Why IT Leaders Need DEM to Drive Success in the Hybrid Cloud Era

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, IT leaders, whether CIOs, CISOs, or VPs of IT, are responsible for driving a range of initiatives that enable business growth and success. Projects like cloud migration, hybrid workforce enablement, and SaaS adoption are now essential. However, these initiatives carry inherent risks that need to be carefully managed, especially when it comes to performance, security, and user experience.

The Balancing Act of IT Projects

For many IT executives, the first challenge arises when migrating key applications to the cloud. The critical question is how to ensure that these applications remain as secure and perform as efficiently in the cloud as they did on-premises. Whether it’s moving enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, or other core applications, the need to maintain optimal user experience while protecting sensitive data is paramount.

Similarly, when enabling a hybrid workforce, IT leaders must ensure that users can securely access corporate resources from anywhere while maintaining productivity. The complexities of secure access, compliance, and performance monitoring grow as employees work from home, on the road, or from various global locations.

Each of these initiatives carries risks—poor user experience and application performance can lead to reduced productivity, security gaps, and overall project failure.

The Role of IT Leaders in Managing Project Risks

IT leaders already use a variety of tools to manage these risks, from various security solutions to network monitoring products. However, adding Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) to their toolset allows for proactive oversight of user experience and application performance. DEM, particularly one that is a native feature of a true SASE platform, provides the visibility IT teams need to identify potential problems before they affect users.

According to a Gartner forecast, 60% of IT leaders will rely on DEM by 2026 to measure the performance of applications, services, and endpoints from the user’s perspective, compared to less than 20% in 2021. This trend reflects the growing recognition of DEM’s role in minimizing operational disruptions and enhancing the user experience across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments.

Cato’s DEM: A Native Solution to Address Experience Risks

Cato Networks offers DEM as a native part of its SASE Cloud platform, making it uniquely positioned to address performance issues. Unlike bolt-on DEM tools, Cato’s solution leverages real-time and historical network data enriched with user and application insights. This integrated approach offers unparalleled visibility into both network and application layers, allowing IT teams to detect and resolve issues before they impact users.

Cato DEM continuously monitors application performance through real-user monitoring and synthetic transactions. This enables IT teams to identify patterns, predict potential problems, and take proactive measures to ensure a seamless experience for all users, regardless of their location or device.

For IT leaders, this means less time reacting to helpdesk tickets and more time optimizing performance. Should a performance issue arise, Cato DEM’s in-depth analytics allow for fast incident resolution by identifying bottlenecks at the network or application level, providing a clear path to remediation.

Proactive and Reactive Capabilities: The Best of Both Worlds

It’s impossible to prevent every issue, and even with the best proactive tools, some problems will slip through. When this happens, the key is to react swiftly and efficiently. Cato DEM’s ability to centralize incident analysis into a single dashboard simplifies troubleshooting, helping IT teams resolve issues quickly without jumping between different tools or consoles.

This combination of proactive detection and reactive efficiency significantly reduces the frustration users, IT teams, and business stakeholders experience. Instead of chasing problems, IT departments can focus on more strategic initiatives, knowing that Cato DEM has their back.

A Strategic Tool for Business Growth

Digital Experience Monitoring should be seen as an essential asset in every IT leader’s toolkit. As businesses embrace digital transformation, the performance of applications and the user experience are becoming crucial competitive differentiators. Whether it’s ensuring the success of a cloud migration, enabling a productive hybrid workforce, or optimizing day-to-day operations, DEM plays a key role in mitigating risks and ensuring that IT projects drive business growth rather than hinder it.

Think of DEM as an umbrella on a rainy day: it’s there when you need it, ready to protect against the unexpected. And just like an umbrella, DEM can be opened up to shield not only IT but also the entire organization from performance risks.