The networking year that was

Although good progress has been made in networking technology this year, sales cycles remain longer and the channel has had to work hard to meet budgets.

Security has been the biggest concern for network administrators as the unscrupulous element continues to exploit vulnerabilities. The real danger this year was the number of viruses and other integrity threats, which used network vulnerabilities to propagate.

Companies were operating on tripwire alert standings as worms and denial-of-service attacks became the order of the day. Security had to be taken down to network level and companies that didn`t have adequate security features on their networks were given a short, sharp lesson in forward planning.

Despite the tough year that was, there are early signs of a slight improvement going into 2004.

Zappi von Plato, regional chief executive of telecommunications, Comparex Africa

And it wasn`t only smaller firms that were affected. An American power station was hit by the SQL Slammer worm this year, making its way into the power station`s network thereby disabling the company`s safety monitoring system for nearly five hours.

Incidents such as this show how important network security is and demonstrate that corporate security should be viewed holistically throughout an organisation.

It also illustrates that security is not just about securing one`s own networks, but requires strategic decisions to be made across a business` value chain from the smallest contractor to the biggest partner.

Firewall appliances, virtual private network tunnel servers and intrusion detection probes can be installed to limit risk, but they come with their own problems. Very often these devices do not communicate with each other or the network, making the job of a network administrator a game of catch-up, as new threats require different approaches.

Despite the desperate need for increased security, network vendors did not see massive sales. Throughout the networking channel, margins were squeezed as users lengthened their sales cycles and aggressively shopped around for better deals.

Given these circumstances, the next couple of months are clearly a good time for companies to be investing in the protection of their networks. Added to this is the current strength of the rand as well as increased security threats. One might say that it would be irresponsible not to actively investigate and take the present opportunity to upgrade.

The industry continued to see consolidation, especially in the value-added reseller (VAR) sector, and service became a critical selling point.

While the channel was scrambling for business, the consolidation was good news for the end-user who was firmly in the driver`s seat in negotiations and VARs had to offer increased services and better support.

However, while there is a squeeze on product margins, clients are still willing to pay for the right expertise (in terms of services and support), to ensure their networks are effectively protected. This is not an area where one can afford to introduce false economies - the potential impact is too serious. Clients are not only looking for the best price; they are looking at the quality of the package that a VAR can provide.

Despite the tough year that was, there are early signs of a slight improvement going into 2004. Although not significant, some vendors are projecting marginally better growth as companies` budgets again have some provision for upgrades.

The key issues for 2004 will still be security, but companies will begin to lay down the infrastructure required for newer cost saving technologies such as voice and video over Internet Protocol. This has been further aided by the relaxing of some of the telecommunication restrictions. Hopefully, 2004 will see a continuation of this trend, as SA remains over-legislated.