrid workforce, hybrid clouds
Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) tightly integrates security and networking into a single platform. The technology uses a single-pass scanning architecture combined with a unified policy that’s configured via a unified console that draws from a unified data lake. “This is significant for organizations to continue to provide a consistent and assured user experience while protecting users, devices, sites, and data amid the rapidly evolving dynamics coming in 2023,” says Kelly Ahuja, CEO of networking and cybersecurity firm Versa Networks.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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Work from home is here to stay, so how should IT adjust?

The pandemic has changed how we work, probably forever. Most employees with jobs that can be done effectively from home have no intention of returning full time to the office. They find that their work-life balance is much more balanced without the long commutes and constant interruptions that accompany office work.According to a McKinsey/Ipsos survey, 58 percent of American workers had the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week in 2022, while 38 percent were not generally required to be in the office at all.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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Looking ahead to the network technologies of 2023

What’s the single most important thing that enterprises should know about networking in 2023? Forget all that speeds-and-feeds crap you hear from vendors. The answer is that networking is now, and forever, linked to business applications, and those applications are linked now to the way that we use the Internet and the cloud. We’re changing how we distribute and deliver business value via networking, and so network technology will inevitably change too, and this is a good time to look at what to expect.Growth in Internet dependence
First, the Internet is going to get a lot better because it’s going to get a lot more important. It’s not just that the top-end capacities offered will be raised, in many cases above 2 Gbps. Every day, literally, people do more online, and get more interactive, dynamic, interesting, websites to visit and content to consume. Internet availability has been quietly increasing, and in 2023 there will be a significant forward leap there, in large part because people who rely on something get really upset when it’s not working.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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Should security systems be the network?

Recently during a research interview with a small but fast-growing business, for the first time I encountered an organization with a “no-network-vendor” network. That is, instead of using Cisco or Dell or even a white-box solution for switching and routing, the company deployed only Fortinet equipment for its entire network. That is, every network component is part of the security infrastructure for them.They built the network this way not just to bake security into its core (a great idea in itself) but also for:
ease of management: they have one tool, it manages every component
ease of deployment: they have only two or three versions of each appliance, all the same except for capacity and port count
ease of expansion to new locations: every site is the same as any other site of similar size

They have a small stock of replacement appliances on the shelf, with which they provide rapid recovery for all locations. They could easily also consume security-operations center as-a-service, and use professional services for nearly all the rest of their network operations. In essence, their security solution could become their complete network solution as well.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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Cisco launches 10-year plan to train 25 million people in IT skills

As Cisco celebrates the 25th anniversary of Cisco Networking Academy, the company on Tuesday announced two new certifications and a plan to provide networking, cybersecurity and general IT  training to 25 million people over the next 10 years.The training will be done through the company’s networking academy, an IT skills-to-jobs program that provides IT courses, learning simulators, and hands-on learning opportunities, supporting instructors and learners in 190 countries. To date, Cisco says more than 17.5 million global learners have taken Cisco Networking Academy courses to gain IT skills, with 95% of students attributing their post-course job or education opportunity to Cisco Networking Academy.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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Google Cloud adds networking, security features for enterprises

Google Cloud is rolling out new network and security features, including a service that provides Layer-7 security.The new offerings announced at Google Cloud Next also include firewall and web application-protection options aimed at advancing existing cloud connectivity and ensuring the security of cloud-based resources.“We are fundamentally enhancing our network fabric—which includes 35 regions, 106 zones and 173 network edge locations across 200-plus countries—and making it simpler and easier for organizations to migrate their existing workloads and modernize applications all while securing and making them easier to manage,” said Muninder Sambi, vice president and general manager of networking for Google Cloud.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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Network security depends on two foundations you probably don’t have

You’ve done everything to secure your network, and you still face threats. That’s what most enterprises say about their network security, and they’re half right. Yes, they still face threats, but they’ve not done everything to address them. In fact, most enterprises haven’t really implemented the two foundations on which real network security must be based.When I ask enterprises whether they’ve done a top-down analysis of network security, they usually say they do it every year. When I ask what’s involved in that assessment, they say they look for indications that their current strategies have failed. They build another layer, which is kind of like putting a second Band-Aid on a cut.To read this article in full, please click here READ MORE HERE…

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