Digital transformation is acting as a catalyst for businesses to adopt new hybrid network architectures (HNA). These architectures combine on-premises data centres with dynamic hybrid clouds to meet the evolving needs of organizations: most enterprises worldwide now rely on a mix of on-premises/dedicated private clouds, multiple public clouds, and legacy platforms.
As digital transformation expands, the underlying enabling technologies must rise to the occasion by becoming more reliable, energy-efficient, and secure than ever before. But HNA’s can also introduce complexities and potential security vulnerabilities through the integration of multiple environments.
Security is not merely a means to protect resources and assets – it allows networks to accelerate and adapt without introducing unknown risks that could jeopardise the entire enterprise.
So what steps should businesses take to maximise the benefits of a hybrid network without compromising on security?
Thinking about the perimeter
By adopting a unified security framework that spans the entire attack surface, businesses can proactively guard against threats. Converging security with networking elevates overall resilience which helps fortify digital acceleration efforts.
Businesses should start this process by considering the perimeter of their HNA’s. Firewalls can be adopted and equipped with technologies like SD-WAN to ensure that networks remain protected. These can be tailored to hybrid environments and their complex network configurations and traffic patterns.
Modern firewalls can also improve the security of HNAs by enabling the establishment of encrypted communication channels – such as VPN tunnels to safeguard data. These channels help keep data flowing between on-premises and cloud.
In addition, firewalls also offer LAN and WLAN capabilities which provide swift access to local devices and users, and enable segmentation and access control measures. This restricts network access to authorised users and devices only.
Meanwhile, businesses can implement a Universal SASE to help break traditional boundaries by converging networking and security in a manner that supports today’s hybrid workforce. This approach not only expands network edges and microbranches for secure application access but also reinvents the WAN experience. It can provide performance, scalability, and reliability, all while maintaining security.
Centralising management and automation
Adopting a comprehensive dashboard for networking and security can help to centralise and automate hybrid network management. This expedites the delivery of network services across their lifecycle, eliminating downtime and mitigating security breaches caused by manual configuration.
Dashboards provide a unified platform for implementing security policies consistently across the entire infrastructure. This enables rapid detection and response and the deployment of updates, reducing the likelihood of misconfigurations while enhancing overall resilience.
Management platforms and dashboards can streamline automation across configuration, deployment, and orchestration of policies, along with analytics and reporting. Ultimately this can empower IT teams to scale quality of experience seamlessly, offering reliable and high-performance connectivity, no matter the location.
Digital experience monitoring
Modern digital experience monitoring platforms can help to further safeguard hybrid networks. These platforms provide comprehensive observation capabilities, offering real-time insights into application performance and availability across environments.
Traditional performance monitoring solutions often fail to provide network operating centre (NOC) teams with the insights required for critical business applications. A modern digital experience monitoring platform can overcome these limitations, granting superior visibility.
Through ensuring optimal performance and reliability of critical infrastructure elements, they empower businesses with comprehensive observation capabilities – from the end user to the application, across any network, and down to the infrastructure.
Getting strategic
Businesses should pay attention to their existing secure networking strategy. An effective secure networking strategy merges networking and security equipment, streamlining operations and plugging security holes. This forms the bedrock of a resilient digital infrastructure and allows for seamless hybrid deployments, spurring growth and providing flexibility.
Business must ensure that their strategy offers streamlined management of security and ultimately ensure businesses minimise risk.
Embracing new solutions
Working with a trusted partner who can tailor solutions for specific needs is vital. A one-size fits all security approach ultimately won’t work for the majority of businesses. Partners can offer experience, supported by a diverse portfolios, ensuring a consistent security approach for both on-premises and remote users, facilitated through unified management and analytics.
A trusted partner can ensure the swift deployment of a platform which integrate both networking and security providing infrastructure that’s secure, efficient, and adaptable to the evolving digital landscape.
The modern networking landscape requires new solutions to tackle new problems. By embracing modern technologies with integrated security, businesses can not only enhance protection, but also improve employee productivity by streamlining operations and delivering an optimised user experience.
The author
Joel Cunningham is Head of Connect at Daisy Corporate Services
