What is Network Intelligence?

Source: Vsoftsystems, 25/09/2018

A look at the technology enabling businesses to analyse data packets
in real-time
Network Intelligence (NI) encompasses the data, technology, algorithms
and techniques used to collect, analyse and visualise network
information in a connected business. NI represents the capacity of the
network to combine active and passive techniques to monitor the links
between cloud apps and service performance, drawing together processes
from packet capture, deep packet inspection (DPI) and business
intelligence.
It is primarily used to examine IP data packets going through a
network in real-time, giving visibility of user demand in order to
manage usage, as well as enable a business to use more sophisticated
audience measurement, behavioural analysis, customer segmentation and
personalisation tools.
NI aims to optimise digital experiences everywhere, by understanding
global network topologies, dependencies and behaviour, and to support
better IT decision making.
Network Intelligence is different to traditional network monitoring,
which was built for pre-cloud, internally-owned and controlled
networks and services. The key is being able to extend this into
internet and cloud services, which is where network intelligence comes in.
How is Network Intelligence used?
Network Intelligence can be used wherever there are applications or
solutions being provided over a network, such as cloud computing,
communications, traffic shaping and more.
NI is particularly useful when it comes to cloud migration projects,
where service performance challenges can arise more frequently both
internally and externally. Being able to establish whether the network
issue is due to problems inside the business or from the external
cloud provider is key to being able to take swift action on the root
cause of underwhelming cloud performance.
It can also be used to get information like page load and web
transaction timing performance, and links it together with network
performance metrics. Most NI providers will have a comprehensive
dashboard for operations teams to be able to pinpoint service problems.
Network Intelligence can also play a key role in an organisation’s
security. As businesses increasingly move applications and services
into the cloud, there is a need to have robust authentication and
authorisation procedures in place. Having a way to monitor baseline
measurements of network performance around the authentication process
will mean IT departments are able to set proper expectations for
latency and paths, and find service providers for both network and
applications who can deliver the best results.
With enterprises increasingly making use of hybrid multi-cloud
environments, NI tools which can monitor end-to-end application
performance and give visibility into network infrastructure across
multiple layers and domains will be increasingly valuable.