Top Transformative Technology Trends in Networking for 2016

Pete Goldin
APMdigest

The Year 2015 has seen organizations disrupting their markets with the digital transformation of their businesses as they embrace 3rd Platform computing and New IP networking strategies that have helped them become leaders in new markets. According to Brocade, moving into 2016, more businesses are expected to leverage smart machines and transformative technologies to give them a clear competitive advantage.

Brocade outlines the top transformative technology trends in networking to watch for in 2016 and beyond:

1. The cloud will gain even greater traction

According to IDC, more than half of all IT spending is going to be on the 3rd Platform, otherwise known as cloud-based technologies, and that figure will surpass 60 percent of all IT spending by 2020. The migration of old, legacy IP network architectures to New IP networks will accelerate, reaching near-mainstream adoption as enterprises and service providers transform their networks into an open, software-driven platform for innovation and a competitive edge.

2. Software-based networks are clearly the future

Over the past year, software has transformed the data center and networks in general, with service providers and enterprises turning to Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) to create new services quickly, scale them easily, and deliver them in user-centric ways. 2016 will bring about the expanded adoption of innovative, open, and automated software networking platforms as enterprises and service providers migrate to New IP networks. The increasing deployment of x86 server architecture will accelerate this transformation, replacing specialized networking hardware in multiple network roles, such as Application Delivery Controllers (ADCs). ADCs have already begun transforming to a virtual (vADC) model to help enterprises and services providers scale capacity on demand to handle peak workloads. Software is increasingly permeating every aspect of this virtualization transformation.

3. The importance of security will skyrocket

Organizations operating in today's New IP networking environment face increasing demands for cloud-based applications and need to support social, mobile, and Big Data initiatives. However, security-related attacks and breaches continue to impede the delivery of services and create additional challenges to network and service reliability. New IP networking solutions allow organizations to deploy more advanced security that is designed into the network from the start, not bolted on at edge to existing infrastructure. The network itself can be pervasively vigilant and track behavior on and not just access to the network, to quickly identify and prevent unwanted activity. Security services can be virtualized, enabling organizations to distribute security wherever it is needed and customize security at various levels -- by geography or location, function, group or individual, or application.

4. DevOps will play a much larger role

DevOps, or any agile software development methodology that closely matches services with business demands, will gain widespread influence and uptake among both enterprises and service providers as a way to ensure they remain competitive. According to IDC, enterprises pursuing digital transformation strategies will more than double their software development capabilities by 2018. Companies that build and use field-focused development teams that operate without the constraints of rigid traditional product development processes will have a significant advantage in customer-focused innovation. This advantage extends to both the speed of development and to customer intimacy and retention.

5. Big Data and analytics will get even bigger

Organizations that are able to take advantage of the explosion of data will seize the day, and many of these disrupters will be startups that use Big Data to make strategic decisions based on analytics. As data gets increasingly colossal, so do the opportunities, skillsets, and demand for analytic and cognitive services across industries. The ability to derive intelligence from Big Data in real time will create a distinct competitive edge for any business.

6. Machine learning takes off

The advent of machine learning is the computing breakthrough made possible by Big Data. The emergence of algorithms that can learn from and even make predictions based on the enormous amounts of data and meta-data that are generated, transmitted, and stored via networks will change the world of data centers and networks beginning in 2016. This process is already underway, as facial and speech recognition are changing the worlds of consumer electronics and the cloud services that use them, and anomaly detection is quickly becoming a crucial part of network security.

7. The rise of the telco with virtual architecture

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) that have been struggling to keep up with fast-changing customer needs and market opportunities will be compelled to embrace SDN and NFV in 2016. The risk of falling behind is set to intensify with each passing day as carriers and service providers that embrace change will become the winners in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem and 5G race by 2020.

8. The technical talent crunch gets serious

Vendors, service providers, and user organizations are all competing for a limited pool of next-generation talent with the required coding and technical skills. The talent crunch issue will become increasingly acute, and organizations will have to rethink their human resource strategies and policies in order to attract, develop, and retain strong talent. Technical qualifications that were only recently seen as de facto passports to important positions in networking will change in the face of self-provisioning and self-programming networks. Increasingly, critical networking positions will begin to require advanced analytical and coding skills that are in very short supply today.

