Keeping up with the latest trends is a must to be a web-savvy professional.  In such a fast-moving industry, knowing what's cutting edge will make the difference between whether we're well-positioned to respond to trends, or forced to play catch-up before businesses get left behind.  To stay on top of what's ahead, here are the top 5 networking trends for 2023.

1. Software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN) is still relevant

Many businesses require scalable networks.  Those responsible for enterprise network-related needs often choose SD-WAN to meet those needs.  SD-WAN provides virtualization services to link and extend network resources across geographic distances.

While the pandemic has caused some leaders to delay SD-WAN rollouts, multiple factors suggest it's still a networking trend to watch.

Cloud-based SD-WAN is another identified growth driver, especially as many networking professionals are figuring out how to reduce costs while achieving the required scalability.

However, a potentially smaller market does not necessarily reduce the number of new products that incumbents can offer.  One is a lack of people with SD-WAN skills, which can slow deployments.  On the other hand, if SD-WAN continues to prove itself As a popular networking option, more professionals should be encouraged to learn and maintain the skills necessary to demonstrate their market value to current or potential employers.

2. Increased focus on Internet of Things (IoT) cybersecurity

The number of connected IoT devices is expected to reach a staggering 29.42 billion by 2030.  While some of these products are intended for home use, many are sold to businesses.  Such products allow businesses to enjoy tighter physical security, lower costs due to reduced resources usage, and more control over what happens between different sites.

An overlooked factor, however, is the potential for increased IoT usage to expose networks to greater risk of cyber-attacks.  This is often because businesses lack the necessary visibility into the devices connected to their network at any given time.  Who has access to them , and for what reasons? Is a particular IoT device running the latest software, or is it likely to be outdated and contain vulnerabilities? Old software is a common network vulnerability that can compromise security.

Failure to answer these questions can cause serious problems for your network professionals.  But luckily, it's getting easier to see the network's IoT devices and the people using them.  All this thanks to a dedicated platform that allows everything related to management to happen in one place .

For example, a network administrator might grant access to specific IoT devices as part of the new employee onboarding process. They can then change access as individual roles evolve or as individuals leave the organization. When everything happens through a single web management portal, networking professionals can better understand how and why people in the organization are using IoT devices.

This makes it easier to spot unusual network traffic and take the necessary steps to investigate. Being proactive like this is a great way to prevent cyberattacks.

3. Digital twins improve network planning

People in the manufacturing and product design industries have been using digital twins for years. Highly realistic virtualized versions of these real-life assets can help product designers understand the effects of certain product changes before implementing them. Many manufacturing leaders are also using digital twins before construction begins to plan the size of a facility or consider where to place new equipment to best support anticipated traffic flow.

However, digital twins are also changing the network. One should expect increased usage of these tools for the remainder of the year and for the foreseeable future. Recent digital twin trials for Chinese wireless networks, including infrastructure and application performance aspects. Test data showed that the digital twin was 90% accurate compared to the real network.

The experiment involved testing the suitability of certain networks for extended reality (XR) services. It involves more than 70 locations and contains 150 5G network base stations.

Many current customers use digital twins to ensure site reliability. Keeping your website running smoothly is still important, especially as more and more websites handle ever-increasing traffic from visitors from all over the world.

4. Artificial intelligence network management is booming

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries from aviation to agriculture. It also allows businesses to streamline their workflow. For example, a risk management system can reduce human error and increase the chances of a successful audit. Many risk management programs use artificial intelligence and other technologies to automate certain steps, flag potential problems and allow people to take action before it's too late. It's easy to see AI's continued impact on the web.

Some newer networking products are designed specifically for enterprises running large AI workloads. One of the options can connect up to 32,000 GPUs to an AI cluster for improved load balancing.

There are also many benefits to be gained from applying artificial intelligence to network management. For example, one can eliminate or greatly reduce the time spent manually investigating potential problems. Many AI tools understand what constitutes expected network activity and then flag anything outside of those parameters. They can also categorize problems, helping network administrators and other professionals know which problems to fix first.

An enhanced user experience is another benefit for enterprises using AI for network needs. This is because a well-trained algorithm can often spot problems before they cause problems for users to notice. This helps network professionals become more proactive rather than reactive.

5. Next-gen connectivity continues to evolve

Next-generation connectivity is an umbrella term that broadly refers to the collective efforts of all businesses to prepare for the future. That could mean modernizing physical infrastructure, or deploying innovations that will help businesses take full advantage of 5G networks.

The next generation of Wi-Fi will improve the way homes utilize smart home technology. When people have reliable coverage throughout their home, they feel more confident trying out the latest technology and building on whatever smart home products they already use and love.

Summarize

These five web trends are among the ones to watch in 2023. For anyone who works with or studies the web, now is an excellent time to start thinking about how to apply some of this into your workflow. Being open about how these trends impact the industry will help us, and our teams, stay knowledgeable and responsive rather than bei