Mr. Sekiya of the University of Tokyo × Mr. Matano of Samsung Diamond Industry × Mr. Ohira of VMware The ideal corporate network for the future work style

In SESSION 4 on the second day, Yuji Sekiya, a professor at the Information Security Education and Research Center of the University of Tokyo, Yuji Matano, manager of the ICT group in the corporate planning department of Samsung Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd., and VMware's Network & Security Division. Mr. Shinichi Ohira, General Manager of the Technology Headquarters, held a panel discussion titled "The Ideal Corporate Network for Future Work Styles."

While DX and diverse work styles are evolving, what should the corporate network look like in the future? Suggestive stories popped out from the standpoints of each of the three speakers. This article will provide a summary of that. The moderator was Takeshi Kuniya, editor-in-chief of ZDNet Japan.

Ideal corporate network in 5 years time

Kunitani: In this session, we would like to deepen our discussion on the possibilities and future of corporate networks with SD-WAN as the theme. First, I would like to ask Professor Sekiya how the corporate network environment will change in the next five years.

Sekiya: I will explain how the corporate network should be in five years, based on the materials. Once introduced, it often does not change easily, so there is a high possibility that it will not change even after 5 years. In-house systems that do not need to be kept in-house and have advanced to the cloud will change the cost and security model. As the corporate WAN becomes wider, SD-WAN will be effective.

SD-WAN has advantages such as reduction of line cost, improvement of communication quality, and unification of security model. There is also the question of what to do about security.

The remaining system must have an architecture that considers workflow, which is a condition for it to continue to be an expandable system five years from now. In order not to become an "innocent DX", I believe that it is necessary to design a corporate WAN based on the workflow, system configuration, and establishment of a security model.

Networks are a way of doing business. A system that clarifies what should really be protected and where to apply and issue security policies will be the ideal corporate WAN in five years.

Example of initiatives at Samsung Diamond Industrial

Kuniya: Samsung Diamond Industrial is a VMware user who operates many bases in Japan and overseas, and is taking advanced initiatives. I'm listening.

Matano: In 2021, we introduced SD-WAN Edge. In the past, we used international IP-VPN lines, but the infrastructure cost was very high and some lines were slow.

Therefore, I was introduced to SD-WAN and installed it. SD-WAN is reliable enough. We believe that network construction is "business first". It should be seamless to use and not hinder availability. We often work in places where communication is unstable.

This should be seamlessly connected. Moreover, it is necessary to protect the bases and factories with a structure that is conscious of the zero trust network. Since it is difficult to implement security measures for endpoints, it is necessary to protect them with an intermediate mechanism.

IT infrastructure should be for management and business. I believe that the speed at which we move from the time management makes a decision to the establishment of a base and the start of activities is quite fast. It is difficult to raise the IT skills of employees, and the skills of overseas IT companies are weaker than in Japan in some areas. You can't build a network unless it's something that can be built in such places.

Also, a network that can respond to disasters is very important. One of our system requirements is that the factory can be rebuilt independently.

Administrator convenience is also important. Networks are required to be able to be managed centrally.

What will be the key points of the future corporate network?

Kuniya: Based on what both of you have said, what kind of points should be kept in mind for the future corporate network? I would like to ask Mr.

Ohira: Despite the need to promote work style reform, the reality is that many companies are conservative. There are still companies that have VPNs in their hub-and-spoke networks at their headquarters.

It is up to management and IT departments to ensure that users who work outside the office have the same user experience as working inside the company. In that sense, it would be a problem if one of the devices connected to the VPN was infected with malware and could not be found.

It's hard to get everyone to be a security expert. In addition to easily connecting to data centers and SaaS, there is a need for a mechanism to monitor the traffic that is connected. This is one way of thinking about moving towards a Zero Trust architecture.

How should we approach the challenges facing corporate networks?

Kunitani: Security issues have been exposed due to the corona crisis. Professor Sekiya, do you think these issues should be considered as important considerations when considering networks?

Sekiya: When thinking about networks, I think that there is a system, there are things that should be protected, and security depends on how to protect them. There is also a network configuration that makes it easier to execute the security policy decided there, and I think that such a network configuration will lead to a system that ensures security without difficulty.

Kunitani: Mr. Matano, what were your difficulties and what were your successes?

Matano: I've become able to do meetings well using Teams. However, many of the websites used in the factory could not be used without a fixed IP address, which was a major cause of performance degradation. After adopting SD-WAN, it became possible to continue business without connecting to the headquarters VPN.

What are the merits of SD-WAN?

Kuniya: There are still many points that are not well understood about SD-WAN, so I explained the merits in an easy-to-understand way for management. What if?

Matano: Cost and continuity are important factors. I think that management is concerned about the fact that the current business does not deteriorate.

SD-WAN as a risk countermeasure

Kuniya: There are many IT issues that need to be addressed, but in an increasingly complex system, dealing with risks that may occur in the future, such as ransomware. I think SD-WAN will be very effective as a way to do this. Mr. Ohira, what do you think?

Ohira: There is also the term secure SD-WAN. We think it would be more effective to provide security functions in the cloud rather than extending them into routers.

If there is a security function at the relay point accessed from various places, the same policy can be checked regardless of the access from anywhere. I think that kind of thinking is more appropriate.

You can check access not only from outside to inside, but also from inside to outside. I hope you will look forward to the future prospects of SD-WAN.

Focus on future evolution of SD-WAN

Kuniya: Lastly, Dr. Sekiya, could you tell us about the future evolution of SD-WAN, if there are any points that you would like to pay attention to?

Sekiya: I think SD-WAN originated from creating a closed network as an overlay network. Security functions can be distributed and added, and the advantage of software definition is that it can be incorporated as components.

Matano: I appreciate being able to control security in the cloud. When considering the BCP of the system, if we leave the control of the line to the computer at the base, when the base becomes inoperable, we will not be able to continue the business if we cannot go to the site. It is very important to be able to centrally manage where the current problem is in the cloud.

In an era where you need to be seamlessly connected wherever you are, having multiple connection methods is not good for availability. If the user can be authenticated to the business system, I would like to skip the story of L2 and L3. I would like to have something that can be used in that way in the future.

Ohira: Thank you. That's exactly what VMware is developing next. Whether it's Windows, iOS, MacOS or Android, we will implement SD-WAN overlay technology on the devices adopted by enterprises.

We are thinking of a way to naturally receive the benefits of the cloud-based security mentioned earlier, and we will also make it possible for the client to seamlessly connect to the SD-WAN base from the center console. The next world view of SD-WAN is called "SASE", but we will expand it there. Please stay tuned.

Kuniya: Thank you. The possibilities for SD-WAN are very high. Networks will evolve further through software technology, and I think that the notable theme that emerged from this panel discussion was how to utilize this within companies. Thank you very much everyone.