By Jeff Gray, Gluware CEO & Co-Founder
In my decades working with Global 2000 enterprises, I’ve seen how high-level network infrastructure decisions can create massive operational headaches months later, even when those decisions seemed perfectly rational in their original context. I’ve seen companies invest millions in cybersecurity tools only to discover their network complexity made those tools ineffective. I’ve seen organizations plan ambitious digital transformations that stalled because no one asked the right questions about network readiness upfront.
The problem isn’t that these leaders lack vision or business acumen. The problem is that most board-level conversations about network infrastructure focus on the wrong things entirely.
The Conversations That Cost Companies Millions
Boards consistently have conversations about cybersecurity budgets, compliance requirements, and vendor selection. These discussions feel comprehensive and strategic. But they’re missing the conversations that actually determine whether a company can execute on its growth strategy, respond to market changes, or even maintain day-to-day operations without constant firefighting.
Consider a scenario that plays out regularly across industries: A pharmaceutical company invests millions in compliance infrastructure and security tools – checking all the traditional boxes that boards typically discuss. But when they acquire a promising biotech firm with breakthrough research, the network integration takes eight months instead of the projected six weeks.
The delay isn’t due to security concerns or compliance issues. The problem is that their existing network architecture can’t accommodate the acquired company’s specialized research systems without extensive manual reconfiguration across multiple vendor platforms. While IT teams work to solve integration challenges, competitive pharmaceutical companies advance their own research programs. The “network problem” costs them market timing that may be worth hundreds of millions in eventual drug revenue.
This pattern repeats across industries with different stakes but similar dynamics. The common thread isn’t technical failure – it’s strategic misalignment between network capabilities and business objectives. These companies weren’t asking the right questions until network limitations were already constraining their most important business initiatives. The conversations that aren’t happening are the ones that would save companies the most money, time, and frustration.
What Boards Think They're Managing vs. What's Really at Stake
Most boardroom network discussions center on four areas, and these conversations happen with impressive frequency:
Cybersecurity investments – According to a 2024 PwC Corporate Directors survey, 64% of directors reported they had increased agenda time related to cybersecurity over the last 12 months.
Compliance requirements – A NACD Public Company Governance Survey reports that 83% of companies reviewed top compliance risks as part of their board agenda.
Budget optimization – According to the EY Center for Board Matters survey of more than 500 board directors, boards are maintaining their focus on cost control and financial discipline in 2025 while also channeling that discipline to unlock capital for reinvestment in technology.
Risk management – According to a 2024 PwC Corporate Directors survey, 43% of directors reported they planned to increase agenda time related to risk management in the following 12 months.
These conversations matter, and boards are clearly dedicating time and attention to them. But here’s the challenge: despite this comprehensive focus on network-related topics, they’re addressing symptoms rather than causes.
Meanwhile, the strategic issues that actually determine business agility and operational efficiency rarely make it to the boardroom:
Network complexity as a growth constraint – Can your infrastructure support rapid scaling, new market entry, or acquisition integration without months of painful network remediation?
Automation readiness – When your competitors are operating intelligent automated networks, are you still managing yours manually with scripts and tribal knowledge?
Cross-functional operational dependencies – How do network limitations impact your ability to deploy new applications, support remote workforces, or integrate IoT and OT systems?
Business continuity beyond disaster recovery – Beyond backup systems, can your network operations continue when key personnel leave, or are you dependent on individuals who’ve accumulated years of vendor-specific knowledge?
The Strategic Questions That Change Everything
The most successful enterprises have leaders who reframe the entire network infrastructure conversation. Instead of asking about costs and compliance, they probe the intersection of network capabilities and business strategy:
“If we needed to integrate an acquisition’s network in 30 days instead of 6 months, what would have to be true about our infrastructure today?” This question reveals whether your network architecture enables rapid business development or constrains strategic opportunities.
“What percentage of our IT budget goes to ‘keeping the lights on’ versus enabling new business capabilities – and how does that compare to our fastest-growing competitors?” This exposes the hidden cost of manual network operations that consume resources without driving competitive advantage.
“If our three most knowledgeable network engineers left tomorrow, how long before network issues start impacting business operations?” This reveals whether your network capabilities are institutionalized or dangerously dependent on individual expertise.
“When new security threats emerge requiring immediate network policy updates, can we deploy consistent protection within hours, or will manual processes leave us exposed for weeks?” This reveals whether your security operations enable rapid threat response or create dangerous exposure windows that put your business at competitive and operational risk.
“When we deploy new applications or services, does network readiness accelerate time-to-market or become the bottleneck?” This uncovers whether your infrastructure supports business agility or constrains innovation speed.
Focusing on What Matters
Companies that have this conversation early – before network complexity becomes a crisis, before competitors gain automation advantages, before growth plans are delayed by infrastructure constraints – position themselves for sustained success.
Those that don’t find themselves playing catch-up in an increasingly automated, intelligent networking landscape where operational excellence has become a competitive differentiator.
The conversation every leader should have about network infrastructure isn’t really about infrastructure at all. It’s about business strategy, competitive positioning, and operational resilience in an environment where network agility increasingly determines market success.
The question isn’t whether your organization will eventually need to have this conversation. The question is whether you’ll have it proactively, when you can still shape outcomes, or reactively, when network limitations are already constraining your business objectives.
