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Few of us need reminding that we’re living in a dangerous and constantly changing world. From the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to the nerve-shredding pace of the AI revolution – not to mention the ever-present dark cloud of climate change – tensions and risks abound.

Our latest research report, Doubt, delay and regret: How global disruptors are impacting enterprise networks, gives us some penetrating insights into which macroeconomic forces have caused the most disruption to enterprise networks in recent years.

The report is based on our survey of senior enterprise network decision-makers across a range of industry verticals, including IT services, banking, manufacturing and financial services. The respondents have a decision-making role in companies with over 2,000 employees in four of the world’s biggest markets – the US, the UK, Germany and France.

We found that technological change has been the number one disruptor, cited by 44% of enterprise network decision-makers. Not far behind is rising costs (41%) and climate change (37%).

As part of our survey, we also specifically asked the decision-makers how they are coping in today’s tumultuous times. The answer, to be frank, is not very well. In fact, it’s fair to say they are reeling from the effects of excessive change and disruption.

Forced to change network routes

The ‘white heat’ of technological change, combined with relentless cost pressures and changing climate, have taken their toll on leaders’ ability to make positive, timely decisions. For example, many have been forced to change network routes and cancel asset expansion plans.

They openly admit to feeling the heat. They confess in large numbers that their decision-making confidence has been undermined, doubt and indecision has crept in, and delays have ensued. A remarkable 87% of decision-makers report being a little or a lot less confident in their network investment decisions.

Our study – which found significant regional and industry variations – revealed that confidence has been dented most in the US, where 40% of leaders are currently a lot less confident about their decisions.

Perhaps most striking of all is that almost half of all the leaders we surveyed actually regret networking decisions they’ve taken over the past couple of years.

Dealing with network security issues

With technological change perceived as the most serious disruptive force, it’s not surprising to find that leaders are concerned about network security issues – particularly today’s constant threat of data center or DDoS attacks, not least, state-sponsored attacks.

While the majority of leaders they have documented contingency plans to deal with such t threats, it is worrying that almost one in five admit to having no such precautions in place – rising to an alarming one in four in the manufacturing sector.

Decision-makers face broader network investment challenges too. Two-thirds say that the rate at which network technology is advancing is making it harder for them to make decisions about the hardware and services to deploy in the network. Almost half of them – across regions and industries – also struggle to get suitably skilled staff.

Sustainable networks

More encouraging is that, despite 81% of leaders saying that macroeconomic disruption has slowed down their investment in sustainability in the last two years, a similar number remain confident that sustainable networking (with net zero emissions) is realistic.

Most enterprises have also managed to increase investments to make their network operations more energy efficient. This reinforces our 2023 research, The energy crisis: is it hurting enterprise networks?, which found a positive side-effect of the energy crisis has been over half of businesses speeding up their energy efficiency measures and strengthening their network sustainability efforts.

Early vs late adopters of AI

While enterprise networks’ commitment to sustainability has just about been maintained, their enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) is palpable. The pace at which they are implementing AI-based solutions borders on the frenetic. Nine out of 10 decision-makers say they will be using AI-based tools and/or systems to support their network management within the next 18 months, with half doing so within just six months.

We sense a hint of ‘groupthink’ in such powerful statistics and would urge a balanced approach to the results. The ‘AI pioneers’ – who are particularly noticeable in the US and in the financial services sector – are probably all too aware that early adopters of technology are not always the biggest beneficiaries from it.

At the same time, we would argue that the scepticism of the AI ‘late-adopters ‘ – which we found to be most prevalent in France and in the manufacturing sector – is equally misplaced. With the right support and advice, enterprise networks can find a sensible middle way here.

The importance of third-party perspectives

Indeed, this echoes our overall ‘take’ on the research. With enterprise networks facing so much disruption – with no let-up in sight – and with their key decision-makers so beset by uncertainty and indecision, one conclusion stands out: finding the right support and advice is key. Independent third-party perspectives can help them identify change and react quickly and decisively to sudden or evolving disruptive forces.

Constant change and disruption are a fact of business life. The aim for enterprise networks must be to prepare for it. They should strive for resilience through collaborative business relationships and support networks that will enable them to make confident, timely decisions and implement effective efficient network management solutions – so avoiding doubt, delay and, above all, regret.

Mattias Fridström