Forward Networks Named Outperformer in the 2025 GigaOm Radar for Network Validation for the Fourth Consecutive Year

Consistent High Ranking Demonstrates Exceptional Value of Forward Enterprise in Delivering Operational Confidence Through Continuous Network Validation

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks, the industry leader in network digital twin technology, today announced that for the fourth consecutive year, GigaOm has ranked it as an Outperformer in the 2025 GigaOm Radar for Network Validation. Forward Enterprise is positioned closest to the "bullseye" for the fourth year in a row, and is again classified as a Leader and Outperformer in the Innovation/Platform Play quadrant of the 2025 network validation Radar chart.

With the rise of hybrid multicloud environments and the rapid adoption of agentic AI systems, automated network validation has become essential to ensure business continuity, maintain security and compliance, and execute changes without business disruption. In the report, GigaOm highlights growing enterprise demand to better manage multi-vendor networks, prevent outages, harden configurations, and verify that AI-driven operations adhere to intended policies and controls, all core capabilities of the Forward Enterprise platform.

Forward Enterprise excelled across the report's technical and operational categories, receiving five-star ratings in the Key and Emerging Features Comparison sections for Network Source of Truth, End-to-End Validation, Security Verification, Hybrid Multicloud Awareness, Network Visualization, Intent-Based Networking, and Digital Twins, and in the Business Criteria Comparison section for Interoperability, Manageability, Observability, and Scalability.

"Networks are now too complex for guesswork, especially as AI becomes part of every workflow," said Chiara Regale, SVP of Product and UX at Forward Networks. "Agentic operations demand accurate data sources and precise guardrails. Forward delivers mathematically exact verification so every change is safe, compliant, and predictable. Being named an Outperformer again by GigaOm underscores why the world's most demanding enterprises trust Forward to run their networks with operational certainty."

What is a Network Digital Twin?

Forward Enterprise delivers a mathematically precise model of the entire network across on-premises, hybrid, and multicloud environments, not an approximation. By collecting and analyzing the real configuration and state of every device, path, and policy across routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, SD WAN, wireless, and all major clouds, it reveals exactly how the network will behave. This eliminates blind spots, strengthens security posture, streamlines audits, and enables teams to verify intent with confidence. This deterministic foundation is what sets Forward's digital twin apart and makes it essential for modern agentic network operations.

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

• Network source of truth: Forward Enterprise's mathematical model creates a complete digital twin, providing authoritative configuration and state information for all network elements across physical, virtual, and multicloud environments. The digital twin provides comprehensive visibility into every possible packet path through continuous scanning, maintaining searchable historical records of network behavior and compliance at any point in time.
• End-to-end validation: The platform uses sophisticated path analysis technology to craft detailed reports that compare end-to-end network behavior against intended security and behavior across on-prem, hybrid, and public cloud environments. The data-plane verification tests network intent against implementation by verifying connectivity properties like subnet reachability across multiple data centers and detecting configuration issues such as VLAN mismatches on link endpoints.
• Digital twins: Forward Enterprise generates vendor-neutral software abstractions that model entire network infrastructures, including firewalls, load balancers, routers, SD-WAN, switches, and wireless solutions from tens to hundreds of thousands of devices. The digital twin enables risk-free validation of configuration changes and policy implementations through mathematical modeling that scales across both on-prem and cloud environments.

The 2025 GigaOm Radar for Network Validation evaluated 24 vendors and provides a forward-looking assessment over a 12–18 month horizon. Forward Networks is recognized as a Leader and Outperformer, with GigaOm citing its release cadence, agentic AI integration, enhanced vulnerability analysis, firewall policy normalization, and comprehensive attack surface capabilities. To download the full 2025 GigaOm Radar for Network Validation, click here.

About Forward Networks

Forward Networks created the world's first network digital twin, transforming how organizations manage and secure their networks. Customers include global leaders such as Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell, as well as other Fortune 500 enterprises, fast-growing companies, and government agencies.

The company's software creates a mathematically precise model of the production network, giving IT teams unmatched visibility, verification, and agility across multi-vendor environments and every major cloud, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. According to a recent IDC report, the average Forward Networks customer experiences US$14.2M in annual benefits through improved efficiency and security.

Trusted by Fortune 100 enterprises and federal agencies, Forward Networks helps organizations reduce risk, ensure compliance, and prepare their networks for the demands of AI and the next wave of digital transformation. Founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, Forward Networks is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and backed by leading investors including MSD Partners, Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Threshold Ventures, Section 32, Omega Venture Partners, and A. Capital. For more information, visit www.forwardnetworks.com.

Media Contacts:
For Forward Networks

Dustin Rausa, Guyer Group
[email protected]

Dawn Slusher, Forward Networks
[email protected]

SOURCE Forward Networks, Inc.