* What's hot in WANs in 2008?
As a follow-on to our look back 25 years and the effects of TCP/IP, it seems appropriate at this time of year to jump back to the present and see what the current issues are that are hot, and, at the same time, what’s cold so you don’t waste your time on it. Jim recently did some survey work in this area and the results are published in a note called “Where’s the Heat?” – with appropriate apologies I’m sure to the old Wendy’s commercials.
The note is available here.
Jim takes a look at the impact of consumer technologies on the corporate network. It may come as a surprise that a “toy,” a USB flash drive, is the top concern. But it’s also easy to understand. Not only does this make it easy to compromise corporate security, but it also is a potential entry point for malware. And while additional consumer-level products cause varying degrees of concern, it’s fascinating that, of those asked, Skype caused the least concern.
Jim also asked about a number of business technologies to find out what’s “hot.” The top three, not too surprisingly, are (in order) Web services; traffic shaping/optimization; and video conferencing. And those at the bottom of the list include podcasts; blogs; and Web 1.0.
Finally, Jim asked what’s causing IT staff to lose sleep. Topping this list are network availability and network security. And the bottom of the list? Headcount, VoIP quality, and managing virtualized services.
The inclusion of VoIP quality among the least worrisome is of particular interest. As Jim points out in the note: “That is totally in line with what I am seeing more broadly in the industry. In particular, while industry pundits write article after article about the difficulty of managing VoIP, it does not seem to be that big of a deal to most IT organizations.”
Next time we’ll take a look at what’s REALLY cold in the industry.
