Cisco unveiled predictive analytics technology designed to boost enterprise network reliability and performance, as the vendor moves to tap demand for services which can prevent outages and downtime.

The vendor stated development of the predictive analytics service had been ongoing for two years. It plans to offer the technology under a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins argued the future of connectivity will “rely on self-healing networks that can learn, predict and plan”.

The product employs data gathered from various telemetry instruments in enterprise networks, learning patterns to help IT teams identify potential hardware problems in hybrid cloud set-ups and manage cybersecurity threats.

Cisco named US energy company Phillips 66 and French multinational Schneider Electric among the customers involved in trials of a set-up employing analytics and machine learning (ML).

Mobile operators are looking to predictive analytics based on AI and ML as a means to improve network operations.