SANTA CLARA, CALIF., June 4, 2024 – An IDC Business Value Study has concluded that Forward Networks' customers reap significant financial and operational benefits from its advanced digital twin technology. Among several critical findings, IDC's research has determined that the average Forward customer gains $14.2 million in benefits annually, derived from measurable improvements to network stability and reliability ($7.7M), team productivity ($2.9M), and additional operational efficiencies ($3.6M).

Networks are becoming increasingly complex, critical, and costly to maintain. Ensuring reliable network service levels and integrity, while also accommodating rapid growth in traffic, connections, endpoint exchanges, threat mitigation, and digital innovation presents major challenges for organizations of all sizes and across all regions and industries. As a result, IT departments need data-driven solutions that provide actionable, prioritized insights and drive ROI.

IDC found that the average Forward customer gains 95.8 full-time equivalents (FTEs), which translates to $6.7M, from increased productivity made possible by reduced unplanned downtime and faster remediation.

Additional key findings include:

• Members of the Incident Response and Troubleshooting team increased their efficiency by 34.2%. This represents a staff time gain of 35.8 FTE valued at $2.5M.

• IT team members completed network deployments 71% faster, identified and resolved network-related problems 44% faster, and planned, designed, and tested within network environments 36% faster.

• Compliance teams were 10.4% more efficient, translating to a benefit of 4 FTEs.

• With a better understanding of their network environment and its components, customers experienced 33% fewer downtime incidents, and if an incident occurred, it was resolved 55% faster.

• Productivity loss caused by unplanned downtime per organization was reduced from 216,240 hours to 36,045 hours, saving the average organization 180,195 hours of productivity annually.

• Organizations attributed another $1.25M annually in productivity gains after implementing Forward's technology.

Study participants shared numerous benefits gained by implementing Forward, including efficiency and accuracy of budgeting and licensing efforts, security and risk benefits, and a more stable and reliable network environment associated with improved visibility and MTTR.

To develop this study, IDC spoke with Forward Networks' customers who leverage its digital twin technology to manage, administer, and track their IT networks. The research focused on network administration, incident response and troubleshooting, regulatory compliance, and associated staff efficiency. IDC also researched Forward's effect on network stability and business enablement.

Forward Networks is revolutionizing how large networks are secured and managed by providing actionable, accessible, and insightful data that puts people back in control of the network. Forward Enterprise identifies exactly which vulnerabilities are present in the network and their severity. The platform then delivers a prioritized remediation plan. Forward Enterprise's secure, agentless collection method gathers current device and state information and combines it with Forward's proprietary mathematical model to create a digital twin of the network.

Access the IDC Business Value Study at idcdocserv.com/US52128624-BVSB_3.

About Forward Networks

Forward Networks is revolutionizing the way large networks are managed. Forward's advanced software delivers a digital twin of the network, enabling network operators to ensure the network is secure, reliable, and agile. The platform supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud operators, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Forward Networks was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D. graduates and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Investors include MSD Partners, Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Threshold Ventures, Section 32, Omega Venture Partners, and A. Capital. For more information, visit www.forwardnetworks.com.