Checking the pipes

Just how quickly organisations can get the right information to the right people, in the right place, at the right time can be a critical factor in day-to-day operations. Underlying all the software and systems that enable this information to be extracted, packaged and transmitted in useable format, is the network. Yup, the good old network.

Frequently the source of many acronyms, frustrations and much hair-tearing over the years, the network has now become a competitive differentiator. Of course, now that it's a competitive differentiator, it's the cause of more hair-tearing for CIOs who have the responsibility of ensuring networks are able to cope with today's requirements, tomorrow's requirements and possibly never-to-be-realised requirements, all without necessitating regular patching or ripping-and-replacing.

Hitting where it hurts

HP networking unit manager Lorna Hardie says the three core areas of concern to CIOs today are security, mobility and convergence. Security is a perennial worry and, what with malicious and non-malicious activity hitting the network harder and faster than ever, this is near the top of every CIO's priority list. Mobility is a growing concern, arising from the proliferation of wireless networks and mobile devices.

Says Hardie: "CIOs need to ensure their users have the same level of access rights, irrespective of where they log in or what device they use." CIOs also need to ensure said access is securely managed.

Convergence, Hardie says, which initially referred to voice- and data-sharing wires, now refers to the convergence of voice and data networks as well as voice, data and broadcasting - what's frequently referred to as triple-play. Here, quality of service becomes an issue, particularly for companies looking to realise the cost savings of running video and voice over IP over the company network.

More concerns

A further concern is what Enterasys SA country manager Martin May calls 'density'. "In the early 1990s, one device would serve 10 people, and then we had one device per person. Today, we have 10 devices for one person who is trying to hook all of them into the infrastructure.

IT budgets are set per user, not per device.

Martin May, country manager, Enterasys SA

This raises another problem: budget constraints. In a 10 000-user network, you now have 100 000 devices trying to connect [hypothetically speaking]. IT budgets are set per user, not per device, which creates a budget problem that is then again compounded by the ongoing security problem and the numbers and different types of devices."

Disaster recovery, says Duxbury Networks' CTO Andy Robb, is also still a hot topic. "Today, the network is the business and CIOs need to build a certain amount of continuity into it in terms of both physical resilience and applications provisioning."

The first trick to coping with the head-swirling array of technologies and offerings available in today's market, says Business Connexion's executive CTO Andy Brauer, is to understand what all the hype is actually about.

"Take identity management, for example," he says. "What's fuelling the frenzy? Users aren't signing on from their traditional areas in traditional ways; they're using [smartphones like] Blackberrys, iMates and so on. If you understand what's behind it, you will know what to do. You need to understand what the business wants to achieve."

Furthermore, says Brauer, there are many ways to skin a cat. "The way we try to make sense of it is to analyse what all the vendors are doing, then go a step further and look at what the industry analysts are doing, what research is being done. We see where the strongest trend is, fit that back into product and then [fit that product] back into the organisation."

In other words, don't go chasing around after each new fad. Rather, analyse what's behind it, then relate that back to what the business needs to achieve in terms of its strategy and direction, and determine whether said technology can assist in that. If it can't, forget about it.

Favourite c-word

The second is everyone's favourite c-word: consolidation. In this case, it refers to consolidation of physical networks.

Says Cisco enterprise sales manager Paul Ruinaard: "Let's look at the banks, for example. Each has seven or eight networks in any branch, including security, access control, ATM, Internet and so on. These can definitely be rationalised. I think IT staff are comfortable, though; they're not looking and thinking, 'What happens if we combine these?'"

Combining these, naturally, will reduce the infrastructure maintenance headache and make it a lot easier to see what needs to be upgraded, and where. Consolidation is also a factor in merger and acquisition situations where disparate corporate networks need to be combined into one useable infrastructure.

Of course, both of the above assume the CIO is interested in managing and maintaining corporate networking infrastructure internally. The trend internationally is to outsource basic infrastructure. When one considers the benefits therein, it's plain to see why this is a growing sector.

For a start, the outsourcer now has the responsibility of ensuring the infrastructure is adequate, kept up-to-date and has built-in redundancy. The last, in particular, is easier for outsourcers as they can acquire and maintain redundant infrastructure cost-effectively thanks to inherent critical mass, and share the cost across several clients.

I think IT staff are comfortable; they're not thinking, 'What happens if we combine these?'

Paul Ruinaard, enterprise sales manager, Cisco

Corporates can also dictate and enforce service levels to an outsourced provider, something that may not be feasible internally due to the cost implications. While an outsourced provider, for example, is able to set up and maintain a fully staffed, 24/7 network operations centre, it is not feasible for most companies to do the same thing.

Companies can further dictate the needed level of redundancy, negotiate technology refreshes into the contract and drive better returns out of the network by ensuring better uptime, higher service levels and more regular refreshes than would necessarily have been feasible or viable if the network was maintained in-house.

Down to the wire

The underlying scenario here, says BCX's Brauer, is that IT is becoming a utility. He says what CIOs need to watch out for is that the choices made do not deviate from the utility concept.

"If [these choices] do [deviate], it ultimately means you are heading down the wrong road," he says.

Irrespective of whether companies keep their network in-house or outsource it and manage the providers, the ultimate goal of any and all activity, as with any IT decision, needs to centre around how IT can best support the business, its goals and objectives. Simple stuff, really.