DCN February 2017 | Page 45

intelligent systems by Freeform Dynamics shows the great reach intelligent systems already have into corporate IT networks . In fact , nearly nine out of 10 IT professionals questioned as part of that research said their business has already invested in one or more .
But what exactly are these systems ? As an example , they could be digital customer engagement systems , or B2B automation solutions that connect disparate parts of a company . They could also be advanced analysis and planning solutions , one of the new breed of bots , digital personal assistants or process automation and workflow systems . Each has been designed to make life simpler for IT teams and the companies they support . However , at this stage of their deployment and development cycles , they are also adding to the complexity of IT networks and making them more difficult to monitor and manage .
In the long run , all this smart new technology will make businesses more efficient and improve productivity . That ’ s one reason why , right at the end of last year , Prime Minister Theresa May set out details of an additional £ 2bn annual government investment for technology related research and development . This included a fund for Artificial Intelligence development . Hopefully some of this funding will go towards helping to integrate and manage the technology more effectively , which is an important consideration . The speed and patterns of adoption to date have been such that , according to our research , more than three quarters of IT professionals are struggling to understand and manage all the potential challenges and threats associated with deployment . IT teams are also concerned about the unofficial deployments of intelligent tech that are making their way onto corporate networks ; the kind of Apps that might be familiar to people because they use them at home or on their phones or tablets . This brings about an entirely new breed of shadow IT that is much more difficult to detect , monitor and ultimately remove from corporate networks .
If that wasn ’ t sufficient to cause sleepless nights , IT teams are also becoming increasingly worried about the intelligent systems that others are using and what effect that they might have on their own network when they interact . It ’ s no surprise , therefore , that one in five IT professionals that took part in our research said that increased activity from third party bots , agents and ‘ intelligent ’ IoT accessing systems is already making it hard to monitor , track and govern their own systems . But there is some good news for IT teams ; the technology at the heart of intelligent systems can also deliver enhanced proactive network monitoring . This can improve visibility of network components and give IT teams much deeper insight into the applications and systems that are present . Despite this , less than a third of IT pros say they have strong and future proof monitoring , analysis and management tools in place . Equally worrying , just a quarter were confident about the capabilities of their current performance monitoring and operational analytics tools . In addition , over half said their current analysis and visualisation capabilities will struggle to keep up with the broader march of intelligent systems .
Yet , it ’ s also the only way that IT teams can keep an effective and proactive watch on all the different kinds of applications and technology running on their networks .
On balance , far from being a threat , this ‘ intelligent ’ technology presents a significant opportunity for IT teams to ramp up their network monitoring and security capabilities this year and , if implemented correctly , could improve the speed and quality of malware detection as well as removing impediments to the efficient running of IT networks . But we should sound a note of caution ;
Smart new technology will make businesses more efficient and improve productivity .
it ’ s not just a case of implementing these solutions opportunistically . Just like any other aspect of technology , uncoordinated , piecemeal adoption of intelligent systems will almost certainly have a negative impact in the future and cause more complications and confusion for IT teams .
The full report entitled , ‘ Intelligent Systems in Action : The Rise of the Machines Has Already Begun ,’ carried out by Freeform Dynamics , is available for download here : https :// www . ipswitch . com / blog / wp-content / uploads / 2016 / 06 / Intelligent-Systems-in- Action _ Ipswitch-survey-report . pdf ? source = Content & details = PR
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