

John Burke
John Burke, CTO of Nemertes, advises clients based on primary research in cloud, networks, automation, and security, and on his 30-plus years’ experience as an IT researcher, practitioner, and leader.

3 ways network teams can influence SASE decisions
Network pros’ input about what SASE platform their enterprise needs should start as early as possible, and that means involvement in SD-WAN choices.

When does SD-WAN make sense?
Software-defined WAN offers a lot of potential benefits including price, efficiency, and performance, but it’s not right for all sites.

Multicloud: Keep providers separate and distinct or integrate them?
A multicloud infrastructure strategy can maximize the flexibility of enterprise IT staff, isolate workloads, and increase agility, but there may be overriding circumstances.

AI is coming to the network
Infusing a network organization with artificial intelligence will involve offloading tasks to AI, changing your approach to skills development, and as staffing requirements change, displacing workers.

More work for admins: When labor-saving management tools don't ease workloads
There are lots of good reasons for network automation, but network teams need to be mindful of what they want to do with any time and resources saved.

Should security systems be the network?
Small enterprises can get away with using security gear as their network infrastructure, but can larger ones, and is it a good idea?

3 ways to reach the cloud and keep loss and latency low
Performance of cloud-based apps that create lots of network traffic can be hurt by network loss and latency, but there are options to address them.

Software vulnerabilities pose a risk to network infrastructure
IT pros need to require software bills of materials for the open-source networking software used in their enterprises to guard against potential threats.

4 ways to better secure your network infrastructure
Must-do initiatives include eliminating generic credentials, regularly auditing IT admin accounts, and deploying MFA for infrastructure access.

Don’t let automation break change management
Reliable change-management practices are critical to expanding network automation.

How to manage scripts that manage network automation
By following these four best coding practices, writers of scripts that automate networking chores can reduce errors, track changes, and ensure the code can be readily maintained as it evolves.