4 days, 700 sessions and 18,000 delegates, Cisco Live 2020 marked the start of a new decade with some intriguing insight into the future of networks and the Internet.

Boiling this down into the clear themes and learnings is a considerable challenge given the breadth and depth of the subjects being addressed, however here are the ‘Top Five’ takeaways from us here at Timico.

The worlds of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) are more intertwined, this demands a new approach.

As long predicted IT and OT are essentially becoming two sides of the same coin, but at the same time the intelligence within the network is increasing and as a result for many organisations a unified approach is required, especially in the area of security.

In parallel with this compute, storage and apps are moving inexorably to cloud (or multicloud), creating massive challenges around capacity, connectivity, security, orchestration and governance.

Modern networks and the smart applications which they support, can be incredibly complex and largely virtualised. To deliver a compelling and secure experience involves co-ordinating an increasing number of moving and evolving parts.

To thrive in this environment, ‘BizDevOps’ need to coordinate and act as a single team with a single purpose and vision.

Tools to deliver, manage and secure this are maturing rapidly, augmented increasingly by AI and machine learning. Opex costs as a proportion of total IT spend is already rocketing.

Consolidation, automation and rationalisation across IT tooling is necessary; process and tool sprawl create security risks, killing agility.

Point solutions for specific security, monitoring and operational needs are increasingly unfit for purpose. As IoT matures, the network gets smarter and the number of devices and connections explodes, a holistic policy-driven approach becomes essential. Where multiple toolsets remain necessary then effective orchestration is a must.

For leading digitally enabled businesses, the app or customer portal is now quite literally becoming the brand; the focus now needs to be upon optimising the app experience for the user from a defined set of resources. Software releases are becoming a flow rather than an event and the underlying network and security infrastructure will need to adapt as this becomes the norm.

Your suppliers need to be attuned to this and deliver services backed by a level of control and visibility which spans the business. By utilising smart tooling and recommendation engines it is possible to both pre-empt customer facing issues and greatly reduce time-to-fix for incidents.

Addressing these issues is key to turning your IT operations into a true business enabler. Timico can provide specialist support and guidance around gearing your cloud, connectivity, security and voice infrastructure to enable you to delight your customer – reach out to us today to start your digital transformation!

Andrew Fawcett is Senior Product Manager for Connectivity and Security at Timico.