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IoT Driving Network Management Evolution

Shamus McGillicuddy

Network managers will need to upgrade, expand, and adapt their network monitoring and management tools and practices if they are going to support the Internet of Things (IoT), according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA).

EMA recently surveyed 100 IT professionals who are (a) directly involved in enterprise networks and (b) supporting their organizations’ IoT initiatives. We published the results in our research report, The Internet of Things and Enterprise Networks: Planning, Engineering and Operational Strategies.

The research found that network monitoring tools and practices are challenged by IoT.

First of all, 52 percent reported that IoT had introduced or worsened blindspots in their network monitoring and service assurance architecture.

52 percent reported that IoT had introduced or worsened blindspots in their network monitoring and service assurance architecture

Additionally, EMA asked research participants to identify their top IoT network monitoring challenges. Scalability (26 percent ) was the most cited problem. IoT simply adds too many devices to the network. Rogue device detection (23 percent ) is also a struggle for these organizations. Many are also struggling with insufficient monitoring granularity (22 percent ) and high rates of change (21 percent).

So how do network teams adapt their monitoring tools to address IoT? The four most common actions the network teams take, according to our research:

■ Upgrade the data processing capacity of network monitoring tools (45 percent). This addresses the scalability issue.

■ Upgrade monitoring tool licenses to account for more monitored devices and objects (33 percent)

■ Install network visibility controllers (AKA network packet brokers) to aggregate monitoring data (29 percent)

■ Increase monitoring granularity (e.g. shorter polling intervals) 28 percent)

68 percent of network managers are extending their tools to monitor and manage IoT devices

IoT devices present another challenge to network operations, because network teams often take ownership of certain elements of the IoT device lifecycle. More than half (51 percent) of network professionals take a leading role in IoT device deployment, and 64 percent lead the implementation of IoT device security policy and access controls. Furthermore, 57 percent play a supporting role in troubleshooting IoT devices. For this reason, network teams need to evolve their tools.

68 percent of network managers are extending their tools to monitor and manage IoT devices.

Many network managers will find that their tools do not natively support IoT devices. They will have to modify the tools themselves or ask their vendors to customize the tools. If your enterprise is launching one or more IoT initiatives, it’s time to evaluate how your current tools and practices will support IoT.

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IoT Driving Network Management Evolution

Shamus McGillicuddy

Network managers will need to upgrade, expand, and adapt their network monitoring and management tools and practices if they are going to support the Internet of Things (IoT), according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA).

EMA recently surveyed 100 IT professionals who are (a) directly involved in enterprise networks and (b) supporting their organizations’ IoT initiatives. We published the results in our research report, The Internet of Things and Enterprise Networks: Planning, Engineering and Operational Strategies.

The research found that network monitoring tools and practices are challenged by IoT.

First of all, 52 percent reported that IoT had introduced or worsened blindspots in their network monitoring and service assurance architecture.

52 percent reported that IoT had introduced or worsened blindspots in their network monitoring and service assurance architecture

Additionally, EMA asked research participants to identify their top IoT network monitoring challenges. Scalability (26 percent ) was the most cited problem. IoT simply adds too many devices to the network. Rogue device detection (23 percent ) is also a struggle for these organizations. Many are also struggling with insufficient monitoring granularity (22 percent ) and high rates of change (21 percent).

So how do network teams adapt their monitoring tools to address IoT? The four most common actions the network teams take, according to our research:

■ Upgrade the data processing capacity of network monitoring tools (45 percent). This addresses the scalability issue.

■ Upgrade monitoring tool licenses to account for more monitored devices and objects (33 percent)

■ Install network visibility controllers (AKA network packet brokers) to aggregate monitoring data (29 percent)

■ Increase monitoring granularity (e.g. shorter polling intervals) 28 percent)

68 percent of network managers are extending their tools to monitor and manage IoT devices

IoT devices present another challenge to network operations, because network teams often take ownership of certain elements of the IoT device lifecycle. More than half (51 percent) of network professionals take a leading role in IoT device deployment, and 64 percent lead the implementation of IoT device security policy and access controls. Furthermore, 57 percent play a supporting role in troubleshooting IoT devices. For this reason, network teams need to evolve their tools.

68 percent of network managers are extending their tools to monitor and manage IoT devices.

Many network managers will find that their tools do not natively support IoT devices. They will have to modify the tools themselves or ask their vendors to customize the tools. If your enterprise is launching one or more IoT initiatives, it’s time to evaluate how your current tools and practices will support IoT.

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The Latest

AI is becoming the operating system of the enterprise. It acts as an invisible coordination layer that understands intent, connects systems, and executes work across complex SaaS environments. Previously, employees had to click through multiple systems — CRM, ERP, support tools, collaboration platforms — to complete a single task. Now, instead of navigating each application manually, they can simply state what they need to accomplish ...

In 2026, the cost of downtime or an outage is no longer just a technical inconvenience; it's a $600 billion wake up call for global businesses. As our digital ecosystems become  more interconnected, each touchpoint introduces new risks and multiplies the consequences when things go wrong. And the data is clear: aggregate downtime costs  for Global 2,000 companies have surged 50% since 2024, reaching a staggering $600 billion ...

Deloitte found that 74% of enterprises expect to deploy agentic AI solutions in the next 24 months. However, the rush to deployment is outpacing foundational work, though. Only 21% of enterprises have fully formed agent governance models in place. The result? AI agents deployed without guidance or governance begin to function as fragmented islands of complexity ...

Cloud spending is no longer viewed as a passthrough IT expense, but as a strategic financial lever that directly impacts innovation capacity, profitability and enterprise resilience, according to the CFO Cloud Cost Optimization Report from Azul ...

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Enterprises today operate in a real-time environment where uninterrupted access to trusted data has become a baseline expectation for users, applications and automated systems. Traditional DataOps models, built on manual effort and human triage, cannot keep pace with this always active demand. AI agents are emerging as the operational backbone, ensuring consistent data availability, reinforcing trustworthiness and enabling a level of scale that manual processes cannot achieve ...

For decades, trust in the digital workplace rested on familiar signals. We trusted faces on video calls, voices on the phone, and emails that appeared to come from people we knew. These cues felt human and intuitive. They anchored how decisions were made, approvals were granted, and access was authorized. AI-powered deepfakes have quietly broken that model ...

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Over the past few years, large language models (LLMs) have revolutionized the software industry. Given their ability to excel at multi-step reasoning, LLMs have helped enterprises streamline workflows and adapt to the unknown. However, employing such models comes with sky-high costs, latency issues, and limited flexibility. In the realm of IT operations, it is generally wiser to employ smaller, domain-specific models instead ...