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The Age of SASE and Network-as-a-Service Is Upon Us

An uncertain economy is impacting network and security team investments, but CIOs, CISOs and IT leaders are doubling down on investment in the cloud, according to the Enterprise Network Transformation report from Aryaka.

Other trends uncovered by report include:

■ The rapid shift to cloud services and the complexity of a now hybrid workforce has changed how modern IT leaders view network and security, likely forever.

■ Network and security leaders are no longer able to choose between investing in application performance or security, they need it all.

■ Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), the continued decline of multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), and a need to consolidate a sprawling vendor stack is forcing legacy telcos to lose their longtime stranglehold on the enterprise network.

■ NaaS is not only emerging, it is exploding on the scene as one of the only viable solutions for IT leaders to solve the growing complexity of an anytime, anywhere world.

Significantly, 98% of those surveyed indicated they plan to increase their investment in cloud services, despite ongoing economic uncertainty. This counters the narrative of a "technology slowdown," instead indicating that IT leaders are shifting from traditional IT to the cloud, which is aligned with the workforce's adoption of hybrid and remote models along with the continued need for networks to connect people, applications and enterprises to datacenters, edge devices and cloud infrastructure.

Furthermore, 94% of respondents believe SASE will play a larger role in their networking and security plans, while 62% plan to eliminate MPLS from their operations.

"In this current era of uncertainty, chaos and unprecedented times, one of the consistencies we are seeing is that businesses need to be flexible, adaptable and ready for anything," said Matt Carter, Aryaka CEO. "Our report indicates that the vast majority of CIOs, CISOs and IT leaders are preparing for this uncertainty by investing in and adopting architecture, policies and technologies that converge networking and security, as these disciplines are critical to business success."

The findings underline that enterprise leaders see networking and security as vital to their organizations' long-term success, with 47% of survey respondents indicating they plan to accelerate cloud and network services adoption despite current economic conditions. These executives recognize the critical need for ongoing cloud investments, hybrid work and better application performance and security, while anticipating the decline of MPLS and the arrival of NaaS as a key long-term investment.

Methodology: The report was compiled from a survey of more than 230 C-level, vice president and director-level leaders at global enterprises in network and security roles.

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

The Age of SASE and Network-as-a-Service Is Upon Us

An uncertain economy is impacting network and security team investments, but CIOs, CISOs and IT leaders are doubling down on investment in the cloud, according to the Enterprise Network Transformation report from Aryaka.

Other trends uncovered by report include:

■ The rapid shift to cloud services and the complexity of a now hybrid workforce has changed how modern IT leaders view network and security, likely forever.

■ Network and security leaders are no longer able to choose between investing in application performance or security, they need it all.

■ Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), the continued decline of multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), and a need to consolidate a sprawling vendor stack is forcing legacy telcos to lose their longtime stranglehold on the enterprise network.

■ NaaS is not only emerging, it is exploding on the scene as one of the only viable solutions for IT leaders to solve the growing complexity of an anytime, anywhere world.

Significantly, 98% of those surveyed indicated they plan to increase their investment in cloud services, despite ongoing economic uncertainty. This counters the narrative of a "technology slowdown," instead indicating that IT leaders are shifting from traditional IT to the cloud, which is aligned with the workforce's adoption of hybrid and remote models along with the continued need for networks to connect people, applications and enterprises to datacenters, edge devices and cloud infrastructure.

Furthermore, 94% of respondents believe SASE will play a larger role in their networking and security plans, while 62% plan to eliminate MPLS from their operations.

"In this current era of uncertainty, chaos and unprecedented times, one of the consistencies we are seeing is that businesses need to be flexible, adaptable and ready for anything," said Matt Carter, Aryaka CEO. "Our report indicates that the vast majority of CIOs, CISOs and IT leaders are preparing for this uncertainty by investing in and adopting architecture, policies and technologies that converge networking and security, as these disciplines are critical to business success."

The findings underline that enterprise leaders see networking and security as vital to their organizations' long-term success, with 47% of survey respondents indicating they plan to accelerate cloud and network services adoption despite current economic conditions. These executives recognize the critical need for ongoing cloud investments, hybrid work and better application performance and security, while anticipating the decline of MPLS and the arrival of NaaS as a key long-term investment.

Methodology: The report was compiled from a survey of more than 230 C-level, vice president and director-level leaders at global enterprises in network and security roles.

Hot Topics

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 ...