The digital world is changing faster than ever before. Companies are increasingly connecting with partners, customers and suppliers, becoming part of a broader ecosystem. The number of users and devices continues to grow, applications are moving to the cloud, and employees are working from anywhere – from home, coworking spaces or on the move. Traditional network infrastructure is no longer able to cope with these demands, which is why SDx (Software-Defined Everything) has been gaining prominence. Read on to find out which trends are shaping this area today.
SDx represents a modern approach to managing IT infrastructure, where networks, data centres, security and operational processes are controlled and automated through software. It delivers greater flexibility, faster responses to business needs and lower costs. Today, SDx connects several key areas – artificial intelligence (AI) in networks, automation, easy integration of different systems, advanced security with microsegmentation, and cloud-based security (SASE). Together, these trends help organisations become more agile, efficient and better prepared for the future.
One of the most significant trends is the growing adoption of AI in networking solutions. Modern AI-driven network analytics take network management beyond traditional tools based on machine learning, knowledge databases or statistical analysis. They can automatically analyse data, learn from it and predict problems before they occur. AI often uncovers relationships that might escape human operators and provides predictive alerts about potential risks. Increasingly, AI Network Assistants – sometimes described as “ChatGPT for networks” – are being used to answer questions in natural language and deliver relevant information without the need for manual searches.
Insights from Martin Čaprnka, our Solutions Architect
Business benefits: “With these capabilities, companies can shorten incident resolution times, minimise outages and use IT resources more efficiently. More accurate decision-making based on large volumes of data reduces the risk of oversight or human error in network management. Predictive analytics enables proactive maintenance, lowering operational costs and increasing service reliability.”
Modern companies no longer see networks as isolated islands for WAN, LAN or data centres. The prevailing trend is unified management of all parts of the network from a single point, simplifying administration and enabling consistent access, segmentation and quality-of-service policies from users all the way to the cloud. Open APIs play a crucial role in this type of integration, allowing different systems to be connected and automation to be simplified. Companies such as Cisco have long focused on centralised, software-defined management of entire infrastructures – solutions like Cisco Catalyst Center and Cisco ACI demonstrate effective unification of management, automation and security across the whole ecosystem.
Business benefits (Martin Čaprnka): “With integration, IT infrastructure management becomes simpler and more efficient. Administrative overhead is reduced, while service consistency and stability increase, without sacrificing the flexibility to choose technologies from different vendors. New services can be deployed faster and more reliably, with lower operating costs.”
Modern data centres and IT infrastructure are undergoing a transformation towards full automation using Infrastructure as Code (IaC). Automation can cover a wide range of tasks – from simple operations such as network component provisioning to advanced processes like automating configurations that combine multiple types of infrastructure devices from different vendors. When creating and approving final configuration templates, consistency is ensured across all IT domains – networking, security and IT operations. Standardised processes maintain uniformity and reliability across the entire infrastructure.
Orchestration implemented directly through code ensures:
Business benefits (Martin Čaprnka): “Automation enables faster service deployment, simplifies the management and control of changes, and reduces the risk of human error. This directly supports greater reliability, efficiency and higher security in IT operations.”
In recent years, modern principles of microsegmentation and access control at multiple levels of infrastructure have become increasingly important. Networks are divided into smaller logical segments with clearly defined rules and zones. At the same time, access control is moving closer to the resource itself – the application, user or device – significantly increasing the security of the entire infrastructure.
Microsegmentation can be implemented in several ways. One way of looking at it is based on where it is deployed within the infrastructure:
Business benefits (Martin Čaprnka): “Segmentation increases security and the precision of access control, minimises the risk of attack propagation within the network, and protects sensitive data. Organisations can securely support hybrid work and manage access to their systems more effectively, reducing potential damage and operational risk.”
As services and applications move to the cloud, the way modern organisations operate is changing. In a software-defined infrastructure, integration with cloud-based security through SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) is therefore essential. SASE delivers security tools directly from the cloud, enables centralised access and data control, and protects users regardless of where they connect from.
Business benefits (Martin Čaprnka): “Companies can safely migrate services to the cloud, reduce the cost of on-premises security solutions, improve visibility and control over their networks, and provide secure access to employees, partners and customers. By implementing microsegmentation, they also gain greater flexibility in managing access rights and can more easily meet the demands of hybrid working environments and cloud services.”
Companies can already take advantage of available IT solutions to deploy services faster and increase operational reliability. SDx delivers greater competitiveness, higher efficiency and the ability to innovate rapidly. Organisations that adopt these trends gain flexibility and confidence that their IT infrastructure is keeping pace with change. The ability to adapt to new market requirements and manage security effectively has become one of the keys to long-term success. The leaders will be those companies that are not afraid to actively adopt innovation and fully leverage its potential.
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