The evolving Indian network ecosystem

For the first time in the last six quarters, investments in the networking segment spiked to pre-pandemic levels as per IDC Q3 trackers, in anticipation of business as usual from January 2022. Lesser did they know an Omicron was looming and that the country would go back to working from home again. However, pandemic or not, Indian enterprises have adjusted their sails and are focusing on enabling work from anywhere. With applications and stakeholders sitting at distributed locations (branches, homes, data centers, cloud/multi-clouds), the network and security too needs to take a distributed approach as it is not only about connectivity but about user experience too.

Enterprises needs are evolving much faster than expected, bandwidth pipes are getting bulkier by the day. Networks currently are in need for advanced automation features, best-in-class security, and seamless integration at the edge that are leading to next-generation technologies at the campus, data center, cloud, and remote worker locations. With the current complexity involved, the managed services ecosystem is also maturing to cater to the current needs.

Importance of automation
Automation and management through AI and ML are among the key priorities of Indian enterprises. Applications are exploding and better visibility into the East-West traffic has become key for managing and securing the network. The necessity for unified management through a common fabric, which can control multiple elements of the network –be it data center, campus, or remote workers – has become crucial.

Security is key
The remote worker scenario is also leading to serious security conversations, revolving around cloud-delivered networking and security models, using SASE. The market is getting even more crowded with network security and the cloud-security vendors entering the market. The extent of prevailing remote working scenario in the country will largely determine the movement of SASE growth in India with vendors ready to cater to the market with multiple versions of technology.

Software-defined ecosystem
SD-WAN’s market in India has been growing progressively over the last year. The adoption is widely witnessed not just in banking but also in other segments like government, oil and gas, retail, manufacturing, etc. Security capabilities and existing business footprint in the country are seen as key differentiators when enterprises choose SD-WAN vendors. The managed services flavor of SD-WAN is widely accepted in small- and medium-sized deals involving ISP and telecom vendors.

Wi-Fi 6 and 6E
Wi-Fi 6 has already become a de facto technology in the Indian enterprise ecosystem. The chip shortage scenario has played a major role in phasing out older generations of wireless more swiftly than expected. While the vendor ecosystem is ready with Wi-Fi 6E, a lot depends on the end-user device ecosystem and the regulatory landscape in India for delicensing 6Ghz band in India. Cloud-managed wireless in India continues to grow at a steady pace.

Rise in managed services
The pandemic has led to the growth of a strong managed-services ecosystem in India. Many enterprises, specifically in the SMB segment, were not able to refresh their IT owing to the working capital crunch. With efforts from the vendor ecosystem, multiple variants of managed services have emerged. The vendors are partnering with telecom vendors and ISPs to roll out services that cover the entire gamut of networking, including LAN, WLAN, SD-WAN, etc. This has led to easier access of best-in-class technology, coupled with seamless management.

The current competitive scenario mandates that enterprises look at networking beyond mere connectivity. The focus should move away from firefighting everyday challenges to building a futuristic network, which will enable better business connectivity and continuity. The vendor ecosystem is becoming crowded by the day with each of them approaching solutions from different vantage points. Hence, enterprises are in the compulsion to build internal skill sets or collaborate with the right partners to have a clearer knowhow before navigating toward networks of tomorrow.