Converged infrastructure for a network-enabled cloud and gaining competitive advantage

Cloud computing services supported by converged networks will create new opportunities for forward-looking senior executives to make informed decisions and gain significant new strategic competitive advantages.

According to the latest market study by Frost & Sullivan, transaction data is the new currency for the digital enterprise and high-speed, dedicated and secure network connections are crucial for senior decision makers to monetize their commercial data residing in cloud services.

Furthermore, an integrated network with cloud services will ensure a secured network to deliver business-critical applications and data to support executives in achieving their digital transformation agenda and related business outcomes.

Converged infrastructure market development

Industry verticals, both traditional and emerging, are already investing heavily in integrated networks as part of their cloud-first journey to leverage next-generation technologies – such as big data, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT).

“Converged infrastructure offers a more evolved cloud computing platform to derive better cost efficiency and time savings,” said Mayuri Ghosh, senior consulting analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Network-enabled cloud services with next-generation security features will provide the reliability of a private network – such as multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) and Ethernet – allowing enterprises to take advantage of a flexible and multi-tenant, usage-based billing model.

According to the Frost & Sullivan assessment, savvy vertical industry leaders are currently adopting MPLS, Ethernet, and leased lines to create a seamless network experience — this includes banking, financial services and insurance, manufacturing, eCommerce, professional services, retail, healthcare, and the hospitality sector.

Deploying network-enabled cloud computing will:

  • Allow cloud services to seamlessly fit into existing enterprise network architecture;
  • Act as an extension of the enterprise wide-area network (WAN), enabling remote employees and partners to connect to cloud-based applications in a secure manner;
  • Extend the flexibility of the cloud model to network services so that network resources can scale as required; and
  • Help enterprises take advantage of increased application performance resulting from improvements through network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN).

“Cloud and network value chain providers together can realize the network-enabled cloud for the enterprise,” said Ghosh. “For network value chain providers – including network managed service providers, Telcos, internet service providers, and network original equipment manufacturers – network ownership and maintenance is the key value proposition, and effectiveness is vital to success.