Five Strategies for Network and IT Managers to Navigate the Downturn
Five Strategies for Network and IT Managers to Navigate the Downturn
Prepare Now for the Economic Upturn That Will Pay Dividends in the Months Ahead
MENLO PARK, Calif., Dec 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Intelliden Inc., a leading provider of Intelligent Networking solutions
that enable organizations to control, manage, and scale their networks,
today outlined five key strategies to help network and IT managers both
navigate the current downturn and also ensure their companies are best
placed for the economic upturn.
"There is a tendency for companies to simply cut costs and then
hibernate to ride out economic recessions," said Alan Black, CEO of
Intelliden. "However, as history has shown, by taking smart, pro-active
steps during a downturn, technology managers can help their companies be
much better placed when the upturn arrives. The current economic
downturn will undoubtedly end at some point and those companies that are
leaner, fitter and more innovative will likely have the most to gain
from the upturn."
Intelliden has outlined five key strategies for network and IT managers
that address these points. These include:
1. Control Cost without Compromising the Business
Technology managers need to harness technology that tackles the most
obvious and easiest cost savings, especially if they find themselves
resource constrained. Greater automation, and recovering stranded or
lost network assets are two easy ways of cutting costs and controlling
expenses. Network automation is of particular value in resource
constrained environments, particularly for companies with a hiring
freeze. Automation of key network configuration management, compliance
and provisioning processes enables companies to do more with less.
Likewise, recovering stranded and/or lost network assets enables
companies to extract ROI from past investments. For example, according
to a recent study by the Yankee Group, up to 35% of tier one
communication service providers' network assets and resources are
stranded, which can translate to a cost of hundreds of millions of
dollars. Rationalizing technology infrastructure through initiatives
such as virtualization and data center consolidation will also help to
reduce operational costs.
2. Simplify Your Technology Environment
Recessions can actually be a great time to simplify IT architectures,
systems and processes. Fewer systems are easier to manage especially
with fewer people. One way to achieve this is through migration to
commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions. For companies with a mixture
of COTS, proprietary and legacy solutions with overlapping / duplicate
functionality, now is a great time to simplify that technology
environment by migrating on COTS solutions. This means that staff has to
be trained on fewer applications. More disciplined adoption of industry
and technology standards, such as SOA and web services, can also improve
time to completion and longer term cost of support. Technology managers
should also require strategic vendors to collaborate with each other to
help drive down costs and to better leverage their respective strengths.
3. Look for Shorter Payback Period on your Investments
All new investments - including technology - will understandably be very
closely scrutinized in this economic climate. A recession dictates new
expectations for better and faster return on investment periods. New
investments with payback periods of more than 12 months or more will be
extremely difficult to get funded. This means that existing investments
that seemed attractive a few months ago but had longer payback period
will become harder to justify. Look for a payback period of 12 months of
less on any new technology investments that will make an accelerated
impact on the business.
4. Secure Your Network and IT Assets
As the economy swings into a downturn, fraud and crime swing into an
upturn. This means the threat of cybercrime, data breaches, hacking,
malware, phishing or knowledge theft will peak in activity. Without the
proper protection in place, this can result in unnecessary cost when
companies can least afford it. Implement higher levels of network
security compliance, network authentication, deterministic traffic
routing and system access, and increased audit tracking and logging
processes to ensure corporate assets are properly protected.
5. Don't Stop Innovating
Companies still need to be creative and innovative, even in a downturn.
There is a tendency for many organizations to hibernate with IT
paralysis in a recession. However, it is in times of uncertainty that
the best initiatives often come to light. Don't stop planning or looking
at new ways of addressing key issues. Innovative solutions that can
enable organizations to retain and satisfy customers, show rapid time to
revenue or become more efficient will get executive attention. For
example, Unified Communications, Telepresence, VoIP are all solutions
that help reduce costs. Think creatively and revisit the business model
to harness the company's core strengths. This could also be a great time
to outsource non core activities to managed service providers to help
streamline the business.
About Intelliden
Intelliden is a leading provider of Intelligent Networking solutions
that enable organizations to control, manage and scale their networks.
With Intelliden solutions, network-driven organizations can deliver next
generation services; ensure compliance and completely automate network
change and configuration management. Intelliden's innovative and
patented solution is the first example of truly "intelligent automation"
of networking devices. It is the only solution that gives companies the
real-time state of the network-the key to ensuring accuracy across
increasingly dynamic networks. Intelliden has been proven in global
telecom companies, financial services organizations, federal government
agencies and other businesses deeply dependent on their network. www.intelliden.com
SOURCE: Intelliden Inc.
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Coming Soon! - IP Network Architect
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Gary E. Smith
Enterprise Network Architect
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Posted by Enterprise Network Architect at Wednesday, December 10, 2008 10:07 PM 
Categories: Press Release
Categories: Press Release
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