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The New Landscape

author-image
DQI Bureau
New Update

The network management requirements of different types of enterprises and

service providers have traditionally been unique to each market segment and

corporate culture. However, a number of forces are creating more common ground

among these environments. In particular, interdependencies between enterprises

and service providers–and among different types of service providers–have

added a new layer of complexity to planning and implementing successful

management strategies. This has given rise to the concept of Network of

Networks. Recognizing these interdependencies and managing them proactively is

the right tack to take for IT organizations seeking to gain control of

infrastructure investments and service commitments.

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One way of looking at this continuum of interdependencies is through the

concept of the extended enterprise. The extended enterprise comprises network

services delivered by both internal staff and service provider companies. All

players are increasingly sharing processes, data, metrics, and service-level

commitments. For instance, an enterprise might provide end users with an

e-trading service that depends in part on outsourced Web-hosting, outsourced

T1/E1 connections, and in-house database management. The end service is an

aggregate of all the enabling services and is dependent on each of them for

success.

"Service

providers that acknowledge interdependencies and collaborate on performance issues will have a distinct

advantage over their competitors
"

Manoj

Chugh

Service providers that acknowledge these interdependencies and collaborate

with partners on performance issues will have an advantage over their

competitors that draw absolute boundaries around what only they can control. The

reason is that clients are increasingly looking for end-to-end service-level

commitments rather than "islands" of guarantees. This is not to say

the management model for enterprises and service providers will converge. There

will remain significant business and operational differences. For example,

service providers need to create directly billable services, while enterprises

remain largely concerned with managing costs and fulfilling corporate business

requirements.

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However, enterprises will increasingly derive external revenue from IT

services and are also learning to leverage internal charge-back systems, or at

least usage-based analysis, for effective business planning and cost

accountability.

Can India adopt best practices?



Looking into organizational and business interdependencies, understanding

core requirements for management, and knowing how to integrate new technologies

into mainstream management are all actions that create a solid foundation from

which to approach any management strategy. Each of the integrated networking

technologies–such as IP telephony, wireless, VoIP, VPN, and storage–reflect

strategic business choices for Indian companies.

Globally, enterprises will consider whether to manage or outsource

capabilities. Service providers will make decisions on whether to provide new

services based on these technologies or partner with specialty service providers

to deliver solutions to enterprise customers. India’s challenge–how soon can

we look to adopt this best practice to make our businesses more competent?

Effective outsourcing, management and partnering of networking infrastructure

has become a competitive edge for all businesses in all markets - and might, in

fact, become the single most important differentiator for growing a business

smartly and profitably.

Manoj Chugh



The author is president of Cisco Systems (India & SAARC)

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