Forward Networks

Forward Networks is a network modeling and analysis software company founded over 10 years ago. Its flagship product, Forward Enterprise, creates a mathematical model of an organization's entire network infrastructure, enabling teams to understand, verify, and manage network behavior with precision. The platform collects data from network devices across physical, virtual, and cloud environments, supporting 30+ vendors. It builds a vendor-agnostic digital twin of the network, allowing users to query network state, trace traffic paths, verify security policies, and identify misconfigurations without touching live infrastructure. Key capabilities include Network Query Engine (NQE), which allows users to write structured queries against the network model to identify specific devices or conditions (e.g., locating hardware affected by vendor field notices in minutes). The platform also provides network verification, path analysis, change management, and security policy compliance checking. Forward Enterprise is used by large enterprises and government agencies, including Fortune 50 financial institutions, telecommunications companies, energy companies, media companies, pharmaceutical firms, Goldman Sachs, and multiple U.S. federal agencies. Use cases span network security posture validation, audit preparation (80% audit time savings reported), application deployment acceleration (90% deploy time savings reported), and compliance verification. The company is headquartered in the United States and has received over 25 industry awards across cybersecurity, cloud computing, and network automation categories. Gartner recognizes Forward Enterprise in the network automation tools market.