Pete Goldin is Editor and Publisher of APMdigest

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Top Transformative Technology Trends in Networking for 2016

Pete Goldin
APMdigest

The Year 2015 has seen organizations disrupting their markets with the digital transformation of their businesses as they embrace 3rd Platform computing and New IP networking strategies that have helped them become leaders in new markets. According to Brocade, moving into 2016, more businesses are expected to leverage smart machines and transformative technologies to give them a clear competitive advantage.

Brocade outlines the top transformative technology trends in networking to watch for in 2016 and beyond:

1. The cloud will gain even greater traction

According to IDC, more than half of all IT spending is going to be on the 3rd Platform, otherwise known as cloud-based technologies, and that figure will surpass 60 percent of all IT spending by 2020. The migration of old, legacy IP network architectures to New IP networks will accelerate, reaching near-mainstream adoption as enterprises and service providers transform their networks into an open, software-driven platform for innovation and a competitive edge.

2. Software-based networks are clearly the future

Over the past year, software has transformed the data center and networks in general, with service providers and enterprises turning to Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) to create new services quickly, scale them easily, and deliver them in user-centric ways. 2016 will bring about the expanded adoption of innovative, open, and automated software networking platforms as enterprises and service providers migrate to New IP networks. The increasing deployment of x86 server architecture will accelerate this transformation, replacing specialized networking hardware in multiple network roles, such as Application Delivery Controllers (ADCs). ADCs have already begun transforming to a virtual (vADC) model to help enterprises and services providers scale capacity on demand to handle peak workloads. Software is increasingly permeating every aspect of this virtualization transformation.

3. The importance of security will skyrocket

Organizations operating in today's New IP networking environment face increasing demands for cloud-based applications and need to support social, mobile, and Big Data initiatives. However, security-related attacks and breaches continue to impede the delivery of services and create additional challenges to network and service reliability. New IP networking solutions allow organizations to deploy more advanced security that is designed into the network from the start, not bolted on at edge to existing infrastructure. The network itself can be pervasively vigilant and track behavior on and not just access to the network, to quickly identify and prevent unwanted activity. Security services can be virtualized, enabling organizations to distribute security wherever it is needed and customize security at various levels -- by geography or location, function, group or individual, or application.

4. DevOps will play a much larger role

DevOps, or any agile software development methodology that closely matches services with business demands, will gain widespread influence and uptake among both enterprises and service providers as a way to ensure they remain competitive. According to IDC, enterprises pursuing digital transformation strategies will more than double their software development capabilities by 2018. Companies that build and use field-focused development teams that operate without the constraints of rigid traditional product development processes will have a significant advantage in customer-focused innovation. This advantage extends to both the speed of development and to customer intimacy and retention.

5. Big Data and analytics will get even bigger

Organizations that are able to take advantage of the explosion of data will seize the day, and many of these disrupters will be startups that use Big Data to make strategic decisions based on analytics. As data gets increasingly colossal, so do the opportunities, skillsets, and demand for analytic and cognitive services across industries. The ability to derive intelligence from Big Data in real time will create a distinct competitive edge for any business.

6. Machine learning takes off

The advent of machine learning is the computing breakthrough made possible by Big Data. The emergence of algorithms that can learn from and even make predictions based on the enormous amounts of data and meta-data that are generated, transmitted, and stored via networks will change the world of data centers and networks beginning in 2016. This process is already underway, as facial and speech recognition are changing the worlds of consumer electronics and the cloud services that use them, and anomaly detection is quickly becoming a crucial part of network security.

7. The rise of the telco with virtual architecture

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) that have been struggling to keep up with fast-changing customer needs and market opportunities will be compelled to embrace SDN and NFV in 2016. The risk of falling behind is set to intensify with each passing day as carriers and service providers that embrace change will become the winners in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem and 5G race by 2020.

