This week, our readers were thirsty for new news — from making the move from old legacy tech like VPNs to zero-trust network access (ZTNA), to Cisco's acquisition of Accedian to boost its ability to provide network assurance and observability. Come along with us as we peer into our high-tech crystal ball (powered by super-coherent optics, of course, for the lowest bandwidth and power consumption; hashtag Emma Chervek, our chief sustainability reporter).

Speaking of futuristic tech — you might have noticed a new emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) as we at SDxCentral also shift our focus to new news of the future. We've added a new AI hub page so it's easy to find AI-related news stories, buyers guides, organizations, and so on. You'll also see more stories about AI, which seems to be everyone's favorite buzzword lately.

Also, have you had a chance to look at our recent special edition, How to Reframe SD-WANs for the Future? It covers all aspects of SD-WANs, from what the next-gen SD-WANs will look like, to how 5G will power them, and how analytics (my favorite buzzword!) enhances SD-WAN security.

Without further ado (and because I know you're trying to decide what YOUR favorite buzzword is), here are this week's top 5 stories.

1. How to move from VPN to ZTNA (3 best practices)

For decades, the virtual private network, more commonly known by the acronym VPN, has been a mainstay of enabling secure remote connectivity.

In the modern era, many organizations have recognized that VPN alone is not enough to secure access, as threats can come from both outside and inside of a network perimeter. That realization has, in part, led to the growth of the ZTNA approach.

2. Cisco boosts network assurance and observability with Accedian acquisition

Kevin Wollenweber, SVP and GM for data center and provider connectivity at Cisco, noted in a blog post that the acquisition will allow Cisco to link Accedian’s network performance and user experience monitoring services into Cisco’s ThousandEyes network assurance platform. This is targeted at helping service providers better manage latency-dependent services running across 5G networks.

3. HPE’s AI cloud move taps supercomputing for LLMs

Supercomputing can be out of reach of many enterprises. To help bridge this gap, HPE announced at HPE Discover 2023 its new platform HPE GreenLake for Large Language Models (LLMs).

The on-demand, multi-tenant supercomputing cloud service will allow any enterprise to leverage supercomputing and privately train, tune and deploy “massive AI” without having to invest in their own supercomputer, said Justin Hotard, EVP and GM at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

4. Oracle one-ups AWS, Google, Microsoft with EU Sovereign Cloud

Oracle introduced two new EU cloud regions specifically designed to meet data sovereignty requirements around data storage and processing. The move comes as the EU ramps up data privacy regulations and companies like Microsoft are being fined for mishandling EU data.

The EU’s main concern is a non-EU entity requesting – and successfully obtaining – data from a cloud region located in the EU. “Data that is created in the EU needs to stay in the EU,” VP of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Leo Leung told SDxCentral.

5. T-Mobile’s 5G deal with Google highlights growing telco cloud comfort

T-Mobile US last week linked its 5G network to Google’s edge cloud infrastructure, which highlighted the growing integration between the telecom and cloud ecosystems and how cloud hyperscalers are further bolstering their platforms to support telecom-specific needs.

Dan Hays, partner at consulting firm PwC, noted in a recent interview with SDxCentral that this push is important to gain operational trust from legacy-minded operators.