The network: Why the world’s most critical asset is also undervalued
The network that makes AI, the cloud and digital services possible is too often treated as a cost to cut rather than an asset worth protecting
There’s a strange contradiction at the heart of the digital economy. We’ve never depended on networks more. AI and cloud depend on them, as do our applications, productivity, customer experiences and connections with the rest of the world. Yet the more essential connectivity becomes, the more we seem to treat it as a commodity — something that should get faster, better and cheaper every year.
The problem is that the network is the foundation for everything that follows. If that foundation isn’t strong enough, every digital ambition built on it is constrained from the outset, limiting what organizations can achieve today and their ability to capitalize on what comes next.
We’re asking more of the network than ever before
In a packed stadium during an international football match, tens of thousands of fans are filming, messaging, checking live statistics and posting to social media, often while using more than one device. At the same time, broadcasters and digital platforms are moving enormous volumes of data.
It’s an extreme example of the pressure that networks now face every day: more traffic, more devices and higher expectations of performance.
AI raises the stakes further. Vast quantities of data have to move between users, applications, clouds and data centers. Multicloud environments are becoming commonplace, while edge computing is expanding and security requirements are intensifying. Bandwidth that we once discussed in megabits is now measured in gigabits.
In short, we expect much more from the network, but we don’t necessarily expect to pay more for it.
Customers are right to demand value for money. The problem comes when expectations and investment become disconnected. You can’t ask for ultra-low latency, carrier diversity, 99.99% availability, advanced security, geographic redundancy and rapid restoration while simultaneously assuming the infrastructure delivering it all can indefinitely decrease in cost.
A running network isn’t necessarily fit for the journey ahead
Compare the network journey with something as simple as everyday transportation.
Getting from point A to point B will look very different in the years ahead. As vehicles become smarter, the infrastructure around them has to evolve as well. Roads will increasingly need connected technology that can communicate with vehicles, while planning and regulation will have to adapt as self-driving cars, drones and other new forms of transport become part of everyday life.
Networks face much the same challenge. Legacy infrastructure may still do the job it was built to do, but that doesn’t mean it’s ready for what comes next.
The question, then, isn’t simply whether your network works but whether it can keep working as the demands placed on it change — supporting greater scale, more automation, stronger security and increasingly intelligent applications without becoming the constraint that holds everything else back.
This is an area where NTT DATA has already made a significant investment in Network 4, a software-defined network that provides the foundation for the next generation of capabilities. That means automation and AI can be stacked on top of an architecture already designed for what comes next.
NTT DATA made that investment around five years ago with Network 4. Because it’s software-defined, the groundwork for greater automation, scalability and intelligence is already in place. We don’t have to rebuild the network every time a new capability comes along.
That’s what future-proofing should mean: not buying the biggest network you can afford, but making sure it can adapt without a costly overhaul.
The high cost of cutting corners
Changing networks and service providers is disruptive. It takes time, costs money and can become a serious operational headache.
So, instead of focusing on how cheaply you can buy connectivity today, determine whether your network will allow your organization to do what it needs to do tomorrow.
Saving a relatively small amount on connectivity looks rather different when measured against an hour of lost productivity, interrupted production or unhappy customers. That’s why the conversation needs to go beyond the monthly bill and consider what the network actually allows the organization to do.
The commodity that can set you free
There’s no point pretending networks haven’t become commoditized. They have. But what are we doing about it?
Network providers have a responsibility here. We need to combine human expertise with automation, AI and scale to make networks more capable without simply passing every additional cost on to clients. We also need to rethink how we measure their value. Instead of focusing primarily on availability, SLAs should reflect what the network actually enables the business to achieve.
At NTT DATA, that means continuing to invest both in the network and in the people who design, manage and improve it.
As a client, meanwhile, you need to consider what strong connectivity actually enables. If your applications run over the network, your people work over it, your customers reach you through it and your AI ambitions depend on data moving across it, then cutting corners on the network is a false economy.
If you’re shortsighted about your network, you’ll limit what you can get from AI and the wider digital economy. Invest the time and energy in getting the architecture right — and, where it matters, a little more money — and the network becomes much more than infrastructure connecting A to B. It becomes an enabler of revenue streams and opportunities you may not even have considered yet.
What to do next
Read more about NTT DATA’s Enterprise Networking services to see how we can prepare your network for tomorrow’s needs.