A global survey of over 500 professionals in the areas of networking, operations, cloud, and architecture finds nearly two-thirds (65 percent) relies on third parties to deliver managed network services. A full 84 percent regularly learn about network issues from end users rather than IT teams, with more than three-quarters (76 percent) reporting missing or slow access to data impedes issue resolution time.
Additionally, the survey finds that 95 percent of respondents don’t get all the information they require from either their internet service provider (ISP) or cloud service provider (CSP), with 80 percent noting these services create network blind spots.
Rising demand for network visibility
Most managed service providers (MSPs), unfortunately, don’t have access to any type of network tap that enables them to collect telemetry data that could provide that visibility. There are many options for collecting this data. However, in the absence of a strict requirement, many MSPs have chosen not to incur the additional expense. They would need to incur this expense to generate and analyze the synthetic data necessary for those insights.
That may be about to change as organizations increasingly realize that end users are no longer tethered to any one network. These users are accessing applications running on a wide range of cloud computing platforms. As a result, end users accessing an application in New York City often benefit from proximity to data centers. However, users in more remote locations may experience slower application performance. This disparity can lead to complaints about the application’s speed. Inevitably, it’s not too long before they start asking the MSPs that manage those networks on their behalf to explain why this issue is occurring.
Specifically, survey respondents are looking specifically for path latency and information about node/ hop issues. Tied at 50 percent each, the next most critical insights into route changes (48 percent), distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack locations (47 percent), DNS issues (46 percent), historical performance by path (44 percent), and path packet loss (41 percent). At the same time, many organizations are embracing open-source agent software, dubbed OpenTelemetry, to affordably instrument their applications in a way that provides greater observability.
Why MSPs must enhance network visibility
As organizations recognize the impact of latency across various networks on application performance, they seek greater visibility. They want to better understand how applications are performing in specific regions. This shift is driving demand for more detailed insights into network performance. MSPs that cannot identify which applications a network service, such as one provided by a cloud service provider, is adversely impacting may face challenges. An MSP that can offer those critical insights could soon replace them.
It’s no longer enough to simply monitor network traffic. More than three-quarters of respondents (78 percent) said network complexity has only increased in the last year. The mission now is to provide the visibility needed to ensure a quality application experience regardless of how complex the networking environment has become.
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