Users’ ever-increasing expectations—and the technology breakthroughs that continue to feed them—have created an unprecedented level of pressure and complexity for today’s network providers. Some strategic approaches suggest that complexity is the enemy, and that a fully automated network is the answer. Ciena takes a broader view. This paper explains Ciena's Adaptive Network vision of the ideal network end-state that utilizes automation, guided by analytics and intent-based policies, to rapidly scale, self-configure, and self-optimize by constantly assessing network pressures and demands.