In 2023, the big story for enterprise networking will be the edge. More precisely, the integration of edge locations into a flexible, secure edge-to-cloud enterprise network. Network service providers are investing in automation and intelligence in their own networks as they launch solutions that will support high-performance, data-intensive hybrid cloud applications.

An equally important story for 2023 is the economy. The global pandemic accelerated cloud adoption and, thus, enterprise network usage. But will spending decline in the face of a potential recession? Respondents to the Frost & Sullivan 2022 IT decision maker survey, conducted in September 2022, indicate not: 66% of respondents said they expected to increase telecom and IT spend in 2023. Among those who believe a recession is looming, 41% plan to keep their budgets intact but will allocate it differently than originally planned. Frost & Sullivan expects to see continuing investment in solutions and infrastructure that will make the business more resilient – including cloud and software-defined applications – and will leverage intelligence to cut costs and improve productivity.

In this report, Frost & Sullivan offers predictions for the network services industry in the coming year, including views on managed services, SD-WAN, SASE, Ethernet and traditional transport services, fiber buildouts, on-demand networking, 400 GB, network-as-a-service, and moves by cloud hyperscalers.