* Trend is consolidation, but don't go too far
Quick. What’s the most common IT infrastructure design in a branch office? Answer: There is none.
Quick. What’s the most common IT infrastructure design in a branch office?
Answer: There is none. In fact, the most common scenario within most companies is a myriad of products from various vendors—with little to no consistency among different various locations. Not surprisingly, this makes it difficult to:
* Establish new locations (i.e., order and implement gear efficiently)
* Manage new locations (i.e., learn and use small numbers of remote tools)
* Negotiate with vendors (i.e., save money)
We’ve established in our research that the number of branch locations are increasing, whether you define branches as small or midsize offices, home offices, or even the individual mobile worker. So it makes sense to establish a corporate standard for what equipment goes into branch locations.
In our latest research project, Advanced Communications Services, we’re in the process of gathering data on what types of products are on the checklist for branch offices. A few trends are emerging:
1. Companies are interested in all-in-one devices (or “branch-in-a-box” products, but they have some reservations.
2. IP telephony is by far the dominant voice product for new branch locations.
3. IDS/IPS functions are increasingly centralized.
4. It’s becoming more common to push all remote traffic to the data center for application filtering and security capabilities.
Perhaps the most interesting shift this year is in the all-in-one products. For the past two years, we’ve seen a lot of interest in consolidating the number devices IT teams need to implement and manage. That seems to be losing a bit of steam, according to our early results.
IT decision-makers want to combine some functions, but not all of them. For example, switching, routing, VPN, and IP telephony are nicely paired, according to the IT executives. But they don’t necessarily want firewalls or optimization in the same products. The rationale? They want to be able to adopt a best-of-breed environment, while also consolidating the number of devices.
The final findings from this research will be available early next year, and I’ll keep you posted on the numbers (frequency and budgets for each item). In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on what your organization puts into its branch locations.
