The network and security landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. Outdated approaches are crumbling, vendors are consolidating and new players are emerging – it's a game of 52 pick-up, but who's going to hold all the cards in the end?

Today’s solutions are no longer good enough. Here’s why:

  • Legacy networks are inflexible, manual and insecure: Dated, rigid solutions with poor user experiences with bolt-on security are begging for replacement.  Check out why traditional approaches are no longer working and why tomorrow’s networks are being built with security first architectures: Why Juniper, HPE Aruba and VMware are losing SD-WAN ground to security vendors.
  • Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are the ace in the hole: Our November article on SDxCentral highlighted how AI will drive the next infrastructure refresh, but vendors need to ditch the AI-washing and deliver real solutions to reap benefits of AI-driven infrastructure.
  • Security consolidation is inevitable: It’s impossible to secure your IT infrastructure with hundreds of products from dozens of vendors.  We see security infrastructure consolidating like compute and networking before it.  Over time, enterprises will have a handful of primary security technology vendors that offer integrated AI-driven suites.  It’s the only way to scale security operations and have a fighting chance against the bad guys.  Check out our December article on the fragmented security industry.
The new playbook: Security, automation and user experience

SDxCentral's content-consumption patterns paint a clear picture. Infrastructure teams crave security, automation and enhanced user experiences. They're embracing AI networking, multicloud software, network-as-a-service, open-source stacks and SD-WAN/secure access service edge (SASE) solutions.  2024 marks the year of open minds and open markets, driven by the twin forces of legacy products designed in a different era and vendor consolidation.

The power shift: From architects to operators

This tectonic shift has a profound impact on the technology acquisition process. Traditionally, architects and business leaders would hold sway when choosing products from a list of approved vendors. But as new players and technologies emerge, the power to say “no” increasingly shifts to the operators – the network, security and data center operators who must make it all work and deliver ROI – and to whom new approaches, technologies and vendors are risky and keep them up at night.

C-level conundrums: Go big or go home

I’ve spent the last three weeks speaking with C-level executives at many of the top networking and security companies.  Here’s what’s on their mind:

  • Go big or go home.  Many of the CxOs I’ve met with are company founders. Each conversation centered around going big.  Not IPO big, but market transforming big.  The current crop of founders is inspiring – they all have desire, to some extent, to become the next Marc Benioff, Larry Ellison or Steve Jobs of the infrastructure market.  Personally, this was inspiring  because as an industry we’ve had so many companies and founders sell out to the current legacy vendors.  This feels different and is good for customers, the market and industry competition, in a choice type of way.
  • How to scale customer acquisition, deployment and success.  They know that what got them to where they are today will not get them where they desire to go – and looking in unconventional places to create unfair advantages, as Cisco did in the 1990s.
  • How to engage and create buy-in from operational teams.  Let’s face it, their ability to justify lofty valuations is directly linked to their ability to get network and infrastructure operations people to sign off.
  • How to get short-listed by the enterprises that matter.  From what we see, in times of disruption there are often product-market gaps that will take time to work through.
Our advice: Embrace the chaos, seize the opportunity

Here's our prescription for navigating this turbulent landscape:

Technology CEOs: Be audacious. Push your chips in. Help IT pros converge their infrastructure. This is your path to becoming the next Goliath.

Line of business executives: Calculated risks yield big rewards. Take one and unlock your infrastructure's potential.

CIOs/Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)/CTOs: Your CEO wants more with less. Pick one transformable area, make it impactful and visible, and pave your way to a bolder 2025.

Network/infrastructure/security operations leaders: Champion change. Replace an outdated or painful technology with a new vendor's solution. This agility will prepare you for the acceleration to come.

Don't miss out on the action

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Proof points:  Check the articles below to learn that zScaler entered the networking business, Cato Networks moved into XDR and Versa Networks dives into high-performance networking