As usage patterns change, the network is becoming more distributed and complex. This is partly because cloud strategies will remain hybrid for years to come. Many enterprises have not yet moved all their workloads to the cloud, and in some instances, they may have brought them back to on-premises for compliance, security or cost efficiency.
Through cloud adoption, software-as-a-service applications have become a preferred choice for modernized deployments. Worldwide end-user SaaS spending is forecast to grow 20% to a total of $247.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly $300 billion in 2025, according to Gartner.
At first glance, this may appear to be a simple solution: a good Internet connection and access to a hyperscaler. The reality is far more complicated. Enterprises are choosing to go with more than one hyperscaler. In many cases, local ISP connections may not be adequate to support business needs, either in terms of performance, security or reliability.
Hybrid IT environments, made up of a mix of both cloud and on-premises, will remain the norm, so managing such complex distributed networks is a challenge. With users and compute resources located anywhere, enterprises need a robust and adaptable way to navigate an ever-changing data landscape and efficiently manage and route traffic.
The crucial role of the backbone in network evolution
The size, capacity and location of a telecoms backbone are key differentiators and pivotal to delivering efficient and reliable network services and supporting the evolution of multinational enterprise networks.
Our backbone is worldwide, covering most cities and sitting very close to the hyperscalers and our customers’ remote sites. It provides the foundational infrastructure for scalable, high-performance and reliable connectivity, enabling businesses to operate efficiently and expand globally in a growing digital economy.
We have end-to-end control and ownership of our backbone, including cables, routers and control planes. This allows us to fully manage and optimize the network without relying on third-party providers, enabling us to deliver differentiated services to our customers.
Our backbone starts at the first point of presence (PoP) and ends when we deliver the traffic to hyperscaler clouds or private data centers. This “middle mile” interconnection between us, the local provider (the first mile) and the connectivity to the cloud (the last mile) is critical to application performance and reliability. Any enterprise looking for ultra-reliable cloud-based services and affordable site-to-site direct networking needs to consider this middle mile.
Enterprises may think an unmanaged Internet connection from a local ISP can adequately connect branch offices and sites. However, they should question how the traffic on those connections reaches its destination in the cloud. Remember, the public Internet is a network of networks, and there are many options for connection. Thus, from a remote site up to the application may require peering with six separate networks. Often, these peering agreements are not sized to account for the volume of traffic, which causes latency issues. There can also be a possible evolution over time with these peering agreements without any communication to the enterprise customer.
On the other hand, we directly connect with our ISP partners, and when the traffic enters our backbone, we carry it using our infrastructure. From a physical point of view, our backbone is the same cable and router used for our tier 1 Internet for wholesale. We decided to merge our international B2B and wholesale networks a while ago. This innovative move has enabled us to further enhance resilience and performance. Via segment routing (SR-MPLS) and Flex-Algo technologies, we have created two different logical routing plans for enterprise and IP transit wholesale customers. Enterprise customers now benefit from these routes to minimize round-trip delays and latency. Business traffic is also insulated from Internet disruptions, including the negative impact of a cable cut, for example.
Unifying network and cloud teams to manage hybrid cloud networking
We believe our customers’ cloud strategies will continue to be a mix of hyperscaler and private cloud and hosting, with many dynamic changes in the level of hybridization during this extended timescale. AI and Gen AI applications will be highly distributed, with data agents and models distributed over remote sites, data centers and the cloud. One of the major hurdles is connecting the physical world with the software world.
The divide between the network and cloud teams can be responsible for hybrid failures. Clear communication is required between the network team, which primarily works with the private infrastructure, the WAN and the IT on-premises, and the cloud team, which works connecting the applications. In many enterprises, however, there are silos between these two teams, and they don’t understand each other’s requirements.
As a network and digital integrator, we at Orange Business have the expertise to connect the dots between these two teams. By leveraging SD-WAN to connect the two overlays (on-premises network and cloud network) and utilizing strategically placed PoPs, enterprises can benefit from seamless, secure and optimized connectivity between their on-premises infrastructure and cloud environments. This helps make for easy migration of workloads from one environment to another and supports hybrid architectures, making IT operations more agile and efficient.
Network as a service (NaaS) also has an important role on the roadmap for managing this volatility. It removes the complexities associated with traditional network management by offering a cloud-based centralized platform to manage connectivity across both on-premises and cloud environments.
By simplifying management, optimizing performance and enhancing security posture, NaaS enables enterprises to achieve smooth connectivity between on-premises IT and cloud environments while enabling flexibility for workload migration, scalability and improved user experience.
At the same time, we are actively leveraging open APIs to advance toward the goal of intent-based networking. This will eventually allow networking teams to use AI, ML and network orchestration to configure networks based on business intent. Open APIs are crucial in driving automation and interoperability across network and cloud environments.
Advancing the local loop with On-Net
The local loop is vital for the development of the network as it provides the critical connection between an enterprise’s sites and the broader network infrastructure. We are looking to further advance this by offering a best-of-breed service between open Internet and private MPLS/VPN.
In 90 countries, we now offer remote site connections directly to our network without using a local ISP or local partner ISP. Enterprises can use this premium access to connect key sites, such as headquarters or manufacturing plants, to gain the highest level of performance, security and availability.
Central to this is Orange Business On-Net, our public/private connection combo. It has a public IP address, but most of the traffic relies on and is controlled by our infrastructure from the enterprise site to the cloud application or on-premises data center. It is protected by distributed denial of service (DDoS) security capabilities.
In the future, we are looking to interconnect enterprise partners using On-Net instead of relying on the Internet for business-to-business communications. We see this as a growing trend as customers seek a secure communications route via a trusted partner to ensure data confidentiality.
The future of network modernization
Enterprises are no longer investing in networks simply to connect. They seek networks that provide greater flexibility to deal with IT uncertainty, security and sustainability demands. Advances in these areas will shape the future of the network.
Balancing flexibility and reliability is crucial in today’s digital landscape. Our combined approach to connectivity, cloud and cybersecurity ensures a seamless evolution of your enterprise. Find out more here.
I am a telecommunications professional with 25 years of experience in different positions and company profiles, always in direct relation with enterprise customers. First a network expert and pioneer of SDN, SD-WAN and SASE, then a strategic consultant for enterprises. I am now helping Orange Business to define and execute the best communication services strategy to address customers' business challenges in a fast-evolving, innovative and always more complex ecosystem.