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Legacy networking infrastructure holding customers back | Microscope

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6 months ago

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Legacy networking infrastructure holding customers back | Microscope

Customers are struggling to fend off cyber threats that are plaguing their networks, with remote and hybrid working contributing to the risks faced by users.

Research from Daisy Corporate Services has revealed just shy of 70% of those organisations it quizzed have seen an increase in the number of threats they are facing in the past 18 months. A similar number view defending against that rising tide the biggest networking challenge, with remote working adding to the problems.

The channel player’s State of networking report 2024 should make interesting reading for any channel player involved in the networking and security spaces.

Dealing with network complexity is a major issue for many users, with the vast majority having to wrestle with an infrastructure littered with numerous supplier products. As a result, 88% are looking to simplify their network.

Added to that is the pressure many face to allow remote and hybrid working securely, with high numbers pointing to those working practices as being a major contributor to increased networking vulnerabilities.

“At a time when the network perimeter is becoming increasingly virtual and a growing number of business processes and applications are online, it has never been so important to be able to maintain and manage a secure boundary between your network and the outside world,” said Joel Cunningham, head of connect at Daisy Corporate Services.

“Simply hoping your remote employees will enable a VPN outside the office doesn’t constitute a robust network security strategy,” he added.

Legacy technology

The reliance on legacy technology was making it difficult for customers to roll out cloud-based applications on top of existing network demands. The pressure put on the infrastructure by hot-desking and meeting room video calls was also a problem for many users.

“Legacy networking equipment remains a huge cost centre, preventing organisations from reaching their sustainability goals and causing significant overspend across maintenance and power consumption,” said Cunningham.

The problem for many users was that the path to an upgrade to the likes of Wi-Fi 6 was made more difficult by cost pressures, and that left many having to sit with their legacy hardware.

“The traditional approaches to managing wide area networks often fall short in addressing these complex issues,” he said. “However, software-defined wide area networking has emerged and evolved into a transformative solution. This powerful technology not only solves the problem of optimising network performance but enhances security measures, giving organisations an edge in the ever-evolving threat landscape.”

Those resellers keen to prise customers off legacy kit not only have the security and performance challenges to focus on, but Daisy also unearthed some questions customers would be concerned about on the sustainability front.

The research revealed legacy network hardware accounted for a third of organisations’ overall IT power consumption. Many users identified that shifting to more modern technology would help them go a long way in hitting their green goals.

A significant number (59%) indicated that disposing of legacy hardware in an environmentally friendly way was also something where they could struggle.

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