sary, otherwise the experience delivered to customers will start to falter. For many providers, this means adding new employees to keep up with demand. That said, even if it were easy to retain and recruit new talent, there will be a point where costs will overtake the new revenues. It’s simply not sustainable to continue adding staff each time the client list expands. The way to solve this problem is through applying artificial intelligence (AI) to the network. AI applied to the network operations and management function – often called AIOps – can help MSPs better understand their customers’ traffic patterns and needs and make decisions accordingly. The real payoff for AI, however, is in finding, troubleshooting and correcting problems. Traditionally, customers would complain to their MSPs about service issues that are affecting their experiences, such as a dead zone, dropped video calls or lag time in network speeds. Service providers would have to send out a technician to investigate. Not only would that pull their time away from other valuable tasks, and other customers, but it would be the start of a long process of trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack that was causing the problem. With AI, the technician can quickly diagnose the problem and find the likely cause, speeding time-to-repair. Imagine eliminating the trial-anderror of working down a checklist and walking around an office to locate an issue. In addition, AI also can assist technicians in the repair process, providing step-by-step instructions, which are especially helpful if the technician has never encountered the particular problem before. Proactivity is another benefit of applying AI to a network that’s had its edges simplified and consolidated under one management and visibility platform. Instead of always reacting to issues, AI can discover potential problems before they affect the experience, empowering MSPs and service providers to correct an issue before it’s even an issue. A Dual Benefit Simplifying the edge has a dual benefit for MSPs and service providers. Not only is the quality of services provided to customers streamlined and improved, the management of them on the MSP side is made far more efficient than before. New services can be deployed to existing or new customers faster and more efficiently – and hours are shaved off the process of identifying and correcting any potential problems. Simplifying the edge helps improve the quality and efficiency of both customers’ and MSPs’ businesses, making it a win for all parties involved. o Jon Howes is responsible for business development and alliances for Juniper’s AI driven enterprise business unit in EMEA. EMERGENT Source: STL Partners Other Lack of buy-in from leadership Misaligned Strategies Enablement Homegrown technology Not having software or automation Variety of third-party tools that make up a combined tech stack Execution of Strategy Misaligned Incentives Enterprise spend on public edge computing by region worldwide 2019-2025 Source: Analysis Mason What are the biggest hurdles channel leaders face when setting up an effective partner journey? Source: Impartner; The Spur Group 5000 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 North America Western Europe Developed Asia-Pacific Middle East and North Africa Latin America Central and Eastern Europe Emerging Asia-Pacific Sub-Saharan Africa 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 Spend (USD million) 25% 18% 14% 7% 7% 7% 4% 18% Hurdles 0% 12 CHANNELV ISION | JULY - AUGUST 2022
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