The Intelligent Next Step for Intent-Based Networking

Networks have become the core of communication channels. Today, we value networks as the most valuable assets that help us grow our business. They become even more valuable when they are providing an additional benefit to the company/business they are associated with. In order to enable the full functionality of networks, one must get a higher level of performance out of them.

Networks have become extremely complex over the past few years. It has become increasingly difficult to manage them through traditional means. With new technologies pouring in, there is a constant need to develop new and improved mechanisms. More importantly, there is a need to design and integrate the technologies into a wholesome product. Some examples of integration are virtualization and cloud services.

Current Trends

With the current trends, it is assumed that the network complexity will only increase in the coming years. Companies have taken it on themselves to improve the connectivity in order to serve businesses in a better way. Intent-based networking is an effort to incorporate intent into the network policy of the company and helps businesses to be more creative and innovative. Here are a few ways that intent-based networking has been incorporated into our networks.

Artificial Intelligence Powering Intent-based Networking

Intent-based networking is focused on simplicity and removing the technicalities out of complex networks. The advancement in Artificial Intelligence is a powerful tool that has enabled IT, teams, to work on methodologies that they were not able to do before. Artificial Intelligence can be used to make networks more efficient and improve usability. Moreover, they become easier to manage and improve peak performance.

There are a number of devices that are connected to networks nowadays. Moreover, there are a number of IoT devices that have exponential growth. Due to limited resources, the IT teams are unable to focus on high-priority issues regarding customers. Every project functions differently. Moreover, networks are changing and evolving. Applying Artificial Intelligence to these networks can help to improve these networks and optimize the networks.

For all those networks that need to be customized, AI can deliver the best functionality. Different AI tools can help to improve the efficiency in businesses and take care of tasks in a similar manner as humans. Although, the tools cannot take the place of humans they can still play a very important role.

There is a need to improve the quality of the AI-driven networks. However, the quality is dependent on the data that it is collected for. The more devices that one uses, the better it is for data collection and for analysis at a later stage. Collecting real-time data and using it to develop a more intelligent network is one of the few advantages of intent-based networking.

Combining Network Policies

Increasing the number of networks comes with an additional duty of integrating them into a combined network. Even within a single organization, there are several networks that are working together. A network on its own cannot fulfill the needs of a business, everything has to work together for operations to work smoothly.

Companies/businesses must realize that networks cannot work as a single entity. In order to meet the needs of the business intent, companies must be focused on network policies so that the whole network works in harmony. For successful integration, the IT teams must be able to coordinate within the various domains and analyze the need for different network policies.

It may not be possible to implement the different network policies at all times, especially with the pace of change today. Intent-based networking is a relevant tool to align IT networks along with the business needs. Moreover, it also helps to make operations simple and improve security as well as the overall efficiency of the overall system.

How to Incorporate Intent-based Networks into the Future

There are a number of steps that companies can take in order to lay the initial foundations for intent-based technology and networking. Let’s discuss the steps in detail:

Step #1 – Understand the Business Requirements

The first step towards developing an intent-based network is to understand the business requirements. This also includes the different policies along with the vision and mission of the business. Moreover, it would become easier if the relevant applications and the critical parts of the infrastructure are identified as well. Once all these pieces of information are aligned, you can analyze which tools are currently being used and what part of the road map has issues.

Step #2 – Build the Relevant Roadmap

Once the business requirements are understood, build out a roadmap that will help identify how different technologies are associated with the business goals of the organizations. The areas that have been identified will help to understand which domains need investment in a duration of five years or so. Your roadmap should clearly define the business goals along with the issues that revolve around the different cable systems along with incorporating High power military BDA into the system.

Step #3 – Start Small

If you are thinking of deploying an intent-based network into your business always start small. Maybe inside a small office, a single floor or even a unit. This is important to understand the problems that may occur in the system and to sort them as they come. Additionally, it is recommended to implement the access layer at the initial stages. Implementing this layer first will allow improved network stability and allow the issues to be resolved quickly and easily.

Final Thoughts

Intent-based networks are known to improve agility along with availability and reduce the number of network outages by almost 50%. Moreover, it is known to provide a greater amount of control and better performance as well along with promising security. It will help companies grow and move towards “self-service”, meaning they will function independently. This innovative piece of technology is known to transform the entire dynamics of the current networks. If you want to be plan ahead, then it is wise to lay the foundations of intent-based networking into your current business strategy.