8. The technical talent crunch gets serious

Vendors, service providers, and user organizations are all competing for a limited pool of next-generation talent with the required coding and technical skills. The talent crunch issue will become increasingly acute, and organizations will have to rethink their human resource strategies and policies in order to attract, develop, and retain strong talent. Technical qualifications that were only recently seen as de facto passports to important positions in networking will change in the face of self-provisioning and self-programming networks. Increasingly, critical networking positions will begin to require advanced analytical and coding skills that are in very short supply today.

Pete Goldin is Editor and Publisher of APMdigest

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Most organizations approach OpenTelemetry as a collection of individual tools they need to assemble from scratch. This view misses the bigger picture. OpenTelemetry is a complete telemetry framework with composable components that address specific problems at different stages of organizational maturity. You start with what you need today and adopt additional pieces as your observability practices evolve ...

The Quiet Power of Milliseconds in High Traffic Systems

One of the earliest lessons I learned from architecting throughput-heavy services is that simplicity wins repeatedly: fewer moving parts, loosely coupled execution (fewer synchronous calls), and precise timing metering. You want data and decisions to travel the shortest possible path. The goal is to build a system where every strategy and each line of code (contention is the key metric) complements the decision trees ...

Are AI "Autonomous Coworkers" Ready for Payroll?

As discussions around AI "autonomous coworkers" accelerate, many industry projections assume that agents will soon operate alongside human staff in making decisions, taking actions, and managing tasks with minimal oversight. But a growing number of critics (including some of the developers building these systems) argue that the industry still has a long way to go to be able to treat AI agents like fully trusted teammates ...

Enterprise AI Reaches Pivotal Inflection Point: From Automation to Agentic Intelligence

Enterprise AI has entered a transformational phase where, according to Digitate's recently released survey, Agentic AI and the Future of Enterprise IT, companies are moving beyond traditional automation toward Agentic AI systems designed to reason, adapt, and collaborate alongside human teams ...

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The numbers back this urgency up. A recent Zapier survey shows that 92% of enterprises now treat AI as a top priority. Leaders want it, and teams are clamoring for it. But if you look closer at the operations of these companies, you see a different picture. The rollout is slow. The results are often delayed. There's a disconnect between what leaders want and what their technical infrastructure can handle ...

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Kyndryl's 2025 Readiness Report revealed that 61% of global business and technology leaders report increasing pressure from boards and regulators to prove AI's ROI. As the technology evolves and expectations continue to rise, leaders are compelled to generate and prove impact before scaling further. This will lead to a decisive turning point in 2026 ...

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Cloudflare's disruption illustrates how quickly a single provider's issue cascades into widespread exposure. Many organizations don't fully realize how tightly their systems are coupled to thirdparty services, or how quickly availability and security concerns align when those services falter ... You can't avoid these dependencies, but you can understand them ...

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If you work with AI, you know this story. A model performs during testing, looks great in early reviews, works perfectly in production and then slowly loses relevance after operating for a while. Everything on the surface looks perfect — pipelines are running, predictions or recommendations are error-free, data quality checks show green; yet outcomes don't meet the ground reality. This pattern often repeats across enterprise AI programs. Take for example, a mid-sized retail banking and wealth-management firm with heavy investments in AI-powered risk analytics, fraud detection and personalized credit-decisioning systems. The model worked well for a while, but transactions increased, so did false positives by 18% ...

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Basic uptime is no longer the gold standard. By 2026, network monitoring must do more than report status, it must explain performance in a hybrid-first world. Networks are no longer just static support systems; they are agile, distributed architectures that sit at the very heart of the customer experience and the business outcomes ... The following five trends represent the new standard for network health, providing a blueprint for teams to move from reactive troubleshooting to a proactive, integrated future ...

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APMdigest's Predictions Series concludes with 2026 AI Predictions — industry experts offer predictions on how AI and related technologies will evolve and impact business in 2026. Part 5, the final installment, covers AI's impacts on IT teams ...