Decoded: The 5 priorities on every network manager’s wish list

Working with multinational organizations every day gives you a clear view of what network managers and executives say they want — and what they actually mean.

Over the past year, NTT DATA has analyzed network transformation requirements from organizations we work with in 40 countries, in industries ranging from manufacturing and retail to financial services. One thing stood out: Regardless of how they phrased it, they were all asking for the same things.

We distilled those asks into five core priorities: Simplification, resilience, automation, streamlined modernization and trusted partnerships.

Network need #1: Simplification

The ask: “Please simplify our world”

Every global organization is wrestling with growing network complexity — often the result of years of mergers, acquisitions and “temporary” fixes that became permanent. Their network teams are left dealing with a patchwork of point solutions, multiple vendors, and inconsistent or incompatible standards across regions and facilities.

It’s no surprise that 90% of organizations say legacy infrastructure is holding back GenAI adoption and innovation.

The request to make things simpler is phrased in several ways, such as:

• “We need more predictability.”
• “We want fewer escalations.”
• “We’re spending too much time firefighting.”
• “Transformation takes too long.”

The real issue: “Our network is too complex”

What they’re really asking for is to rationalize and unify the network. This means bringing campus and branches together, aligning wide area networks and cloud connectivity, and treating network and security as one.

One global manufacturing client reduced operational overhead by 60% simply by consolidating 47 network management tools into a single platform, resulting in less friction and more control.

The key takeaway for network managers

Complexity thrives on variation. To reduce it, leading organizations standardize aggressively — from hardware to operating systems — to reduce it.

Look for network models that rationalize design, allow for global standardization and remove complexity from your day‑to‑day operations. This enables your teams to shift their focus from firefighting to supporting innovation and business growth.

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Network need #2: Resilience

The ask: “Reduce my risk without slowing me down”

No organization can absorb the impact of a major outage, whether it hits production, logistics, retail or digital channels. But we rarely hear, “Our network is fragile.” Instead, network leaders say things like:

• “We need zero trust.”
• “We want to shift from reactive to predictive.”
• “We need real-time insights into application performance.”
• “We want fewer vulnerabilities.”
• “We need security to be consistent everywhere.”

The real issue: “We can’t afford downtime”

In essence, this is about trust in the network — especially under pressure. That trust comes from better visibility, strong segmentation and access control, faster incident containment and recovery, and continuous validation.

Security also plays a central role here. In NTT DATA’s experience, organizations with intelligent, autonomous networks resolve 96% of security issues before they affect the network, and proactive, AI-driven approaches have reduced the number of critical network incidents by nearly 40%.

The key takeaway for network managers

Resilient networks are engineered to anticipate failure. They protect business performance before your users even notice an impact.

Look for approaches that combine proactive monitoring, predictive insights and automated responses to treat resilience as an ongoing discipline. Then, integrate security principles — including zero trust, policy automation and continuous validation — directly into your network architecture from the start.

Network need #3: Automation

The ask: “Help me do more with less”

Enterprise IT teams are under pressure. More sites, more devices and more cloud workloads add complexity while increasing security risk and the operational load.

Our data confirms this operational burden. As stated above, most enterprise networking tasks are still done manually.

What network managers often say is:

• “We need to optimize costs because budgets are flat.”
• “We want to focus on innovation, not manual operations.”
• “We need end-to-end visibility in one place.”
• “We want automation, not more headcount.”

The real issue: “I can’t hire fast enough, and my team is stretched”

The last statement says it all. Organizations that focus on network automation see major gains, including improvements of 50% in operational efficiency and a sevenfold reduction in the number of tickets per device, according to NTT DATA observations.

The key takeaway for network managers

Make the move to AI-driven, automation-first network operations. You need the right platform with unified, integrated tooling that reduces operational overhead, simplifies vendor management and gives you extensive visibility of your network.

Minimizing the operational burden involves shifting work from your teams to the platform — and, increasingly, to AI-powered agents that can predict, prevent and resolve issues autonomously.

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Network need #4: Streamlined modernization

The ask: “Future-proof the business without disrupting it”

Modernization used to mean large, disruptive rip-and-replace overhauls, but today’s networks need to keep up with rapid, ongoing change as more enterprise data is created and processed outside traditional centralized data centers and public cloud environments, including at the edge.

At the same time, Omdia research shows 43% of network traffic flows are influenced by AI; and an IDC and NTT DATA InfoBrief finds that 50% of organizations in the early stages of GenAI adoption will integrate AI into anything from 10 to 20 applications.

So, network managers say:

• “We need templated approaches.”
• “We need zero-touch provisioning.”
• “We need to upgrade globally — fast.”

The real issue: “We can’t afford messy transformation”

What they’re really after is transformation that’s predictable and low-impact.

This comes from repeatable designs, remote-first execution and automated deployment that reduces downtime, minimizes site visits and keeps things consistent.

The key takeaway for network managers

Enterprise modernization has moved from heavy lifting to smart lifting. Work with partners who understand this fundamental shift and make modernization repeatable and low‑impact.

Avoid architectural dead-ends by prioritizing cloud-native architectures, platforms that prioritize application programming interfaces (APIs), automation-ready environments, and flexibility across hybrid environments.

Network need #5: Trusted partnerships

The ask: “Give us a partner who can support and transform”

All network managers know the time and effort required to deal with a business-as-usual network supplier, a partner for network transformation and innovation, another for onsite support and yet another for security.

Here’s what they say:

• “We need unified governance.”
• “We need guaranteed outcomes.”
• “We want an integrated roadmap.”

The real issue: “We don’t want more than one network provider”

In practice, this points to a single, accountable partner who can handle the full lifecycle without handoffs or accountability gaps.

The impact can be substantial. BMW Group worked with NTT DATA to modernize and automate operations across 40,000 network devices and 30,000 servers, achieving 99% accuracy in diagnosing network errors.

Similarly, Pick n Pay, the South African supermarket group, modernized their network with a software-defined WAN and AI-driven operations. With uninterrupted connectivity, they overcame the challenge of rolling blackouts and added 1% to their turnover in just six months.

The key takeaway for network managers

As your network environment becomes more complex, look for operating models that unify, run, evolve, secure and modernize under a single framework and a roadmap that can scale globally.

High‑performing partnerships stand out because of clear accountability. Consider working with a single partner who owns outcomes. This eliminates handoffs while enabling ongoing network transformation.

What are network managers really saying?

The message is straightforward: Network managers need intelligent networks that are both resilient and secure, supported by a network transformation strategy that doesn’t disrupt the business, and a partnership that’s ready for anything.

This is where enterprise networking is heading.

Let us help you get there.

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