In recent months, the tech adoption rate has shrunk significantly and organizations are taking on more digital transformation projects than ever before. Because of that, technologists are working to keep this momentum going and innovate further right when we need it the most. However, few companies have the necessary network upgrades to support these advances.
From augmented reality capabilities in healthcare to improving communication sensors in self-driving cars to simply enhancing the working-from-home experience, the latest tools and software require high bandwidth networks at their core. So how can these industries utilize networking to transform “nice to have” tech to long-term mainstream adoption?
To understand how this can be accelerated, Digital Journal spoke with Zack Zilakakis Marketing Lead at Apstra.
Digital Journal: Has COVID-19 slowed down digital transformation for organizations? Is it still important for companies?
Zack Zilakakis: If anything, COVID-19 has accelerated businesses’ digital transformation initiatives. While many were not prepared to take on the challenges brought on by the pandemic, those that embraced digital transformation fared better than those who did not. In other words, digital transformation must be viewed as a necessity in order for businesses to survive the impacts of the pandemic. Automation played a big role in this as well—with society’s current standing of the pandemic, organizations are beginning to realize the full value of human capital. By leveraging automation, businesses can free their employees of mundane tasks and allow them to focus on the strategic planning necessary for recovery.
DJ: How can businesses shorten the technology adoption curve? What role does intent-based networking play here?
Zilakakis: Prior to the pandemic, businesses failed to shorten the technology adoption curve due to a lack of resources. However, this wasn’t due to financial threats, but more so the lack of software developers and IT resources a business has. To make up for this shortage and subsequently shorten the curve, businesses can implement solutions—such as Intent-Based Networking—that supply cloud capabilities and rapidly operationalize their network. These solutions will inherently diminish the complexities and risks that are so common in today’s enterprises.
DJ: How does a more powerful and far-reaching network lead to more life-changing applications?
Zilakakis:The hardware and its applications are nothing without data. More powerful and far-reaching networks have the ability to transfer an enormous amount of data, allowing businesses to create more life-changing applications. Businesses must ask themselves: “How do we check the data and ensure it’s flowing smoothly? How is the network sustaining?”
With these questions in mind, we can create the networks and technologies of tomorrow: silicone networks, 5G capabilities, intelligent vehicles, applications with more bandwidth, the list goes on. This means without automation, validation, or an autonomous approach, there is no way that we could manage this advanced data that is present throughout the world. The power is determined by how one operationalizes and automates these networks.
DJ: What are your predictions in terms of how networking will change our cities in the future?
Zilakakis:The battle for data is everywhere—and cities and their governments are no exception. As previously mentioned, the power of applications is determined by data and how one operationalizes and automates their networks. However, there is a higher expectation for privacy in cities’ applications and connected devices—and the more data collected, the more privacy concerns there are. Going forward, innovating in cities and creating smart cities will heavily depend on data privacy regulations and acceptance from citizens.
DJ: How will networking impact healthcare systems in the next five years?
Zilakakis:Healthcare organizations are focusing on digital transformation initiatives to advance patient experience and services. These organizations are faced with budget challenges that are exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ll look to an operationalized model to achieve their digital initiatives.
Healthcare will overcome their budget constraints by operationalizing everything to escape large capital spend. The focus is pivoting to a subscription model and pay per use models to achieve this.
The focus on patient experience will increase and include more core medical functionality at remote locations. This will limit the need for patients to be transient across multiple locations for health services. From a technology perspective, this will include increased bandwidth at the remote locations and a technology stack that is supportive of an open architecture.
