Branch Office Best Practices

Branch network influences IP telephony management

Robin Gareiss — 2008-10-07T00:00:00Z

One of the drivers encouraging companies to implement IP telephony throughout the organization is the ability to provide consistent communications features from any location.

Teleworking drives Web 2.0 applications

Robin Gareiss — 2008-09-30T00:00:00Z

Though early adoption was primarily in the consumer space, Web 2.0 applications - including wikis, blogs, shared workspaces, and social computing - are infiltrating businesses, as well.

Green's effect on branch collaboration

Robin Gareiss — 2008-09-23T00:00:00Z

We are bombarded lately with "green" everything. No longer does green simply describe the mixture of blue and yellow. And the Irish? Sorry, no longer do you have exclusive ownership of this hue. Now it describes everything from recycling to hybrid vehicles to energy-efficient IT organizations.

How rigid should you be at the branch?

Robin Gareiss — 2008-09-16T00:00:00Z

Last week, I wrote about how companies are paying closer attention to the architecture, products, and decision-makers for branch office IT.

Branch decision-making: Then and now

Robin Gareiss — 2008-09-09T00:00:00Z

One of the more refreshing changes to IT organizations is how they're addressing IT challenges at the branch. I have talked to many IT executives who have revamped how they make decisions about the technologies, products, and services that go into branch offices. As branch locations and virtual workers grow, IT staffs must take inventory of what is in the branches and how they will best deliver data, applications, and bandwidth out to the remote workforce.

Appliance-based option for remote troubleshooting

Robin Gareiss — 2008-09-02T00:00:00Z

Troubleshooting IT problems among workers in branch offices is a challenge regardless of company size or IT sophistication. That's one reason companies are moving toward managed services to help offload IT staff responsibilities.

Location decision: Where to implement branch services

Robin Gareiss — 2008-08-26T00:00:00Z

Flat IT budgets and lean IT staffs are making it challenging for organizations to effectively manage a growing number of branch locations. That's why about 60% of businesses rely upon third-party services to serve as an extension of the IT staff.

Social networking at the branch, the downside

Robin Gareiss — 2008-08-19T00:00:00Z

Though there are benefits to bringing social networking sites, such as Facebook, Linked In, Myspace, and YouTube, to the workplace, there are disadvantages, too. And companies must weigh the two and develop an appropriate policy regarding the sites.

Social networking at the branch

Robin Gareiss — 2008-08-12T00:00:00Z

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Linked In, MySpace, and others, present numerous opportunities and oddities to employees - particularly those at branch offices.

Unified communications is catching on...but what is unified communications?

Robin Gareiss — 2008-08-05T00:00:00Z

It hasn't taken long for "unified communications" to infiltrate corporate IT planning. Nemertes' latest research shows only 16% of companies are doing nothing with unified communications.