Key Tenets of an Intelligent Edge Platform
Efficiently and securely accessing, managing and leveraging data from the intelligent edge requires a new platform.
There are a handful of key tenets that are required of this platform.
Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Operations
When network management platforms are enhanced with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, it unlocks new levels of visibility and automation. This is quickly becoming a requirement in the age of the intelligent edge. Benefits of AIOps include:
- Problem resolution: ML and AI-enhanced management platforms can learn what normal and abnormal network performance and security behaviors are in an environment. They can automatically alert when significant deviations from normal are identified – before they negatively impact the business.
- Change management: AI-enhanced operations validate changes before they’re implemented to ensure performance is not degraded.
Unified Infrastructure
Enterprises are increasingly looking for advanced management platforms that extend across all areas of the enterprise network. A centralized management console for the data center, enterprise campus, to remote worker locations, branch offices, out to IoT edge locations and into the cloud is needed. Advantages of this platform include:
- Single pane of glass management and unified views of operations and performance across all domains of the enterprise network.
- A cloud-managed system providing centralized visibility and management. With a cloud-managed system, organizations get faster access to new features and enhancements, and the management platform can extend to anywhere on the network.
- Common user, device and application access and usage policies across all areas of the network, ensuring security and easing management.
Zero Trust Security
Security must be at the forefront of any architecture discussion. The key is building security from the ground up and extending it across all areas of the network. Zero-trust networks enable:
- Authentication of every user, device, traffic flow and “thing” on the network by default. An AI-enhanced platform automatically detects devices, profiles, continuously monitors and segments them.
- Centralized creation of role-based policies and implementation across all aspects of the intelligent edge, from the core data center out to every IoT device.
- Dynamic segmentation of users, devices and their traffic no matter where they enter the network and where they traverse within the network.
