eir evo: The shape of networks to come
Changes in how we work are not only having a dramatic effect on technology, but even re-shaping networks themselves
Technology moves at a breakneck pace, with novel ideas coming and going faster than most of us can keep up with them. Even enterprise technology, which tends to be driven by rational factors rather than fads and fashions, shifts radically over time.
For example, the shift to software as a service has been dramatic and, in many organisations, has also been total.
Nicola Mortimer, commercial director at eir evo, said one of the most significant changes in recent years has been in telecoms and networking.
“We’ve seen a big change on the business network side, actually changing the topography,” she said.
One of those changes is that organisations seeking to combine connectivity for crucial applications with security are adopting SASE, or Secure Access Service Edge.
SASE is a cloud-based architecture that converges networking and security functions into a single, unified service delivered from the cloud, providing secure access to applications and services from anywhere, for any user or device.
Where it differs from software defined wide area networking, or SD-WAN, is that while SD-WAN optimises network connections between locations, SASE merges these connections with cloud-based security.
“People had been taking a major interest in SD-WAN, but that is shifting to SASE, and driving that change is the volume of device usage - whatever device that may be, anywhere, at any time,” Mortimer said.
This need for secure access anywhere at any time is key, and it has come about not only as part of a natural technology refresh cycle, but also due to changes in how the modern workforce operates – and indeed where it works from.
Today, remote and hybrid working is commonplace, and yet staff still need to be able to log in securely, meaning that if traditional network perimeter security was ever enough, it no longer is.
“The experience of working from home jumped us, probably, ten years from where we were. We have that approach of ‘any device anywhere at any time’, but there are two additions that organisations are now looking for: secure and fast connectivity,” she said.
While eir evo, which has been named Fortinet SD-WAN & SASE Partner of the Year, is now deploying more 100 gbps, point-to-point dedicated leased lines to enterprise clients than ever before, the shift to SASE reaches out much further into business.
Adopting SASE, combined with fibre and 5G not only builds in security, its virtual nature means core business activities can be performed over broadband connectivity as opposed to dedicated data circuits.
Indeed, eir evo has now passed 1.2 million homes and premises with fibre and plans to reach 1.8 million, and has the country’s largest 5G network, making SASE accessible to the SME sector.
This is facilitated by and facilitates a shift away from the server room: adopting SASE, which can be accessed over fibre, DSL or mobile connectivity, allows businesses to give staff access not only to things like documents, email and video conferencing, but even to core applications now running in colocation or the cloud.
“People are using the cloud for critical applications, so they need the speed and they need to be secure and, as a result, businesses are seeking to upgrade their network infrastructure to the next phase of their evolutions,” Mortimer said.
For details: visit eirevo.ie
