Next month, I'll be back out on the road with our "State of the LAN/MAN" Town Meeting. Kevin Tolly, president and CEO of The Tolly Group, and I will be traveling to six cities across the U.S. to talk to IT executives about their local area network concerns.

A lot has changed since the last time we journeyed out for this tour. Voice over IP was a glint, but not a done deal. Wireless LANs were considered too immature for most networks. And 10G Ethernet was something to peer at over the horizon.

Needless to say, this is not today's world, nor tomorrow's for that matter. As our Voice over IP Tech Update (going on right now) is proving, the move to voice over IP is well under way in many organizations. If not in actual implementation stage, it is definitely on the radar screen.

Wireless LANs are proving their mettle in targeted areas such as hard-to-wire buildings and flexible work environments. In fact, many companies are trying to figure the risk of installing wireless LANs deeper in the organization. They are no longer taboo, but instead are something to place methodically throughout the enterprise.

And 10G Ethernet is rapidly approaching. Internationally, 10G is already being used in metro settings. And here, in the U.S., the same is beginning to happen. Soon, because we can, users will demand 10G to the desktop. Not out of necessity but out of availability. So the whole "who really needs 10G to the desktop" argument could become obviated.

Tolly will tackle this changing landscape in his morning and afternoon keynotes. In the morning, he'll set the stage for our great lineup of presenters: Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Extreme, Finisar and Foundry Networks. In a presentation titled "Re-engineering for Today's Enterprise Demands," Tolly lets you know how some of the emerging technologies are going to affect you and what considerations you should have when bringing them into your network. He also tells you how to make adjustments to your network now that will help you support such efforts later.

In his afternoon keynote, Tolly delves into the issue of wireless LANs. He explains what their impact is on the network, what situations they work best in and how to engineer your enterprise to interact with them. He also explains the various approaches you can take to implementing wireless LANs.

Finally, we'll have two roundtables during the day that aim to answer your questions. The presenters, as well as Tolly, will give you straightforward responses to your concerns.

To register for this event, visit http://www.nwfusion.com/events/lanman/index.html.

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