IT execs focusing on hybrid work, cost controls in 2022: New 'State of the WAN' report

The hybrid workplace is top of mind for enterprise IT decisionmakers as they face a range of competing concerns around security and application performance. That observation comes from cloud WAN solutions provider Aryaka in their latest State of the WAN report, which found that a quarter of respondents say their companies have closed between 25 and 50 percent of their locations, and a majority anticipate hybrid work to continue. The report (registration required) explored applications, managed service adoption, SD-WAN, SASE, and other concerns that continue into the new year.

For its 2022 report, Aryaka expanded its pool of respondents to 1,600 enterprises, as well as new countries like Israel and Brazil. Dave Ginsburg, VP, Product and Solutions Marketing, told MSCloudNews that big trends of recent years are persisting:

One of the top-level trends we’re seeing is a move to permanent hybrid enterprise. We’re also seeing acceleration of digital transformation, and the decommissioning of legacy datacenters. Because of complexity and diversity of apps, there is more emphasis on observability and control. There is a desire to bring together various elements of SD-WAN and SASE, whether in enterprise IT or with a service provider.

In 2021, complexity ranked as the top concern, but entering 2022 IT leaders cited cost as the single greatest concern. Ginsburg said that Aryaka does not currently track the impact of inflation on cloud spending, but analyst reports indicate growth in IT spending on hardware, software, licensing, and cloud consumption.