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The contact center landscape is experiencing significant changes, both in the business model itself and its underlying technology. The ability to access telephony and applications over the Internet has increased the flexibility of the contact center workforce, introducing a new trend: the work-at-home agent. Driven by a greater need for both flexibility and cost control, cloud contact center solutions (also known as hosted contact centers) are seeing double-digit growth rates. Cloud contact centers provide a number of business benefits: improved business agility, decreased capital expense, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO). This white paper provides a best practices for exploiting cloud base contact centers securely, with compliance controls and built-in disaster recovery.
Private and public cloud applications, usage models, and scale requirements are significantly influencing network infrastructure design. Broadcom’s StrataXGS® architecture-based Ethernet switches support the SmartScale series of technologies to ensure that such network infrastructure design requirements can be implemented comprehensively, cost-effectively and at scale. This set of innovative and unique technologies, available in current and future StrataXGS Ethernet switch processors, serves as the cornerstone of Ethernet switch systems from leading equipment manufacturers worldwide.
This white paper explores the network infrastructure virtualization requirements in private and public cloud networks, and how such requirements affect the design of data center network switches. It also describes features that are enabled by Broadcom’s Smart-NV (Network Virtualization) technology, part of Broadcom’s SmartScale series of technologies, engineered specifically to meet current feature and scale requirements of private and public cloud networks. Smart-NV encompasses comprehensive best practices for today’s high-performance data center switches, and addresses evolving needs of next generation cloud implementations.
Providing a work-your-way solution for diverse users with multiple devices, anytime, anywhere
Today’s CIO must deliver innovative business solutions and give employees more freedom to work the way they want – all while reducing IT complexity. Consumer devices have proven to be a cost effective and attractive way to keep employees engaged and productive, but many organizations struggle with securely introducing these devices into the network. Securing corporate data, applications, and systems is essential to any BYOD strategy, and IT organizations need to ensure a secure experience from both a device and network access perspective. As corporations develop an any-device, anywhere strategy, IT needs to know who is on the network, the location of the person, and the type and status of the device. This white paper provides a strategy for implementing BYOD securely.
Ruckus Wireless is an innovation machine having pioneered technologies such as SmartMeshing, BeamFlex, SmartCast and now ChannelFly. These innovations have differentiated Ruckus in the enterprise and service provider markets with outstanding results. Ruckus is also involved in the IEEE and WiFi Alliance where new Wi-Fi standards such as gigabit WiFi or 802.11ac, and 7 Gbps 802.11ad are being developed. Bill Kish, Ruckus’s CTO, is my guest as we talk about Ruckus’s unique architecture to product differentiation and development. Bill shares his view of the next three years in the wireless technologies. It’s a must listen for network architects in the enterprise and service provider markets.
Ruckus Wireless has been firing on all cylinders. It’s the fastest growing Wi-Fi supplier on the planet in the enterprise wireless market and owns the largest market share in the carrier Wi-Fi space. Ruckus, an Enterprise supplier latecomer, achieved the highest year-over-year revenue growth of all WLAN suppliers worldwide, growing over 134 %, according to Gartner’s Enterprise WLAN Equipment Market Share4Q11 report. For the second year, in the Service Provider Wi-Fi space, Ruckus was identified as the 2011 market leader with a 26.7 % share of Wi-Fi mesh node shipments, according to Dell’Oro. Very few firms can serve both service provide and enterprise market well; Ruckus is one of those firms. Selina Lo, CEO of Ruckus Wireless, joins me to talk about its business strategy and recent growth. Since recording this podcast, Ruckus announced its IPO plans; this could be one of the last times that you will hear Selina Lo talk for 20 minutes on its business strategy until after the IPO. Enjoy…it’s a great listen.
Siemens Enterprise Communications (SEN) enhances the value of existing Microsoft investments, by combining communications tools, from SEN and Microsoft, and others into a single, manageable interface, and simplifying the way users communicate and share information. By integrating with current Microsoft application ecosystem, knowledge works can continue to use familiar user interfaces with the added benefits of rich, user-centric presence and click-to-contact/click-to-conference. The bottom line is, SEN can unify all communications together into one, simple, seamless experience and deliver innovative business solutions that integrate, complement, and extend the value of Microsoft products.
In today’s IT marketplace, Big Data is often used as shorthand for a new generation of technologies and architectures designed to economically extract value from very large volumes of a wide variety of data by enabling high-velocity capture, discovery, and/or analysis. IDC believes that organizations that are best able to make real-time business decisions using Big Data will gain a distinct competitive advantage over those that are unable to embrace it.
As Big Data efforts grow in scope and importance, the network (both within the datacenter and across the WAN) will play a critical role in enabling quick, sustainable expansion while also ensuring these systems are linked to existing mission-critical transaction and content environments.
