Jacob Chacko, Regional Business Head – Middle East, Saudi and South Africa (MESA) at HPE Aruba, makes some technological predictions for 2020.
As we approach the end of 2019, Jacob Chacko, Regional Business Head – Middle East, Saudi and South Africa (MESA) at HPE Aruba, gives an insight into major technology trends that will shape the industry in the Middle East in 2020:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
The rise of AI-based, autonomous security
- In 2020, AI-based, increasingly autonomous security technologies will become more prominent as emerging technologies such as IoT and Edge Computing applications consume security practitioners who will require a more efficient way to secure their organisations.
- In the coming year, security breaches will continue to plague organisations of all sizes and attacks will become increasingly complex, widespread and persistent, often carried out by co-ordinated teams of sophisticated hackers.
Network management goes from proactive to predictive mode
- AI-powered automation, heightened programmability and the ability to take action based on insights are all attributes of a modern, self-validating network.
In 2020, we’ll see continued advancements in the areas of data analysis and security, among others, which will enable the process of network management to go from proactive to predictive, easing the burden on network managers and allowing them to focus their efforts on business-impacting issues.
- This will enable IT teams to not only take a proactive stance, but will allow systems to predict when issues will occur based on nuanced patterns, behaviour monitoring and network health, easing the pressure on IT resources even more.
Cloud-driven era
The containerised future
- In this modern era, networks that exhibit cloud-native characteristics – such as modularity, programmability, elasticity and resiliency – will become increasingly popular.
- In 2020, cloud-native networks will help DevOps teams by having switch infrastructures that interact with a cloud-based GUI to better support applications that have proliferated almost everywhere in modern enterprises, especially in containers or as micro-services.
- Whether on premises, or in the cloud, the network must evolve to embrace a containerised future.
Death of network software subscription models
- Having network switches, routers and controllers that go dark once the software registration ends is harmful to businesses.
- When customers buy equipment, they want all the ownership of features, functionality and their network, not a ticking time bomb in the form of a services contract that could impede essential features, security functions and even connectivity itself.
- In 2020, customer-first subscription models tailored
to cloud-driven strategies will emerge to deliver value and peace-of-mind.
Security
Securing widespread adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT)
- While the growing use of IoT devices is providing organisations with new levels of data to make intelligent decisions about business operations, they can also provide an open door for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities. With over 70 billion devices expected to be in operation by 2020 according to Gartner, securing these devices, and using behavioural analytics to detect Indicators of Compromise (IOC) will be critical.
Continued integration and orchestration of security tools
- With enterprises using over 130 plus security tools and technologies on average, in 2020, we will see a rise in the use of integration and orchestration tools to better leverage these technologies for better threat detection and accelerated response.
Wireless
Wayfinding is just the beginning
- In 2020, location services will continue to advance and serve up more meaningful, personalised experiences to users, inviting them to engage with their environment like never before.
- No longer just about wayfinding, location services will enable a new host of services based on proximity and preferences, delivering value to both the provider and the user in the form of customised offers for the user and consumer insights for the provider.
If you build It, they will come
- Despite the fanfare, the introduction of Wi-Fi 6 this year was met with cautious optimism, with sceptics citing that the increased bandwidth enabled by Wi-Fi 6, though impressive, will not necessarily be put to use very soon.
- As a result of continued Wi-Fi 6 innovation, Aruba predicts that 2020 will usher in a new swath of Wi-Fi 6-enabed services that will deliver the performance, availability and quality of service that is promised by technologies such as 5G.
- Wi Fi 6 will be the preferred on ramp to 5G for the majority of enterprise Edge applications.
SD-WAN
Entire distributed enterprises managed from a single pane of glass
- With all layers of the distributed enterprise managed from a single platform, complex WAN management activities for all branches and head-ends (data centres or public clouds) will be greatly simplified in 2020. IT teams will also be able to use these same platforms to unify policy and management, as well as networking and security, for LAN traffic. Throughout the LAN and WAN, a single pane of glass will monitor and manage corporate applications for all users, gateways, access points, switches and other network elements, including IoT devices.
Cloud connectivity becomes more seamless and ubiquitous
- In 2020, organisations will increasingly leverage cloud-based services from branch offices to support mission-critical applications while reducing exposure to malicious users and other sources of cyberattacks. Virtual gateways will better integrate with network services provided in public clouds to greatly simplify and accelerate this trend. New SD-WAN features will enable IT to better monitor and manage applications from public cloud infrastructures.
Public Internet continues to replace MPLS at remote branches
- In 2020, organisations will increasingly utilise public Internet services, which is more widely available and costs up to 100x less than legacy MPLS, for SD-WAN remote office connectivity. This trend is being driven by next-gen SD-WAN solutions which use ML-based analytical tools to improve performance and utilisation. Additionally, these solutions automatically reroute traffic to minimise network disruptions which further increases confidence in public Internet services as a primary transport vehicle.
In conclusion, it is hard to grasp the scale of innovation with the dynamic nature of the tech industry and the pace at which changes are happening. The above list of predictions highlights some of the technology trends that we at Aruba believe CIOs and IT managers should take note of, but it is far from exhaustive. It will be interesting to wait and see the exciting innovations that 2020 will bring!
