In today’s decentralized marketplace, enterprise IT staffs must support multiple sites that securely connect employees with clients and partners to keep the business engine running smoothly. With disparate locations around the world, collaboration tools such as HD videoconferencing, Unified Communications (UC), Desktop Video and other key applications gain even more importance. To be effective, these dynamic solutions often require additional investments to evaluate and select regional vendors who can build and maintain a comprehensive network. These important functions often require specialized knowledge to deploy, implement and manage, which creates a significant drain on IT resources. In a challenging global economy, where IT staffs are required to do more with less, simply investing in new equipment, personnel and bandwidth to address these issues isn’t enough. CIOs are realizing that, to succeed in the 21st century, they must convert the IT department from “cost center” to “strategic asset” status—and that means helping senior management overcome critical issues confronting the corporation.
Business drivers
While the enterprise faces myriad pressures to facilitate collaboration via applications and the network delivery system, three primary drivers must be considered: globalization, virtualization and cost management.
Globalization. A primary challenge many multinational enterprises face is the integration of new locations into the existing corporate network. As companies expand, merge and acquire, not only are IT resources strained, but the seamless delivery of applications and network integration becomes increasingly difficult. Delivery of these applications can be inhibited by inconsistencies in the availability of technology and services.
Additionally, IT teams are often burdened with working through different time zones or with unfamiliar geographies and cultures. Managing multiple vendors and new technologies, combined with a lack of local expertise and customer service, can distract internal IT personnel from core business responsibilities. This can place a successful global network expansion at risk or, at the very least, significantly increase costs. As the IT environment is pushed out to multiple locations, it becomes incumbent upon the IT staff to ensure the day-to-day quality of experience and consistent application performance.
Virtualization. An effective method to mitigate many of these technology challenges is “virtualization” through cloud computing, which fundamentally changes the way services are delivered to support the needs of mobile and remote employees. Virtualization presents an advantageous alternative to purchasing, building and maintaining corporate data centers, servers and other hardware. It also provides the ability to “future-proof” applications, platforms and even infrastructure, as these services improve and business requirements evolve.
However, not all “clouds” are the same, and it’s important to understand the differences when virtualizing the corporate network. Most businesses are familiar with a “public cloud,” where the application, information or computing power is accessed via the Internet, but this approach doesn’t address concerns with corporate security, application visibility, network control and compliance. A “private cloud” is based upon a secure network that’s inaccessible to outside parties. And many innovative enterprises are now beginning to explore “hybrid” cloud options, in which service providers incorporate both private and public cloud solutions.
IT cost pressures. In the midst of marketplace growth and increased application complexity, IT departments are constrained by limited budgets and head count. CIOs are responsible for scalable, unified, seamless strategies for supporting the technology infrastructure, as well as ensuring the selection of critical day-to-day business applications.
As they work to balance requirements with available resources, businesses are beginning to recognize the lowest price alternatives aren’t always the most cost effective. To maximize resources and streamline processes, due diligence should be paid to network providers that can deliver a seamless global experience without compromising performance.
Enterprise solutions
As enterprise IT staffs address these challenges, they seek guidance on a number of specific challenges, including:
• Streamlining network implementation and management;
• Alleviating capital or maintenance expenses;
• Providing secure inter- and intra-corporate connectivity; and
• Allowing real-time application visibility and network control.
While businesses continue to expand their networks, many are working with a greater number of regional vendors to deliver connectivity on a global scale. This expansion is inherently difficult, and many experience inefficiencies while pursuing solutions, managing multiple vendors and contacting various operations centers.
Many enterprises attempt to alleviate these issues by hiring more IT employees or outsourcing to multiple third-parties to manage critical business applications onsite or through software solutions. Others try to improve application performance by adding more network bandwidth. Although these approaches can improve the situation in the short term, they can be expensive and often increase complexity and expense. Forward-thinking companies should consider a more strategic and cost-effective strategy, such as comprehensive, third-party network solution providers that let enterprises seamlessly expand their corporate global network without enduring the challenges of managing multiple vendors.
Forging ahead
Virtualized network solutions can help enterprises address globalization, virtualization and IT cost pressures. But successful implementation requires expertise from a single organization that has a deep understanding of the user’s specific business needs. To ensure a successful outcome, businesses must forge a partnership with a service provider that has the capability and proven experience to provide visibility, control and security across networks. The right network partner will position the IT team—and the business—for whatever lies ahead.
Mel Melara is the regional vice president of sales, Western United States, for Masergy, a provider of managed, secure virtualized network services to enterprises with complex data needs across multiple locations. You can reach him at Mel.Melara@masergy.com.
