Lumen: Building the trusted network for AI

Jeff Sieracki, senior director of product management at Louisiana-based Lumen, is quick to point out that the networking requirements of the modern enterprise are changing rapidly. It is an evolution being driven by several transformative computing trends, chief among them the rapid proliferation of AI workloads.

“More organizations are coming to the harsh realization that their networks are not up to the task in the new era of data-intensive AI workloads that require not only high performance and low latency networks but also significantly greater compute, storage, and data protection resources,” says Sieracki. “The widespread adoption and deployment of more powerful technologies and innovations never happens in a vacuum. There are always corresponding networking, infrastructure, and management needs to consider.”

Recent research validates Sieracki’s observations on the front lines. IDC’s Enterprise Horizons 2024 report, published last June, found that a staggering 86% of CIOs do not think their enterprise networks are prepared for the AI revolution.

“As IDC’s findings confirm, the proliferation of AI-powered applications and workloads is itself a singular challenge for most enterprises because it requires large amounts of data to be moved quickly, but it is of course not the only challenge CIOs and IT leaders must consider,” adds Sieracki. “Today’s highly distributed organizations also demand greater collaboration, more efficient and powerful applications, and greater cybersecurity. And just as importantly, all of these needs must be met as the edge of the network continues to expand.”

Sieracki notes that Lumen is ideally qualified to address this new reality with its exceptionally powerful networking capabilities, robust solutions portfolio – including public, private, and hybrid cloud offerings – and an extensive array of managed and professional services honed through decades of work empowering leading brands to achieve their digital transformation goals.

“Our technology solutions and services rival any offered in the market today, but what really sets Lumen apart on the most fundamental level is the connectivity we offer in conjunction with our offerings,” he says. “Our Lumen Private Connectivity Fabric is designed and built to make Lumen the #1 provider of AI-ready infrastructure and offers 25% less optical loss than the competition¹, less than 5 milliseconds of latency at the edge to handle 97% of U.S. business demand, and delivers 60% more capacity than traditional fiber.”

The footprint of the Lumen network that delivers such capabilities is equally impressive and comprises 340,000 miles of fiber. Lumen also owns and operates more than 55 edge locations throughout North America and Asia-Pacific. The company also offers direct connections to more than 2,200  third-party data centers around the globe.

This extensive reach allows low-latency compute and private cloud services to be placed within an extensive and ever-growing array of endpoints. In this global environment, Lumen’s customers are also aggressively safeguarded by the company’s world class network security.

Providing the full array of cloud services enterprises need

Lumen’s extensive network provides direct connectivity to all of the major cloud service providers and hyperscalers. Such flexibility, Sieracki notes, is imperative.

“The most common misconception about the cloud is the belief that everything must be in it,” he says. “In years past we saw many organizations mistakenly rushing to put everything into a hyperscale environment, but today it is important to remember that it is truly a hybrid cloud world. Enterprises that embrace a multi-cloud architecture will get the most out of their IT infrastructure, but that more often than not also requires a partner who has experience addressing all of the challenges that arise when you have to manage workloads that span the complex environment that results.”

That expertise is inherent in the Lumen Edge Private Cloud based on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), a fully managed Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering on Lumen’s high-performance networks that is seamlessly integrated with additional services such as Lumen Data Protect, Lumen’s Edge Bare Metal offerings, and Lumen Defender powered by Lumen Black Lotus Labs. Centralized management through Lumen’s platform and across each customer’s digital ecosystem is also made easy and intuitive through a single pane of glass.

Customers, including stalwarts in industries like finance and healthcare, appreciate the unified platform VCF enables which integrates storage, networking, and data services into a cohesive private cloud solution in which they can provision and manage their resources with ease. The integrated nature of the platform also simplifies the management and deployment of workloads across various environments.

“VCF enables customers to manage Kubernetes clusters, virtual machines (VMs), and AI workloads consistently from deployment to management while enhancing efficiency and ability to reduce the total cost of ownership,” says Sieracki. “It has never been easier for enterprises to manage the entire Software Defined Data Center Stack to maximize their compute, storage, and networking resources. As a Broadcom Pinnacle Partner and with Lumen Edge Private Cloud we are uniquely qualified to build a solution that meets each customer’s desired outcome.”

To learn more, visit us here.

_{¹ 25% less fiber optic loss per km; less loss translates to less frequent need for fiber optic signal regeneration, decreasing equipment costs; figure is based on a comparison to vintage 2000 fiber (decrease from .22 db/km loss to.17 db/km).}