Make 2025 Be The WAN You Want: Fast Like Lightning

Latency, packet loss and poor bandwidth utilisation often disrupt network performance. With network infrastructure refreshes occurring on average every 5 years, the answer is usually to buy more bandwidth and to kick out the old to bring in the new by investing in the latest technology. However, this doesn’t always quite mitigate these issues, and as a result fails to deliver on its promise.

Much can be done with WAN acceleration in 2025, and it only keeps getting better in speed and capacity - which is surely the WAN you want. That’s because it deploys artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and data parallelisation to enable even SD-WANs, which have been a hot topic over the last few years, to perform much better than they would otherwise be able to do, unaccelerated without a WAN Acceleration overlay. Yes, AI is being used more often these days to improve network performance, but neither of them can so far achieve the results of WAN Acceleration.

Over the course of 2024, AI-enabled predictive network automation has nevertheless become a trend. It helps IT to access networking platform features that advance telemetry and visibility. Artificial intelligence is also increasingly a part of cloud automation and, as part of zero trust cyber-security, since cyber-attacks are using AI to become increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect.

Increasingly at the edge

Other trends that have occurred throughout the year include an increase in edge computing migration because no entity, user or device should be automatically trusted, as the basis for preventing a cyber-attack. With quantum computing being increasingly discussed, and the need for ever-more stringent and tighter data protection, SD-WAN solutions may soon incorporate quantum-resistant encryption algorithms. They can help organisations to protect their data against emerging threats. Ultimately, there is a need to advance digital business, and there has been a push for converging security and to provide digital experience assurance.

In 2025, how can WAN Acceleration fit into these trends? Well, first of all it is often also referred to as Data Acceleration because, by using AI, machine learning and data parallelisation the speed at which data is transmitted and received increases – and in a way that permits the accelerated flight of encrypted data, - which can obfuscate cyber-criminals. Still, it can fit into these trends because the likes of technologies such as PORTrockIT can significantly improve WAN and data performance and optimise bandwidth utilisation without the need to invest in higher bandwidths, or in a completely new network infrastructure.

Convergence of security and networking

The New Year, apart from some opportunistic AI-based cyber-attacks, will continue to see the convergence of security and networking into unified frameworks in the form of SASE (Secure Access Service Edge). SD-WANs will continue to increase in adoption, leaving room for organisations to add a WAN Acceleration overlay to boost their performance. The key motivation for their adoption will be to lower costs and to improve integration.

“There will also be an increasing use of multi-cloud networking software, and I expect industry cloud platforms to become increasingly popular – as will edge computing, which many industry commentators say will gain prominence in 2025 as a means for organisations to process data closer to its source,” says David Trossell, CEO and CTO of Bridgeworks, the WAN Acceleration company. He adds that with increasing data volumes, there will need to be higher computing capacity, better connectivity, and to transfer it over large distances, while using AI and machine learning to mitigate the frictional effects of latency and packet loss.

Pushing the limits

Josh Howarth, wrote in May 2024 ‘5 Top Networking Trends (2024 & 2025)’ for Exploding Topics, and said: “The performance of network infrastructure is constantly being pushed to the limit as businesses look for new ways to boost capacity and speed. Businesses want high-performing networks that are agile and scalable. But today’s IT decision-makers face a combination of uncertainty and new possibilities associated with emerging technology.”

One challenge that won’t change is the need to situated data centres and disaster recovery sites at distance from each other, outside of their own circles of disruption. Firstly, when a natural disaster strikes, organisations need to have another means of maintaining service continuity. The same applies to a situation caused by a cyber-security attack. It’s vital to ensure that not all data centres and disaster recovery sites are hit simultaneously.

WAN Acceleration can do this, while enabling organisations to achieve data transfer speeds for backups and restores of up to 200 times faster than with any other WAN enhancement technology. “Once upon a time organisations would have looked to WAN Optimisation to accelerate data transfers, but it’s a technology that often doesn’t deliver on its promise – particularly as it can’t handle large volumes of encrypted data.”

Networking market 2025

As for the networking market’s outlook for 2025, Mauricio Sanchez, who leads Dell’Oro Group's research into the intersection of enterprise networking and security, comments in his October 2024 report, ‘The State of Enterprise Network Market in 2024: The Great Reset Before a 2025 Rebound’:

“Despite the contraction in 2024, the outlook for 2025 is brighter. The fundamental demand for digital transformation, cloud migration and hybrid work solutions remains intact. As enterprises complete the digestion of their current investments and inventories normalize, spending is expected to rebound.”

“The rise in adoption of AI-driven workloads, 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and advanced security frameworks like SASE will drive growth across the network infrastructure landscape. Furthermore, as inflation and interest rates decrease, enterprises will benefit from improved capital availability, providing further tailwinds for market growth.”

Data: Opportunity to accelerate and secure

With this growth, particularly with regard to SD-WANs, digital transformation, and everything cloud, there is an opportunity to accelerate and secure data flows with WAN Acceleration. Organisations will increasingly look to AI and machine learning for this purpose. So, in 2025, they could do well to get the WAN they want by testing different WAN networking technologies alongside each other.

The focus is often on what large companies will do in a new year. However, much innovation comes from smaller companies. Thankfully, Forbes reveals that the EY Entrepreneur Ecosystem Barometer finds that “73% of entrepreneurs [are] optimistic about AI, and 82% believe the market will be stronger in 2025.” More importantly, AI, machine learning and data parallelisation can give you the WAN that you want and make it as fast as lightning: saving time, money and brand reputations with secure data transfers. Happy New Year!

Image: Alishia Hoyle

Bridgeworks continues to support STEM and STEAM education programmes and is proud to sponsor graphic artist, Alishia Hoyle, who is currently studying with OCA (Open College of the Arts) to obtain a BA in Graphic Design.

Alishia discovered her talents when she began to develop digital banners for a family owned business in Northern Ireland, at the age of fifteen. She has also developed eatable artwork, where her designs adorn wedding cakes and other bakery items!