August 201919 CXO NSIGHTSTRANSFORMING YOUR ADAPTIVE NETWORK SOLUTIONS FOR THE DIGITAL FUTUREMATT GUTIERREZ, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, CENTURYLINK ASIA PACIFIC In a world of rapid digitalization and rising consumer demand, find out why an adaptive network solution is required to future-proof your digital business and match an `on-demand' digital economy.There used to be a time when downloading a low-resolution image file would be time-consuming and just streaming audio would leave us with the dreaded `buffering' alert. If you were to even talk about network services like dial-up connections, phone lines, and Internet speeds of 56 Kbps today, it would be simply unthinkable! In the context of today's digital economy, fiber optic broadband and mobile telecom networks are an inherent ­ and in more developed parts of the world, an expected ­ part of life. The sharing and consumption of data has changed dramatically in the past 50 years driven by a number of factors including smartphone penetration and Internet of Things (IoT). It is projected that by 2022, the number of IP-connected devices will be more than three times the global population and machine-to-machine connections that support IoT applications will account for more than half of the world's 28.5 billion connected devices! While these statistics are staggering, the trajectory of network connections is hardly a surprise. Not only is the Internet growing rapidly at an average of a million new users per day(based on data from January 2018-January 2019), networks have also continuously evolved and adjusted to business needs and user demands. There exists a wide array of legacy access and transport solutions that connect businesses to the locations where data resides including analog dedicated private lines, Ethernet, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), fiber wavelength service and the emerging 5G LTE wireless technologies to name a few. Today, users are being connected to massive volumes of information and content residing in data centers across the globe. There are a number of trends in Asia Pacific and globally that are driving increased demand on robust connectivity, such as the rise of smart cities, the momentum of augmented reality and virtual reality technologies for business applications, surging demand for cloud infrastructure and local distributed computing resources that extend the reach of the cloud ever closer to the source of where data is generated. The network is currently in a transformational state driven by the accelerated demand for data that is always available, anytime, anywhere at increasingly faster time frames. `What was once the Internet age, has now given rise to the application age; a reflection of how the digital business has evolved, and the importance of apps in daily life ­ for business, productivity, and social engagement.'The network today has shifted from a static array of interconnected, one-dimensional technologies to a dynamic, always available platform. It is a network that flexes and adjusts to meet the equally dynamic needs of a digital driven economy and is responsive, intelligent, and secure.However, when we operate in an `on-demand' digital economy, where people are constantly using apps to access and fulfill requests (such as taxi and hotel bookings, online shopping,financial transactions, video conversations, or streaming movies and music)instantaneously at the touch of a button, traditional telecom networks have been challenged to keep up. It is no longer adequate to just provide data - this data needs to be packaged and delivered appropriately as user expectations become more intricate. For instance, data needs to be consistently available and refreshed instantly, the experience needs to be dynamic and versatile, and
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