Your network must be up to the challenge of unprecedented digital demand

Your network infrastructure has been tested in recent months like never before – and your success in keeping this network running during a global pandemic means your business has been able to fulfil its operational activities and keep its customers happy.

This unprecedented loading on networks comes from applications hosted in the cloud that remote-working users rely on to do their jobs or attend school. Research suggests more than four in five (82%) IT leaders have ramped up their use of cloud in direct response to the pandemic and the shift to remote working. As technology specialist Nokia recognises, networks keep us all going. 

But it isn't just humans in homes that rely on applications in clouds. Think of first responders, whose lives are not only unpredictable by definition but who are not anchored to a physical location. They move to where they're required and they need the network to be available to do the work that keeps us all safe and healthy.

There are also industrial sensors and machines that require a network to collect data and connect to the applications they use. Unlike their human counterparts who need sleep, these machines happily work 24/7. 

Add Mother Nature into the mix, with increasingly extreme weather events that can damage network infrastructure and malicious attacks by those driven to disrupt society for a host of nefarious reasons, and you begin to develop a sense of the unprecedented demand facing modern networks.

These are just some of the ever-increasing and ever-changing traffic dynamics that our networks must accommodate. In fact, to say everything is becoming more dynamic and unpredictable is an understatement – yet our networks must cope with this demand now and long into the future.

Networks keep us going

As remote working became the new normal, IDC says enterprises prioritised spending across key networking technologies. The analyst says all companies began to wake up to the importance of networking technology, from enabling secure connectivity to supporting increased demand for collaboration platforms.

In many ways, the genie is out of the bottle – everyone knows the critical role that networks play. Your business and its customers have seen at first-hand how the network you support has helped to support their activities, too. And in the post-COVID new normal, they're going to want even more from their networks. 

This ever-changing and unpredictable demand will gather pace as our societies and economies continue to recover and transform. These expectations create a significant challenge for network specialists – but as Nokia recognises, they also present a huge opportunity. 

Your success during the past few challenging months means that the organisation you serve has had a peek behind the curtain and recognises how much effort it takes to keep the network running. If the network isn't stable and available, your business and its customers can't connect, collaborate and communicate. 

Your heroic night-and-day efforts during the coronavirus crisis have kept us all going. But what happens now? How do you build and operate networks that are up-to-the job when the job description is open-ended – and how will these networks perform flawlessly for an extended period of life?

Work with a trusted systems partner

Quality networks are now quite simply a core building block of our society. Network specialists at communications service providers and major enterprises – from network directors at utilities to heads of infrastructure at railways and airline CIOs – will need a network that rises to meet these expectations. 

At the heart of these networks is the IP and optical network through which consumer, business, and industrial traffic is routed and transported. The increasingly unpredictable demands placed upon the network directly fuels the essential and complex task of designing a network architecture built to perform, protect, and last.

The providers of critical networks will need high-performance networking infrastructure from a trusted systems partner like Nokia that delivers benefits across several key areas:

• Scalable – IDC says almost half (48%) of IT leaders will be increasing investments in unified communications and collaboration tools through the rest of 2020. Look for a specialist who can provide a unified network infrastructure that brings IP and optical together to 'keep society running'. This unified network must be able to cope with the dynamic and unpredictable demands that will be placed on networks. That's what Nokia delivers – solutions to help customers evolve their network performance and capitalise on new trends. Your network must work all the time because lives and livelihoods are on the line. 

• Adaptable – Look for a specialist that can help future-proof your network for digital transformation and the new critical challenges that business will face in the post-COVID age, be that in terms of broadband, 5G, cloud, or Industry 4.0. Nokia research suggests that 5G-enabled industries have the potential to add $8 trillion to global GDP by 2030. Other research reveals a strong appetite for 5G-enhanced services in many areas, from fixed-wireless access to real-time drone video, cloud gaming, AR-based translation, precise navigation, and more. Your partner must be ready for rapid advances in digital services.

• Innovative – Look for an uncompromising partner that has the magnitude and momentum to deliver the world's most critical networks. Your partner should have a strong market position in IP and optical technology, and they should be able to deliver high-performance networking capability. This network should be able to cope with the unpredictable demands from consumers and businesses, both now and long into the future. Your partner should be able to develop technologies and standards to solve the critical networking challenges that your business faces.

Your network has passed the test of supporting the economy and society at the most challenging time. Now your network must cope with ever-changing and unpredictable demand. Work with a partner who can help your organisation design a network architecture that's built to perform, protect and last.

Learn how IP and Optical networks are responding to our new normal