The fundamental changes to enterprise networking in large part brought on by the dramatic impact of the pandemic, leading to highly distributed workforces came at a time when more sophisticated software, AI and machine learning tools were coming into their own a few years ago.
IT teams were forced to figure out how to continue to support every employee, regardless of where they were working from by ensuring secure access to corporate resources, from business applications to data bases, and from basic communications (voice, email, and instant messaging) to increasingly sophisticated collaboration platforms (Microsoft Teams and competitive solutions including Zoom, WebEx, and the like).
IT teams had never seen the variety of conditions they experienced when it came to available bandwidth, types of end-user devices, a steady stream of cyberattacks, and at home, having to share connectivity with other family members who also were forced to work from home and learn from home.
It felt impossible to manage – and frankly it was impossible to manage without benefit of automation and optimization tools.
At ConnX, we were fortunate in that we established our AIOps and network automation solutions well in advance of the arrival of the pandemic, knowing that with the inevitable arrival of more options for enterprise connectivity and computing (including the advancement of wireless private 5G/LTE alternatives to traditional wired and WiFi scenarios) we had to invest in the future for our Fortune 500 customers and others.
Foundational changes happening in network technologies and topologies required a reimagining and reorganization of operations within our own Managed Services business, all in service of assuring predictable cloud-first approaches – cloud-first and mobile-first.
The circumstances simply and immediately accelerated the transformation we had well-underway, which enabled us to help our customers transform – in some cases over a weekend.
What was already a dramatic evolution became truly a revolution – one that was made possible by the adoption of not just operating software, but the intelligent algorithms built into network and application automation, which is at the core of our Maestro platform.
Working with mission critical partners like Juniper, we successfully rolled out national and global AI-driven automated solutions, with AI/ML-based closed loop assurance that would not have been possible a few years ago.
We have always been steps ahead of our competition because given the size, scale, and sophistication of our global enterprise customers, we must be.
With the rapid emergence of programmable network technologies, and exciting new technologies including 5G network slicing, our network and service operations (NOC/SOC) teams can address simultaneous challenges, on a spectrum that covers day-to-day continuity (24/7/365) to the ability to respond to extraordinary circumstances (including disasters).
Beyond uplifting our customers to cloud and edge connectivity and computing, optimized to not only work, but to make economic sense with “XaaS” (Everything as a Service) and an opex vs. capex approach – we are also very involved in planning for future improvements, including introducing our customers to IoT and Industrial IoT solutions that deeply benefit from the same AIOps environment, driving a greater return on their investments in transformed networks.
The most exciting news may be found in data analytics, which go beyond end-to-end observability to end-to-end business insights.
With Maestro, we combine and correlate the performance data coming from multiple, previously siloed assurance systems, network layers and domains.
To drive excellent customer experiences and service, Maestro can help organizations prioritize the analysis and resolution of problems based on the impact on the end-user’s customer experience and revenue, extending “predictability” to “personalization” of service.
Maestro means we can guarantee the highest enterprise SLAs at scale – right down to the end user, wherever they may be connecting from.
Maestro also makes possible OPEX management and reduction through automation and AIOps, down to every business unit, correlated to every application (for example the usage of Microsoft Teams and cloud consumption, with reporting fed by the data being collected and itself automated in analytics).
And our breakthrough AI Assure Active Assurance service provides premium, proactive and continuous synthetic testing.
We’ve moved way beyond the traditional definition of “Unified Communications” to “United Collaboration” – through AIOps focused on delivering customer experience, service, and network assurance – with our AI Assure offering which ensures an optimum ROI from their significant network transformation and modernization investments.
As you continue to plan your 2023 connectivity and compute initiatives and budget, a fifteen-minute investment of your time may prove to be the best ROI you’ve experienced. You can reach me at robert.sese@connxai.com.