Why CIOs Should Target AI-Based WiFi Automation Platforms

CIOs in all industries know one thing – they have to start actively preparing for the future, today; and right now, that means incorporating automation into the entire IT ecosystem. It’s the only way to cost-effectively and efficiently scale, support emerging technologies and a dynamic workforce, and deliver all-important business continuity.

You might ask, “Aren’t IT systems already automatic? What about smart assistants, IoT devices, and bots?” While automation isn’t absent from the IT world – especially when it comes to new devices and technologies – many infrastructure management systems still depend on manual, reactive processes. For example: problem ticketing systems. Under these systems, IT has to wait for stakeholders to report issues before they can begin troubleshooting, and, often, troubleshooting is largely a manual task.

This is time consuming and expensive. Every minute that a problem goes unreported and unresolved, operational efficiency can suffer. If the problem is intermittent – as many are – IT might have to wait days for an issue to reoccur so that they can capture the data needed to identify the root cause and provide a resolution.

For CIOs, who are prepping industries for next-generation networks that depend on speed and real-time analytics, this way of doing business is now unacceptable. Standard operating procedures have to adapt to providing proactive, automatic support. This is why AI-based WiFi automation platforms are critical.

AI-Based WiFi Automation

These platforms do exactly what you’d expect – they automate the monitoring and analysis of the entire WiFi ecosystem. Depending on the platform, this includes not only connected devices and infrastructure, but also any nearby networks or non-WiFi devices operating in the same airspace. 

Not only does this automatic analysis free up IT resources for other tasks, it’s also the only way for teams to receive the real-time, up-to-date information that they need to ensure WiFi assurance. Thanks to the vast size and complexity of industry networks, it is simply no longer possible for human IT teams to monitor everything in real-time. If teams, and CIOs, want the confidence of knowing everything about the network so that they can improve operations and the end user experience, they need automation.

Here are three ways these platforms support the main business objectives of CIOs around the world.

Business Continuity

Business continuity is the primary focus for CIOs: ensuring that everything works well across the entire IT ecosystem, while also focusing on where the industry is moving and identifying future needs. 

Success depends on CIOs recommending and acquiring the technology needed to meet the job requirements of all employees; meeting and exceeding security requirements; and ensuring that all technology works reliably, with an eye on achieving flawless performance. 

If any part of this pillar crumbles – job-required technology, security, reliable performance – a business crumbles along with it.

To protect continuity, AI-based platforms deliver:

• 24/7 complete visibility: platforms don’t ever stop analyzing network behavior and performance on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrums. They give IT instant visibility into exactly what devices are connected to the network and what they are using the network for; this enables teams to know what’s happening at all times and how performance can be improved in real-time.
• Proactive alerts: with AI support, platforms learn to recognize normal network behavior and will automatically provide alerts at the first sign of trouble; this enables IT to proactively respond to issues, often before stakeholders are ever affected. For the best ROI, platforms need to identify the root cause of issues and provide actionable resolutions with all alerts.
• Cost-effective scalability: platforms can analyze networks of 500 devices or 5,000 without a problem.
• Vendor agnostic support: if a platform is vendor agnostic, CIOs can implement it at all sites, which cuts down on training time for IT, and ensures that analytics will be continuously gathered and delivered, regardless of infrastructure changes.

Flexibility

While this was a focus pre-pandemic, all efforts in this arena have been accelerated tremendously, and there’s no reason to expect that to change. CIOs now need strategies that address a hybrid workforce, one where employees aren’t simply divided into remote and onsite, but might be onsite on Monday, remote at home on Tuesday, and remote while traveling on Friday. 

It’s a new, almost living and breathing environment, one that means a lot of different things to different people; and in addition to needing the architecture and technology to support this constantly changing environment, CIOs also now lead IT organizations that are less flexible than they used to be.

While it used to be normal for IT to be able to travel onsite to troubleshoot problems and push through upgrades whenever they needed to, CIOs now can’t count on that always being an option. Instead, they need to have contingencies in place that address the new mobile enterprise and complexities of travel.

In addition to the features listed above (especially 24/7 visibility), automation platforms support flexibility by delivering easy, remote access to networks.

With this access, IT can monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize networks from any location at any time. They no longer have to spend time and money traveling onsite, even if conditions allow for it, but can run end user quality tests and resolve issues from a central location.

No one wants to tie IT optimization to the ability to be onsite. CIOs need to invest in automatic, remote platforms if they want to keep their businesses working well. 

Adaptability

Adaptability goes hand in hand with flexibility, but adds an emphasis on looking towards the future. 

For uninterrupted business continuity, the technological infrastructure that supports almost all business processes has to be ready – at some level – to support whatever the future holds, whether that’s the future two weeks from now or two years from now. For obvious reasons, it simply wouldn’t work if all productivity had to halt as systems were completely rebuilt every time industries faced major technological or physical changes.

To better adapt businesses for the future, CIOs have to not only study market trends, but also look back at their own performance. To be successful, they need the historical analytics offered by WiFi automation platforms.

When these platforms automatically analyze and save historical data, they provide decision makers with:

• An in-depth look at long-term performance trends so that decisions can be made as to the best upgrades/updates needed to meet a business’s specific needs. This goes beyond real-time troubleshooting and instead highlights trends in areas like client utilization, noise level, and access point health that may not be apparent from isolated issue alerts.
• A comprehensive look at network behavior at any time in the past, ideal for troubleshooting intermittent issues or issues that occurred when no one was onsite. With saved historical data, the network ecosystem is mystery free.

Intentionally Preparing

As companies continue to embrace the billion dollar markets of emerging technologies, they must make the same investments in infrastructure and analytics platforms.

This might be an easy shift for your business, or it might take more work, but it’s always necessary. If you’d like more information – or a free trial – talk to us about how the Wireless Intelligence Platform™ delivers:

• 90% faster Mean-Times-to-Resolution
• 70% fewer WiFi problem tickets
• 80% fewer remote site visits