In partnership with EMA, we’ve published a report “The Rise of AI-Powered SASE and Digital Experience Monitoring,” exploring:
- Today’s ITOps, NetOps, and NetSec challenges.
- How AIOps can optimize the digital experience management capabilities of a secure access service edge (SASE) solution.
- Palo Alto Networks’ AIOps-powered solution, ADEM (Autonomous Digital Experience Management).
Here’s a brief summary:
1. Modern IT & Network Challenges Call for New Solutions
According to EMA, the typical NetOps team has between 4-15 monitoring and troubleshooting tools. However, only 30% of NetOps teams are fully satisfied with their ability to isolate a network problem, while 28% are fully satisfied with their tools’ ability to support root-cause analysis.
As these statistics illustrate, network and security teams today are struggling. Why? Their old tools can't keep up with the changing work environment. Now, users and IoT devices are accessing more applications in hybrid, multi-cloud, and SaaS settings. With more people working from anywhere and using a mix of old and new apps (some unsanctioned), shadow IT abounds.
IT teams are trying to adapt by using SASE solutions, which combine cloud security and software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) to ensure safe access. But there's a hiccup: digital experience and network performance are still problematic.
Sure, SD-WAN and SASE have native monitoring features to improve visibility. However, EMA research shows that 65% of businesses struggle with these features, and with data silos, murky problem isolation, and manual troubleshooting.
2. AIOps-Driven DEM Brings New Power to ITOps
EMA data finds 90% of IT orgs believe applying AIOps to network management can lead to better business outcomes.
IT teams need smart tools that streamline and automate SASE operations. The first step: Including a native DEM capability in SASE to gather, connect, and analyze different types of traffic data. When it comes to enhancing this data further, AI and machine learning can provide insights to help IT help desk, NetOps, and NetSec teams.
According to EMA, the four essential use cases are anomaly detection; root-cause analysis; predictive capacity management; and automated troubleshooting and IT service management integration.
3. What to Look for in an AIOps-Driven SASE Solution
Next-gen SASE solutions must include advanced, AI-driven data analysis; natively integrated AIOps-powered digital experience management capabilities; and automated capacity planning, event management, and troubleshooting.
An ADEM solution, when paired with AI and existing SASE capabilities, can help resolve IT issues and address the use cases outlined above. ADEM allows IT to fix problems proactively, automate complex tasks, boost productivity, and reduce mean time to repair (MTTR).
4. The Way Forward for Exceptional UX and IT Productivity
According to EMA, only 30% of IT organizations have been fully successful with applying AIOps to their networks thus far.
EMA suggests IT decision-makers seek out DEM solutions that seamlessly integrate with reliable SASE solutions. This combination alleviates many of today’s IT operations challenges—not to mention delivers exceptional end user experience and IT productivity.
Teaming up with vendors who can add AIOps to existing products cuts down on admin hassle. Palo Alto Networks offers a native AIOps-driven DEM solution which minimizes risk and admin work.
So, what does this mean for IT teams? They can work smarter, not harder, thanks to automated operations. According to EMA, Palo Alto Networks' AIOps solution fulfills all requirements for a modern SASE-native, DEM solution.
Check out the full report for details on why AI and machine learning are crucial for modern operations and incident response, plus how Palo Alto Networks’ AI-Powered ADEM solution is a powerful contender.