L. William Krause

Forward Networks provides enterprise software for network management, specializing in a platform called Forward Enterprise that models entire networks as a mathematically accurate digital twin. This digital twin lets organizations: Visualize and search complex networks: Engineers and operators can gain a clear, end-to-end view of their physical, virtual, and cloud networks. Verify network behavior: The platform simulates all possible traffic paths based on the actual network configuration, enabling users to understand their entire network. Enhance security and compliance: Forward Enterprise can validate that network-wide policies, security postures (including Zero Trust principles), and compliance requirements are properly implemented, and helps organizations manage vulnerabilities and attack surfaces. Troubleshoot and diagnose issues: The platform allows users to swiftly investigate and resolve network incidents by querying any aspect of the network state, reviewing configuration histories, and analyzing potential paths for any packet. Support multi-cloud and hybrid environments: The product offers end-to-end visibility across on-premises, virtualized, and major public cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, regardless of vendor. Key technologies and capabilities include: Network Query Engine (NQE): Enables users to query the entire network as if it were a database—for example, searching for device configurations or validating policy compliance across thousands of devices. AI Assist: A generative AI feature that allows users to run network queries and receive plain-language explanations using natural language prompts, lowering the expertise barrier and speeding troubleshooting. No-disruption deployment: Forward Networks’ software is agentless and non-intrusive—requiring no write credentials, no hardware appliances, and no changes to existing device configurations. Forward Networks serves some of the world’s largest and most complex enterprises and government agencies, helping them modernize networks, improve reliability, reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR), and de-risk operations across on-premises and cloud infrastructures.