Network admin teams need all the smart help they can get when it comes to 24/7 maintenance, monitoring, security, and observability of an enterprise's data flow. When acquiring the tools needed to do this job optimally over time, they can take one of two pathways: They can pull together all networking monitoring components (software, hardware, services) from current and/or new sources, or they can enlist a trusted partner to provide a centralized palette of tools and services for them.
Hmmm, let's see: Which one would be easier and more effective to deploy day after day, month after month? Dealing with one trusted vendor for all things networking, or juggling perhaps a dozen vendors for all those components – not to mention training staff on how to utilize each standalone component effectively?
The other side of this argument is that monitoring products are specialized and often provide in-depth capabilities that a centralized “single pane of glass” control doesn't have. The question a buyer has to ask is this: How deep do I need to go with separate components in getting the job done well? Will a unified, cloud-based or on-prem platform work “well enough” for me?
More and more businesses are saying yes to that last question. We know; getting locked into a long-term contract with an IT company is risky. You're beholden to that partner through the length of the contract, through thick and thin. However, with a partner you know has a good reputation with customers spread over a lot of years, your chances of getting tripped are much, much less. You simply have to do your homework thoroughly and rely on trusted friends in the business to advise you.
We're at a networking tipping point
To borrow a line from futurist author Malcolm Gladwell, network teams are at a tipping point. The shift to cloud computing and the ever-increasing demands of users are requiring a complete overhaul of network architectures. This transformation is generating a deluge of data, making it very difficult for teams to keep up. Networks are complex beasts, and pinpointing a cause of congestion can be time-consuming and frustrating. On top of that, applications with large data loads needing lightning-fast response times are putting increasing strain on the network. Teams are struggling to find a way to make sense of all the alerts, filter out the noise, and ultimately, modernize their networks effectively.
As networking moves into the brave new world of AI workloads here in 2025, network managers are researching to find the right IT partner that can provide everything they need to satisfy these coming use cases. Gartner has reported that about 70 percent of enterprise networking decision-makers are currently using or evaluating next-gen networking platforms with the chops to handle heavy-duty workloads in sectors such as retail, health care, scientific, fintech, manufacturing and government.
Enter Broadcom and its Network Observability package
One of the few IT providers that has all the pieces to this new networking puzzle is Broadcom, a rapidly growing IT leader which makes both hardware and software. Its Network Observability platform is a monitoring solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help IT teams manage their networks. It combines visibility, performance monitoring, and analytics to help identify and resolve issues before they impact users.
“SD-WAN adoption has grown due to its cost-efficiency and ability to access cloud services without data center bottlenecks,” Yann Guernion, Broadcom Product Marketing Manager in the greater Paris Metropolitan Region.
“There is a great need for advanced monitoring solutions to manage the extended enterprise network, especially as more and more hybrid-cloud deployments are being made.”
Then there are the AI and ML processes that not only channel the network data to the analysis engines, but also open the gates to producing evidence that network operations staff members alike can use to make informed decisions.
“The key is leveraging the right types of AI algorithms – from pattern recognition to predictive analytics – to turn raw network data into actionable insights that empower network teams to make informed decisions,” Guernion said.
SD-WAN includes integrated security features and provides a fairly strong security foundation for autonomous networks. SD-WAN also enables the creation of micro-segmented networks, isolating critical workloads and protecting them from unauthorized access.
But that's not optimal security – not anymore.
Adding Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) to the networking stack
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (SASE), which includes zero-trust security and secure network traffic routing, is becoming a frequent addition to SD-WANs in 2025, according to Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst of ZK Research and a former SVP of the Yankee Group.
“These technologies have reached 'de facto standard' status and the benefits are well understood,” Kerravala told SDxCentral. “Using SD-WAN in particular is much cheaper than private IP services like MPLS, although many customers do both, because SD-WAN uses the internet, which can create inconsistencies in performance.”
MPLS stands for multiprotocol label switching, a networking feature that helps data packets reach their destinations faster. It's a technique that uses labels, rather than network addresses, to route traffic.
“For SASE, the menu of services that fall under it is so large now it can be confusing, but the cloud-delivered nature is much more agile and cost effective. While SASE SD-WAN platforms can get expensive, I haven't heard a customer mention cost in a couple of years now,” Kerravala said.
How Broadcom puts it all together
Network Observability by Broadcom aims to improve time to value through advanced algorithmic capabilities – which help validate traffic routes – and unified network visibility that uses AI to verify critical traffic can successfully weave its way through next-gen architectures. The solution does this through high-scale operations monitoring that enables full-stack analytics for consumption by traditional or next-gen architectures.
Network Observability by Broadcom converts inventory, topology, device metrics, faults, flow, and packet analysis into actionable intelligence for network ops teams. The solution enables IT teams to establish proactive, autonomous remediation capabilities across the applications, infrastructure, and networks used 24/7 by enterprises and their value chains.
This all alleviates common problems such as:
- Slow network speeds
- Poor application performance
- Lack of visibility and control over ISP networks
- Cloud migration issues
- Snags in managing IoT and edge computing
Building an intelligent, future-proof network that practically runs itself
An autonomous network that presages blockages, identifies and fends off intruders, and routes data fast and accurately is the network admin's nirvana. We hope this article on Broadcom’s NetOps suite provided some actionable insight for organizations ready to begin their transformation journey.
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