IDC's Network Observability and Automation service examines customer requirements, tracks technology advancements, evaluates key success factors, and forecasts market adoption of next-generation enterprise network management solutions. As networks grow in complexity and criticality, enterprises across the globe are demanding more detailed intelligence and actionable insights focused on improving the state of their network infrastructure, connected resources, and digital experience. Meanwhile, the scale of network data available to enterprises is exploding as connections, flows, traffic volumes, active threats, and complex exchanges continue to climb. In response, powerful network observability solutions combine comprehensive data collection and in-depth analytics to direct automated management, thus driving more precise and productive enterprise network and IT operations, engineering, and support. For technology buyers, network observability and automation use cases, best practices, and solid and specific returns are expanding as value builds along technology, business, and organizational lines. For technology suppliers, keys to success are expanding as both technology solutions and support services combine to address critical IT requirements around end-to-end performance, network resiliency, unified management, and autonomous operations.
Network Observability and Automation
Markets and Subjects Analyzed
- Data acquisition, from logs to polls to telematry to synthetic transactions
- In-depth analysis of norms, trends, anomalies, and root causes
- Management automation: From triggering alerts to taking actions
- Cloud-based management solutions: Advantages? Directions?
- Integration of toolsets and data sets beyond the network: IT, security, cloud, applications, and IoT
- The critical role of support services in supplier and buyer success
- Key innovations: Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), automation, cloud visibility, UI, and data management
- Technology partnerships: The vital role of the supplier ecosystem
- Solution evolution: Hardware versus software, systems versus services, purchased solutions versus customer developed
- Establishing and applying industry baselines across the network
- Impact on IT staff effectiveness (NetOps, SecOps, DevOps)
- Competition: Many suppliers/groups fighting on multiple fronts
- Evaluating the ROI of network observability and automation
- Network equipment vendors: Products, positions, and potential impact on network observability and automation
- Mergers and acquisitions accelerate advancements and adoption
- Shifting enterprise requirements, best practices, and spending patterns
- The role and impact of network analytics on network-as-a-service (NaaS) developments and adoption
- The enterprise IT journey in network automation: Analysis to action, scripting to programming, operating to optimizing, test to governance
Core Research
- Enterprise Network Performance Management Market Forecast, 2022-2026
- Top Trends in Network Management: Heightening Intelligence, Insights, Integration, and Innovation
- Observability and Cloud Networks: Improved Visibility and Control
- Network Observability and Automation: Examining Real-World ROI
- AI/ML: Driving Intelligent In-Depth Analytics and Observations
- Support Services: Keys to Delivery in Network Observability
- IDC Innovators: Network Automation Tools and Utilities
- IDC’s Future of IT Survey, 2023: Impact and Outlook for Network Management Requirements
In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct research on specific topics or emerging market segments via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.
Key Questions Answered
- What are the key trends driving network observability and automation, and how will advancements impact future solutions, buyer preferences, use cases, supplier success, and digital innovation?
- What is the market size/forecast for network observability solutions? Which are the major suppliers? Technology innovators?
- What is the impact of network observability and automation solutions on IT organizations and practices? Where is the ROI?
- What role do technical partnerships and support services play in the success of network observability and automation?
- How are critical network management functions — data acquisition, intelligent analysis, and management automation — evolving to match advancing customer requirements?
- How are network observaility and automation solutions driving greater impact across cloud enterprises? As part of NaaS offerings?
Companies Covered
7signal Solutions, Inc., APCON, Inc., AT&T Inc., Accedian Networks Inc., Allot Ltd., Amazon Web Services Inc., AppViewX Inc, Auvik Networks Inc., BMC Software, Inc., Broadcom Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Colasoft Co., Ltd., CommScope, Inc., Datadog, Inc., Dynatrace LLC, Ericsson, ExtraHop Networks, Inc., Extreme Networks, Inc., F5 Networks, Inc., Federos, Flowmon Networks a.s., Forward Networks, Inc., Gigamon Inc., Gluware Inc, Google LLC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., IBM, Itential, LLC, Juniper Networks, Inc., Kentik, Inc., Keysight Technologies, Inc., LiveAction, Inc., LogicMonitor Inc., ManageEngine, Micro Focus International plc, Microsoft Corporation, NETSCOUT Systems, Inc., NetBrain Technologies, Inc., Nokia Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Paessler AG, Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Path Solutions K.S.C.C., Pliant Corporation, Plixer, LLC, Progress Software Corporation, Red Hat, Inc., Riverbed Technology, Inc., Sandvine Corporation, SolarWinds, Inc., Splunk Inc., VIAVI Solutions Inc., VMware, Inc., Verizon Communications, Inc., WiteSand Systems Inc, Wyebot, Inc., cPacket Networks Inc.