CIOs demand simplicity: Why IT leaders are prioritizing platforms that unify networking, security and AI

The IT environment is growing ever more complex at an increasingly rapid rate. With wireless networks, wired networks, multiple clouds, containers, applications, and thousands of new devices, it’s difficult for IT teams to see the forest for the trees, and gaining a holistic view of the entire environment is impossible when admins are working with multiple, discrete management tools.

In Extreme Networks’ CIO Insights Report: Priorities and Investment Plans in the Era of Platformization, almost six in 10 (58%) CIOs surveyed said the management and security of IoT devices is a top concern. A similar percentage (52%) cited integrating new technologies as the biggest challenge.

“We live in a world where applications are abundant — there’s an app for everything, and the market has taken this to the extreme,” said Nabil Bukhari, CTO at Extreme Networks. “The sheer number of different applications, devices, and networks is confounding. But IT vendors are not helping. In fact, the proliferation of cloud products from various vendors creates a significant challenge. Each product comes with its own licensing model, metering system, graphical user interface (GUI), and operational workflow.”

AI is often cited as a critical tool for simplifying IT management — and it is — but it’s far from a magic bullet. On its own, AI doesn’t simplify management. IT still needs to train and secure AI, and this, too, often requires more time, resources, and expertise than CIOs can spare.

“The reality is when you go out and when you talk to people, what they realize is that by the time they get proficient on one thing, there’s three more things that are happening,” Bukhari said. “If you’re deploying ethernet, then probably you have had a few years to figure it out. But if you are in the space of AI or in the space of data, by the time I finish the sentence, there will be three new technologies that would have popped up on the AI side.”

Thankfully, some vendors are stepping up to provide platformization, an integrated approach to deploying networking infrastructure so that it is simple to use, access, and manage with comprehensive workflows, common services, and data integrations. Extreme Networks has introduced Extreme Platform ONE, a platform that reduces the complexity for enterprises by seamlessly integrating AI-powered automation, networking, and security.  

Extreme Platform ONE has an AI core that transcends chatbots and includes conversational, interactive, and autonomous AI agents, enabling cross-functional teams to leverage AI in a way that is tailored to their comfort level so that they can complete complex tasks faster.

“AI adoption will move at the pace of trust. Without trust, AI is dead in the water,” Bukhari said.

In addition to accelerating cross-team workflows and delivering unified experiences for network, security, and business users, Extreme Platform ONE also offers the industry’s simplest licensing.

“We live in a world with too many apps, too many licenses, and complexity every step of the way. For Extreme, we want to deliver a composable workspace that provides you the information you need based on the persona you have in order to do the jobs that you are doing, whether it’s network operations, security, or any role on the business side. With Platform ONE, we are simplifying the entire journey for customers, from licensing to management to AI implementation and everything in between,” Bukhari said.

Extreme Platform ONE provides IT with a cohesive platform to radically simplify the customer experience in enterprise networking and security, delivering on the promise of AI for all.  

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