Five enterprise networking predictions for 2025
In today’s ever-changing digital landscape, the challenge to keep networks in top form can seem overwhelming for enterprise companies. Sound solutions for an interconnected infrastructure, scalability, regulatory requirements, and now AI, will be more vital than ever. Scalability and security are set to be top priorities for most organizations in 2025, from real-time threat detection to efficiently powering enterprise networks to operate quickly and efficiently. As legacy infrastructure and new technologies converge, regulatory requirements and standards cannot be ignored; they drive the implementation of best-in-class security measures and investments. The stakes are high and directly impact business results and brand equity. Here are five enterprise networking predictions for 2025 that can help prioritize network needs and guide network investment:
1. Network security and scalability will remain the priorities for enterprises
Organizations will continue to prioritize network security and scalability, adopting advanced technology to realize their goals. From integrating AI for real-time threat detection and adopting zero-trust architecture to securing IoT devices and supply chains, organizations will prioritize their investments in securing and scaling their business. Technologies like SD-WAN/SASE and next-gen Wi-Fi will be critical components of enterprise infrastructure to enable scalability. In a recent survey, the Telecom and Technology business of NCR Atleos found that 48% of IT leaders feel the primary concern with enterprise networking is security.
2. Regulatory requirements will trigger security-related investments
With increasing technology complexities and the global nature of businesses, organizations must abide by regulations and standards to protect data and systems not only for the benefit of their business, but also to win the trust of their customers. Failing to meet these regulations and standards can lead to heavy fines, thus increasing costs for the company, and also exposes the business to numerous risks that impact the trust and loyalty of employees and customers. 96% of executives believe that their security enhancement measures are driven by regulatory requirements, and securing enterprise networks is no different.
3. The complexity of network management and monitoring will continue to be a challenge
In an ever-evolving digital landscape and hyperconnected world, four out of five firms cite complexity and lack of visibility as top network-related concerns. This statistic aligns with the challenges we observe among most of our customers. The convergence of cloud, on-premises and legacy infrastructure, along with new technologies like AI, edge computing, private 5G, and IoT, adds to the complexity. Additionally, in such complex environments, function leaders struggle to achieve a single pane of visibility. They need to integrate various networking systems and monitoring tools to get a comprehensive view of performance and ensure alignment with business goals. In 2025 this challenge will continue to trigger conversations on simplifying the process and achieving the ROI and visibility of performance.
4. AI-powered networking readiness will boost collaboration between business and technology decision-makers
Business readiness to fully adopt and leverage AI has been a topic of interest for many experts. Most organizations are exploring the capability of AI-powered networking to increase efficiency and reduce costs. However, there is a lingering concern about business readiness to leverage AI, with only about 13% of companies being fully prepared to capitalize on AI’s potential, according to research from Cisco. Expectations are that budget allocations will continue to increase in the future. However, more than half of the surveyed companies have experienced AI implementations falling short of expectations when it came to addressing top priorities. In 2025, organizations will see close collaboration between technology and business leaders to fully understand the expectations versus reality and assess the business infrastructure to align with expectations from AI-powered networks.
5. AI-based attacks and threats loom as a major challenge
While AI’s use cases in driving efficiency and resource optimization have immense potential, the vulnerabilities associated with security will be extremely challenging to manage. Tech leaders may feel confident about their ability to reduce risks that come with AI implementations, but only half of hands-on IT security experts feel the same way. AI-powered cyber threat is a beast waiting to create havoc if there is the slightest lapse in network and infrastructure risk mitigation and detection strategies. 60% of security stakeholders worry that their organizations are not well prepared to address AI-powered attacks. The good news is there are a considerable number of AI-powered networking solutions to defend against these attacks. However, organizations must strategically invest in AI readiness, including infrastructure, skills, and planning to truly benefit from AI-powered networking solutions.
