In 2023, the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) had a significant impact on all sectors of IT, including networking. No doubt there is more AI to come for networking in 2024 but that's not the only thing that will be a big trend.

Several leading vendors offered their insights to SDxCentral into the key trends and predictions that will reshape enterprise networks over the next year.  The vendors predict more automation, cloud networking enhancements, new types of secure access service edge (SASE) deployments as well as wireless and wired networking innovations.

Networking prediction #1: Enterprises will become increasingly application focused

David Coffey, VP Product Management - Software Networking at IBM and NS1 Chief Product Officer told SDxCentral that he expects applications will continue to become more distributed as the move to the edge accelerates.

Overall he expects that the location of applications will become less important. The resilience, performance, and operational cost of applications will become more important. As a result, networking teams will be an increasingly organic part of application design and deployment.

Networking prediction #2: Automation and consolidation for enhanced speed and security in multicloud environments

Derek Yee, senior director of Product Marketing at F5  said that 88% of organizations are moving towards adopting a single security platform over multiple point solutions, as per the F5 2023 State of Application Strategy survey.

He noted that this trend indicates a shift towards multicloud networking platforms that manage networking and security across various clouds, services, apps and APIs. Such platforms not only improve performance but also simplify management, thereby reducing the risk of human error and increasing reliability.

Networking prediction #3: Dual-vendor SASE will be a thing

Karen Falcone, senior director of Product Marketing for AI-driven SD-WAN, and Service Provider as a Channel at Juniper Networks, predicts that 2024 will herald a paradigm shift in the networking industry.

While security and networking teams have begun to bridge gaps, the majority will remain distinctly separate.She predicts that dual vendor SASE will not just emerge but dominate the landscape as enterprises scramble to reconcile their requirements. In her view, this approach will not only be about security but a testimony to the enterprises’ strategic intelligence in navigating a rapidly evolving technological marketplace.

Networking prediction #4: Network teams will seek out cloud-based management solution

Falcone also predicts that as bandwidth costs security, orchestration, automation, response (SOAR) and the demand for enhanced network availability and performance escalates, enterprises will prioritize solutions that offer the most value for their investment.

“In 2024, cloud-based management solutions will become indispensable, not just an option,” she said.

Networking prediction #5: Managed services will remain a key route to market for SD-WAN

Managed service providers (MSPs) will be pivotal to SD-WAN growth in 2024, transcending their roles as mere contributors, according to Falcone.

As their roles evolve, she expects that MSPs will continue to be the beacon of guidance for enterprises, expertly navigating them through the complexities of expanding bandwidth, enhancing performance, and optimizing costs.

Networking prediction #6: 800G networking will emerge as a ‘hero technology’ to deal with data-heavy demand

Sally Bament, vice president, Cloud & Service Provider Marketing at Juniper Networks, expects to see an uptick in 800G networking in 2024.

“2024 will see a continued explosion of data-heavy applications and services demanding ultra-fast and elevated experiences,” she said.

She predicts 800G networking will emerge as a “hero technology” as global industries are forced to manage bandwidth demands and rising latency caused by data-heavy apps. She noted that the applications of 800G will span core, peering, data center interconnect (DCI), data center edge, edge aggregation and artificial data center networking use cases -- equipping operators to navigate sustainable growth while balancing capacity enhancement, ecological sustainability and cost management.

Networking prediction #7: Cloud engineering vs. networking engineering battle will escalate

Ben Baker, senior director, Cloud/Data Center Marketing at Juniper Networks predicts continued pressures in the battle between cloud engineering and network engineering.

“The cloud engineers are the cool kids, and they keep moving in on the traditional network engineers’ turf,” Baker said. “While old school network tools still survive – you can just never seem to get rid of legacy – cloud skills will increasingly be used to run not just public clouds, but also private infrastructure.”

Networking prediction #8: Sustainability will no longer be an outlier

The issue of power and sustainability will continue to be front and center as well, according to Baker.

He said infrastructure vendors will continue to design and build more efficient gear as the rigorous demands of new AI model training drive data center racks  to consume more power. He expects that experimental cooling methods that minimize power consumption, such as liquid immersion, will emerge from the experimentation stages.

Networking prediction #9: The end of the LAN port? Wireless-centric network design

Phil Swain, CISO of Extreme Networks wonders whether the drive for automation and limitless flexibility and segmentation including zero trust will drive organizations to move away from LAN-based networks to 100% wireless, especially as the speeds increase.

He noted that by deploying a dense network of access points (APs) organizations can control and manage a network remotely, eliminating the need for onsite configurations. Kurt Semba, principal architect, Office of the CTO at Extreme Networks added that the adoption of the 6 GHz band, combined with the superior performance and reliability of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, is accelerating the trend towards Wi-Fi-centric strategies in various industry sectors.

Networking prediction #10: AI everywhere will make the network (and everything else) more intelligent

In 2024, the networking industry will become more intelligent and intuitive than ever, according to Carolina Bessega, innovation lead – Office of the CTO, at Extreme Networks. She predicts that  AI-based networking tools will help predict, prevent and remediate issues that affect user experience, service availability, and service quality.

Bessega also predicts that machine learning will go beyond present-state network optimization to make the business of the network simpler and easier, faster, and, as a result, better.

“Large language models will be paired with other types of machine learning and networking big data to create new opportunities between vendors, customers and partners to co-innovate as they create solutions that transform the network into a strategic asset,” Bessega said.