Modernize your network to power an AI-ready enterprise

In a modern organization, a resilient, intelligent network is the connective tissue that powers secure operations, digital experiences and innovation at scale.

However, many organizations still operate with limited visibility and aging infrastructure, and they underestimate the strategic risks of delayed modernization.

The hidden costs of delay

Postponing network modernization introduces hidden costs such as rising maintenance expenses, expanding security vulnerabilities and limited flexibility due to vendor lock-in — and these escalate over time.

What looks like a stable legacy environment is often a barrier to innovation and cost-efficiency. Outdated networks struggle to support modern workloads such as cloud-native applications, secure remote work, zero trust security frameworks and AI-driven services. Over time, these limitations create operational blind spots and a higher total cost of ownership.

To address these risks through modernization, you first need to measure their impact on business outcomes by modeling cost trajectories, your exposure to cyberthreats and the potential cost of downtime in your organization. Once you understand their impact, you can reframe the conversation from one about technical debt — if you continue as is — to one about long-term strategic value.

Balancing innovation and practicality

For many IT leaders, the modernization challenge is about finding the sweet spot. They want to move forward with new technologies — such as secure access service edge (SASE) and high-performance computing networks, which connect powerful computers, processors or clusters to work together at high speeds — while managing the practical constraints of legacy environments and limited budgets.

A successful modernization strategy therefore needs a pragmatic approach that combines innovation with operational continuity and business value.

A good starting point is to tailor your modernization roadmap to the technology you already have in place, your business priorities and your day-to-day operations. Instead of a costly “rip and replace,” you can then gradually introduce solutions — either owned or as fully managed services.

This approach simplifies operations and keeps costs in check while allowing modernization to happen in steps.

Take SASE as an example. You can integrate zero trust principles, secure web gateways and cloud security at a pace that makes sense for your organization. By focusing on high-impact use cases such as cloud access, branch connectivity and secure remote access, you’ll achieve quick wins without disrupting daily operations or budgets.

• ALSO READ → From laptop to cloud, SASE is the answer to your security woes

Assess your readiness for AI-driven operations

AI-driven automation and analytics are changing how networks operate, but AI readiness varies across organizations.

At NTT DATA, we use our network readiness assessment framework to evaluate your readiness, starting with a workshop to match your business goals to your technology strategy.

We look at key areas that affect your network’s performance, such as automation, observability, scalability and security. We also analyze telemetry data, your network design and operational workflows to find visibility gaps, automation bottlenecks and policy-enforcement weaknesses.

From standardized blueprints to vendor-validated architectures, we then design actionable modernization roadmaps that pinpoint where AI and automation can deliver the most impact to enable an intelligent, self-healing network.

• ALSO READ → When networks start thinking for themselves: The rise of agentic AI

Real-world impact: Beyond IT efficiency

To show how modernization can support business transformation, consider the case of a global beverage manufacturer.

After years of regional growth and acquisitions, the company’s network had become a patchwork of legacy infrastructure, disparate vendors and inconsistent standards spanning continents. This fragmentation led to limited asset visibility, unpredictable application performance and rising operational costs. Without unified governance, enforcing security and compliance policies globally became a persistent challenge.

Through a global network modernization drive, NTT DATA gave the organization full visibility of their IT network assets and modernized their core infrastructure using software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), zero trust security and AI-driven observability. This intervention became the backbone of their digital supply chain and sustainability initiatives, with the modernized network supporting predictive maintenance, smarter inventory management and faster service deployment.

The results were clear and measurable: Improved uptime, network standardization across geographies, less complexity and greater business agility. What started as a modernization project became the basis for ongoing digital innovation and helped the client align their technology performance closely with their business and sustainability goals.

Partner up to modernize your network

Modernization begins with clarity, and NTT DATA’s Network Advisory Services will help you translate your business goals into practical, future-ready network strategies.

Our experts work with your teams to assess your current capabilities and hidden risks so we can define a roadmap that aligns your network modernization with your broader digital transformation objectives.

We have deep experience in designing, implementing, securing and supporting campus networks, SD-WAN, SASE, private mobile networks and edge architectures — and we bring the right balance of innovation and pragmatism to every partnership. Our approach combines strategic assessments, AI-driven insights and automation readiness to make sure every initiative delivers measurable outcomes.

Our Software-defined Infrastructure Services further extend the value of network modernization by integrating observability, automation and proactive management. Using a tiered framework of service, utilization and value agreements, these services help you continually improve your network’s performance and control costs.

Get in touch to schedule an assessment with NTT DATA and take the first step toward turning your network into a platform for business innovation.

• ALSO READ → Build an AI-ready network to secure your organization’s future