Skip to main content

EMA Announces New Research on Managing Networks in the Age of Cloud, SDN, and Big Data

Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) released its latest research report entitled Managing Networks in the Age of Cloud, SDN, and Big Data: Network Management Megatrends 2014.

Based on research criteria defined by EMA Vice President of Research, Network Management, Jim Frey, and EMA Principal Research Analyst, Tracy Corbo, this new research study looks at the current state of networks and network management, and examines five major areas of change and evolution affecting network management. These areas are cloud and virtualization, Software Defined Networking (SDN), big data, the rise of log data and APIs as management data sources, and the ongoing convergence of network operations teams and tools.

The study also examines the context and influence that broader IT and organizational priorities and projects are having on network management priorities, as well as resulting requirements for network management products and solutions. The findings reveal the experiences and objectives that a broad range of organizations have had regarding network management, and thus should serve as a source of requirements and input for strategic network engineering and operations planning.

Some of the key findings in this study include:

- 80% of network engineers and managers are finding it necessary to learn new programming/scripting skills to keep up with increasing numbers of device and system APIs

- 80% of organizations are willing to consider consuming network management in a SaaS model

- 60%+ of organizations rely on log data analysis to support network monitoring, planning, and troubleshooting – more than any other data source.

- While the average organization uses 4-5 tools for network monitoring and troubleshooting, 1/3 of large organizations are using 11 or more tools, and some are using more than 25!

“The world of networks and network management are being rocked by disruptive trends such as cloud, SDN, and big data,” said Frey. “While network management is considered by many to be a mature discipline, our results indicate there is a lot of work remaining to accommodate these new initiatives and bring the network management into the cloud and big data era.”

Hot Topic

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

Image
Broadcom

From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...

EMA Announces New Research on Managing Networks in the Age of Cloud, SDN, and Big Data

Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) released its latest research report entitled Managing Networks in the Age of Cloud, SDN, and Big Data: Network Management Megatrends 2014.

Based on research criteria defined by EMA Vice President of Research, Network Management, Jim Frey, and EMA Principal Research Analyst, Tracy Corbo, this new research study looks at the current state of networks and network management, and examines five major areas of change and evolution affecting network management. These areas are cloud and virtualization, Software Defined Networking (SDN), big data, the rise of log data and APIs as management data sources, and the ongoing convergence of network operations teams and tools.

The study also examines the context and influence that broader IT and organizational priorities and projects are having on network management priorities, as well as resulting requirements for network management products and solutions. The findings reveal the experiences and objectives that a broad range of organizations have had regarding network management, and thus should serve as a source of requirements and input for strategic network engineering and operations planning.

Some of the key findings in this study include:

- 80% of network engineers and managers are finding it necessary to learn new programming/scripting skills to keep up with increasing numbers of device and system APIs

- 80% of organizations are willing to consider consuming network management in a SaaS model

- 60%+ of organizations rely on log data analysis to support network monitoring, planning, and troubleshooting – more than any other data source.

- While the average organization uses 4-5 tools for network monitoring and troubleshooting, 1/3 of large organizations are using 11 or more tools, and some are using more than 25!

“The world of networks and network management are being rocked by disruptive trends such as cloud, SDN, and big data,” said Frey. “While network management is considered by many to be a mature discipline, our results indicate there is a lot of work remaining to accommodate these new initiatives and bring the network management into the cloud and big data era.”

Hot Topic

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

Image
Broadcom

From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...