Forward Networks named Outperformer in 2024 GigaOm Radar for Network Validation for Third Consecutive Year

Forward Outranks All 14 Other Vendors, Achieving the Highest Scores for Key Features and Business Criteria and is considered an Innovator

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks' digital twin technology is again recognized for delivering multi-layered benefits and substantial return on investment (ROI) to large enterprises. In the 2024 GigaOm Radar for Network Validation, Forward Enterprise is ranked an outperformer and positioned closest to the "bullseye" for the third consecutive year. The company is included in the Innovation/Platform Play quadrant, earning the highest scores for key features and business criteria, and is projected to continue to lead the network validation market over the next 12 - 18 months.

With today's highly complex network landscapes, automated network validation is increasingly critical to ensuring business continuity, maintaining network security compliance, and ensuring efficient and outage-free change windows. GigaOm expects significant growth in this area to manage multi-vendor environments, improve the efficiency of change windows, secure network devices and services, and meet compliance. GigaOm cites AI/ML and robotic process automation as additional contributing factors driving market growth.

Forward Networks excelled in the security category, earning a five-star rating for both compliance and security verification. The compliance verification score reflects the platform's ability to ensure that network configurations and operations align with industry best practices, organizational policies, and regulatory requirements such as ECA, GDPR, GLBA, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and SOX. Meanwhile, the security verification rating underscores the platform's effectiveness in evaluating network configurations and operations to meet stringent security standards, safeguarding against vulnerabilities and threats. These ratings reflect Forward Enterprise's ability to help organizations maintain a robust and secure network environment, reducing the risk of data breaches, cyberattacks, and reputational risks, attacks, and reputational harm.

"As enterprises increasingly adopt AI and automation, having precise and reliable network data is essential. Our network digital twin technology offers a comprehensive suite of capabilities, with network validation as a key component. By providing accurate, real-time insights into network compliance, behavior, and configuration, we enable administrators to confidently leverage AI and automation without the risk of unintended outcomes," said Chiara Regale, SVP of Product and UX at Forward Networks. "Being recognized by GigaOm as an outperformer in network validation for the third consecutive year is a testament to the advanced capabilities and value of our platform. We are committed to continued innovation."

Forward Enterprise creates an always-accurate digital twin of an organization's entire network infrastructure using a proprietary mathematical model. It documents, verifies, and analyzes network behavior across on-premises, cloud, and virtual overlay environments. The platform enables network operators to visualize network topology, perform end-to-end path analyses, verify behavior, ensure network compliance, and identify present security vulnerabilities. With features like automated auditing and customizable policy checks, Forward Enterprise helps network teams streamline operations, reduce errors, and enhance overall network security and performance.

At its core, the platform creates a vendor-neutral digital twin of the entire network, accurately modeling infrastructure components such as switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers, SD-WAN, and wireless solutions, whether on-premises or in the cloud. Designed to scale seamlessly, Forward Enterprise supports networks ranging from a few devices to supporting the world's largest and most complex networks.

The report recognizes Forward Networks for its advanced capabilities, including:

• Network source of truth - Forward's digital twin is a single source of truth, offering instant searchable access to all global network information across on-premises and multi-cloud environments. By automating manual tasks and providing a holistic view of the network, Forward helps organizations reduce mean time to resolution, improve security posture, and streamline network operations.
• End-to-end validation - Forward enables network operators to perform end-to-end path analyses, verify intent, ensure policy compliance, and identify potential security vulnerabilities across the network. The platform allows users to trace all possible traffic flows, visualize network topology, and predict network behavior before implementing changes. By offering a holistic view of network behavior based on configuration and state information for all devices, Forward empowers organizations to validate network security controls, verify compliance with zero-trust policies, and continuously audit network configurations for potential issues.
• Network visualization - Forward generates always-accurate topology diagrams representing the entire network, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. It visualizes Layer 2 - Layer 4 network states, traffic paths, and device configurations in a single pane of glass, enabling IT teams to explore the global network or drill down to specific devices and flows. The visualizations are dynamic, automatically updating with changes in the network and offering insights into device types, configurations, and connectivity.
• Compliance: Forward Enterprise offers continuous compliance verification to ensure companies are in compliance with company policy and regulatory requirements such as STIGs, ECA, GDPR, GLBA, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and SOX.
• Security Verification: Forward Enterprise integrates with NIST and vendor vulnerability databases. Combining this data with the state and configuration data collected by the platform provides operators an exportable report of CVEs present in the network prioritized by severity and exposure.

The 2024 GigaOm Radar for Network Validation analyzes 15 vendors' network validation offerings and provides a forward-looking assessment over a 12-to-18-month window. Forward Networks is ranked a Leader and Outperformer, earning the latter designation "due to its innovative features, rapid release cadence, and comprehensive product roadmap." To learn more about Forward Networks' network validation capabilities, view a 15-minute demo. To download the full report, click here.

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.

Forward Networks Contacts:
Dustin Rausa, Guyer Group
[email protected]

Dawn Slusher, Forward Networks
[email protected]

SOURCE Forward Networks, Inc.