Software-based networks ease staff manual labor, increase efficiency

Let's take a moment to reflect on light. I don't mean only the "electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye" kind of light, even though without it, we would totally be in the dark.

Britannica.com describes light as a primary tool for perceiving the world and communicating within it. Bingo. Let's meditate on the fact that light is such a powerful force that we reference it multiple times a day to describe a wide variety of things.

As it relates to network communications' Age of Enlightenment, in this issue of Network Evolution, we are shedding light on networking issues undergoing major changes, starting with the increased interest in deploying software-based networks. Enterprises can use software-based networks to help eliminate manual labor for network managers who often spend up to 80% of their time making hands-on changes to network components. A full 80%. That's so 20^th Century in this virtualized, automated, software-driven world. In "Software-Based Networking Unleashes Network Managers," find out how enterprises are making major moves into long-anticipated software-based networking to free up network managers to use their time more effectively.

Also in this issue, the spotlight is on how the use of cloud-based services is changing enterprises' shadow IT policies. When users find cloud apps and platforms that help them be more productive. In "Shedding New Light on Shadow IT," some IT organizations show that working collaboratively with users who need certain tools makes more sense than bringing down the "It's not our policy" hammer.

Finally, networking professionals have once again enlightened us about what they need to do their jobs, and networking activities are at the top of their lists in a new 2017 TechTarget IT Priorities survey.