Agile Networks is hosting a CIO executive briefing on ‘The Business Case for Accelerating AIOps’ in Dublin on 23 February.
AIOps – the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data to IT – is a key tool in managing the evolution of the network in our increasingly digitised world. While more organisations are beginning to see the true business value of adopting AI, Agile Networks understands that many are still struggling to operationalise this technology. It hopes to address just this at next week’s event.
There, attendees will hear how to utilise the technology to build more efficiency, productivity and improve user experience in networking operations. A host of industry experts are scheduled to speak, including Jan Van De Laer, director, system engineers, AI-driven enterprise at Juniper Networks; Massimo Ferrari, distinguished product manager, ansible automation at Red Hat; and Sean Nolan, public sector business development manager, Agile Networks. Meanwhile, Ronan Moore, automation and cloud engineering manager at AIB will be joined onstage by Niall Kitson, editor of TechCentral for a fireside chat.
Latest research
Agile Networks will also discuss the results of its latest research conducted with media partner, TechCentral on the current use of AIOps in Ireland during the event.
One of the findings from a previous Agile Networks survey from last October helped inspire the upcoming event. Carried out in association with TechCentral and supported by Juniper Networks, the survey found that 47% of organisations in Ireland are not currently using AI and have no roadmap for AI in their organisation.
“What really surprised us,” says Sean Nolan, “was that effectively half of customers in Ireland have no real visibility, use case, or interest in AI and what it can deliver for the business. It’s shocking that so many are missing out on valuable opportunities to streamline operations and improve customer experience. I think this is partly because many simply don’t know where to start.”
Through this event, Agile Networks hopes it can change that. “ChatGPT has pushed AI into the general consciousness, which makes now the perfect time to have this conversation,” says Nolan. “While it has been brilliant for illustrating the use cases of AI in a more generalised context, we want to showcase that when you take the same principles and apply them to networking., AI is a no-brainer.”
Juniper Networks
One of Agile Networks’ partners, Juniper Networks is playing a leading role in the wider adoption of AIOps. Its cloud-based technology Mist AI uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate troubleshooting across the network.
Explaining the work Juniper Networks has done in the AI space, Nolan says: “When you’re making wine, if there are any bad grapes in the batch, you’re not going to get a great product. An AI engine is the same – feeding good data into an AI system effectively produces good outcomes.
“For the past eight years, Juniper Networks has been collecting telemetry information from networking devices and putting it into the AI engine. That means it effectively has an eight-year head start on anyone coming along looking to do the same, and it is now at a position where the AI engine is offering significant value to users.”
Game changer
Nolan says helpdesk software company ServiceNow has an excellent example of this. “Every month, ServiceNow was receiving around 100 tickets related to network issues. After it installed Juniper’s AI engine system across its wired and wireless networks it brought that number down to two per month.”
Making the AI engine available to end users via a chat system was the real game changer, Nolan says, as it meant users could ask it questions such as ‘Why was my last Team’s call poor quality?’ and receive a rapid response in natural language.
“For a network engineer to diagnose that problem could require laborious effort. They’d have to ask was there a problem with your DHCP, or your DNS, or was it the network switch, or just too many people downloading films off Netflix at the time? The AI engine can identify the cause straight away because it’s constantly collecting data.”
The access points alone provide over 150 telemetry data points to the AI engine around each individual call, and not just about your connection to the network. Because the AIOps platform analyses the IT environment, then offers root cause analyses of problems as they occur, Nolan explains that it “becomes aware of how you’re using the network, so it can offer real insight into why something isn’t working perfectly and what you can do to get it there.”
The root of the issue
Resolving complaints of poor Wi-Fi can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, says Nolan. “There’s so much variance within Wi-Fi – a microwave or fluorescent lighting can interfere with your connection – so it’s difficult for a network engineer to identify the root of the issue.”
AIOps, however, make for much more precise troubleshooting. An AI engine that has analysed information about a user, their applications, IoT devices, and locations can inform them exactly what the issue is and offer an immediate resolution. When all of this is done without interacting with an IT team, it in turn saves them valuable time, money, and headaches.
As AIOps predict network behaviour and offer recommendations for fixing anomalies, it frees up operations teams to focus less on putting out fires, and more on proactively managing network operations. For an industry facing a mass technical skills shortage, this is certainly of note.
AI will help Ireland bridge that shortage, says Nolan: “This technology is a real game changer for our industry because it means that with very little overhead and very few resources, the AI engine can keep an eye on the performance of the entire network, taking the strain off manpower.”
Value proposition
“This is why it confounds me that half of Irish businesses believe they have no use case for AI,” says Nolan, who hopes next week’s event can showcase its real value proposition. “We’re trying to let people know that if you think there’s no room for AI in your organisation, you’re missing the point completely. This technology has fantastic possibilities for everybody at every level.”
A CIO executive briefing, the event is targeted at decision-makers, not the technical workers that Nolan believes already have a good idea of the value AI holds.
“We haven’t really seen massive engagement with AI from the executive level in Ireland, so we wanted to hold this event for them. We’ve had strong participation from the technical workshops we’ve been running throughout the year, but I sense a slight disconnect between the value proposition that these two groups have when it comes to AI. We’re hoping to change that next week.”
While the speakers will be discussing AIOps from a network-focused perspective, Nolan insists the day won’t be loaded with technical terminology as it is designed to appeal to a broad audience.
Accessibility
“Our objective is to help attendees get familiar with the main concepts in AIOps and understand how it can be used within their own environment and applied to deliver value,” says Nolan, “and the best way to do that is by making it accessible.
“We understand that AIOps isn’t one size fits all, so we will also focus on how those concepts can be applied within the networking context for those customers that might be looking for an off-the-shelf solution from Juniper Networks, as well as those that have already invested in their existing network and could build themselves an à la carte solution.”
As a junior electronic engineer when the internet was in its infancy, I could just feel that we were on the brink of something brilliant. I get the same sense of excitement around AI. When I look at ChatGPT, I’m taken by its boundless possibility. Where it might lead us, who knows, but there’s so much opportunity for businesses to tap into. People have got to move beyond thinking of AI as Skynet from the Terminator movies and instead to start thinking of it as something that can deliver real value.”
Running from 10am to 2.30pm, the Agile Networks event will take place 23 February at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin and will be followed by lunch at One Pico Restaurant.
To learn more about ‘The Business Case for Accelerating AIOps’ and to register for this live Agile Networks event, click here.
Ltd
