At first this may seem to be nothing more than a change in terminology, but it isn’t. The reason why people are talking about transformation is because the role of the network is fundamentally changing, and therefore the approach organisations are having to take to achieve their goals is also changing.
For many years, most of the variables within networks were relatively fixed:
- Most organisations used MPLS as their backbone technology
- Most organisations used a single service provider
- Most organisations used a managed service solution
The relatively fixed nature of these variables meant that, whilst migrating a network was always an option, transformation opportunities were few and far between
Add in that, for many organisations, the network wasn’t always mission critical and certainly wasn’t part of the fundamental go-to-market strategy for the business, and it is easy to see why the IT departments generally had very little scope or incentive to transform or significantly improve their networks.
However, if we fast forward to today, almost all those variables are in motion:
- More and more organisations are co-existing MPLS with other technologies such as internet and SD-WAN
- More and more organisations are either using multiple service providers today, or are planning on doing so in the future
- The profusion of technologies and service providers means many more organisations are moving away from a default “managed service model” to something more bespoke
Add to this that the network is increasingly becoming a fundamental component of the business operation, and it quickly becomes clear that the development of a network transformation strategy is an important initiative now being considered at the board level.
Hence the change from migration to transformation. For an organisation to achieve its objectives for its network solution, it now has to develop and execute a strategy for every aspect of its network, including technology, commercials, operating model, management and the change programme to achieve these objectives.
Through this white paper, we will explore the critical factors to achieve a successful network transformation.