Every corporation’s application portfolio is undergoing a massive transition, thanks to mobile and cloud computing plus Web 2.0 applications such as social, peer-to-peer, browser-based file sharing, etc. Clearly there are economic and corporate productivity gains in mobile and cloud computing, but not knowing what applications are flowing over an enterprise network can impact enterprise productivity. Broadcom’s App-IQ technology, which is available as an integrated feature in its latest generation of Enterprise LAN Ethernet switch solutions, promises to provide the enhanced technology for Web 2.0 traffic visibility and control. Together with integrated WLAN capabilities, these switch solutions form the cornerstone of leading switch OEM products, as they deliver on the promise of mobility and visibility required in current and next-generation networks. I talk with Sujal Das, Director of Product Marketing at Broadcom, about its App-IQ technology and the visibility it provides to IT business leaders to control applications flowing over their networks.
The Lippis Report is happy to announce the availability of the Fall 2012 active-active data center ethernet fabric performance and reliability test. This is a first for the computer networking industry. To deliver a two-tier data center network, spanning tree protocol is eliminated and replace with active-active links between Top-of-Rack and Core switches and between Core switches. The industry is offering multiple active-active protocol options such as Brocade’s ISL or Inter-Switch Link, Cisco’s FabricPath, Juniper’s Qfabric, TRILL or Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links, SPBM or Shortest Path Bridging MAC mode, ECMP or Equal-Cost Multi-Path and MLAG or Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Protocol. We will test them all and compare their performance and reliability. Lippis Enterprises has teamed with Ixia for the execution of this important cloud networking industry test. If your company produces 10GbE and/or 40GbE data center switches with active-active links then it is invited to participate free of charge.
Testing is scheduled during the first week of September, October and November of 2012. Equipment suppliers have until end of day PT August 1, 2012 to signup for a test slot, but don’t wait until then, as test slots will be gone. There are only a few test spots available as we have received a number of commitments already. The test prospectus can be downloaded HERE detailing logistics, test methodology, schedule, test result promotion and FAQs.
While the Lippis Report test were being conducted of the IBM System Network’s RackSwitchtm G8124E, G8264 and G8316 ToR data center switches at Ixia’s iSimCity, Dan Tuchler, VP of Product Management at IBM joined me to discuss the firm’s latest product investment. We talk cloud network architecture, Software Defined Networking and what’s unique about the new G8124E, G8264 and G8316 ToR switches.
Lippis Enterprises and Ixia are very excited to announce a new test suite for active-active cloud networks at the modern iSimCity plus a more flexible testing schedule. The active-active test is in addition to 10GbE & 40GbE data center switch performance and power consumption test. Vendors may choose one or both tests to submit products. The fall testing schedule will span over three months providing greater flexibility and lab access for vendors to submit products.
The industry is offering multiple active-active protocol options such as Brocade’s VCS Fabric, Cisco’s FabricPath, Juniper’s Qfabric, TRILL or Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links, SPBM or Shortest Path Bridging MAC mode, ECMP or Equal-Cost Multi-Path and MLAG or Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Protocol. We plan to test them all. This video explains the new Active-Active Ethernet Fabric test and flexible schedule.
Increase security and reduce risk by using existing technology in a non-traditional fashion.
Security is all about risk mitigation. How much risk is an agency willing to accept, and how much are they willing to spend to lower that risk to an acceptable level?
There are multiple ways to lower risk, such as:
• Increasing situational awareness through continuous monitoring of network, data, hardware and personnel resources.
• Tightening security policies for employees and guests moving within buildings.
• Increasing physical security measures when entering the building.
• Isolating physical networks.
• Using stronger authentication mechanisms (multi-factor authentication).
• Implementing an identity management system.
Unfortunately, these solutions all come at a financial cost and, in some cases, can actually prevent employees from doing their job, impacting their productivity. This paper suggests that by using some non-traditional devices in a security arsenal, and by using the network as the platform, an organization can significantly increase its security posture and reduce risk without requiring significant behavioral engineering or infrastructure costs.
This white paper explores the use of Web 2.0 applications in the enterprise, their impact on the performance of the network, and the available solutions in the industry for traffic visualization. It introduces Broadcom’s App-IQ technology, which is available as an integrated feature in its latest generation of Enterprise LAN Ethernet switch solutions. Together with integrated WLAN capabilities, these switch solutions form the cornerstone of leading switch OEM products, as they deliver on the promise of mobility and visibility required in current and next-generation networks. This paper also describes how this technology can help IT managers implement policies for Web 2.0 traffic patterns using cost-effective, power-efficient, network edge and aggregation switches.
There are still many manual steps, such as phone calls and emails between IT teams, throughout the life cycle of a virtual machine impeding timely and efficient VM deployment and, ultimately, the expanded deployment of virtual environments and associated benefits. To deliver on the promise of cloud computing’s on demand application availability, tasks need to be automated. Infoblox has launched its Automation Tasks Board tools in the model of a Software-Defined Network to enable IT department members to initiate with the click of a single button multi-step, often-repeated and time-consuming network tasks while providing cross team visibility and auditability. If you want to build a real cloud computing facility, then you need to listen to this podcast.
