http://www.burtongroup.com/Research/DocumentList.aspx?cid=11 The Network and Telecom Strategies (NTS) service empowers you to design and implement a future-focused architecture that will support your company for years to come. Nothing is overlooked. From routers to switching, to ATM vs. IP, to public WANs vs. private WANs, to convergence, to wireless, to optical, to cabling, and everything in between, NTS ensures that the decisions you make will be cost-effective and will meet your long-term needs for scalability. en-us © 2010 Burton Group. All rights reserved http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2069 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2069 The evolution of enterprise Internet Protocol (IP) telephony system requirements has been impacted by advances in open standards, application and mobility integration, endpoint forms and functions, networking services and mobility, virtualization technology, and the emergence of unified communications (UC). In this assessment, Research Director Mark Cortner examines the technical evaluation criteria that enterprises should consider when contemplating their future telephony roadmap. Assessment (Single Instance Use Case) Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2067 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2067 Crises caused by poor application performance can be greatly reduced by creating and empowering a performance-advisory group that is responsible for assessing the predicted performance of applications and infrastructure modifications. Assembling such a group and providing it with the tools, skills, and authority it needs will quickly be repaid in fewer resources spent managing production incidents and problems and in greater overall enterprise productivity. In this guidance document, Research Director Eric Siegel presents a strategic approach for establishing that group. Guidance Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2068 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2068 The era of fully supporting a single-vendor, company-owned, enterprise-class smartphone (e.g., BlackBerry) is declining while the era of offering tiered support for multi-vendor, employee-owned, consumer-class smartphones (e.g., iPhone and Android) is growing. Mobile device management (MDM) solutions help enterprises manage smartphones by providing centralized, multi-vendor device management that results in lower risk and improved cost of ownership. In this assessment, Research Vice President Paul DeBeasi provides evaluation criteria for smartphone MDM solutions. Assessment (Single Instance Use Case) Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=1998 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=1998 The fundamental enterprise challenge to managing a robust, reliable wireless LAN (WLAN) is controlling the underlying radio signals. Unfortunately, the design, management, and diagnostic capabilities provided by WLAN vendors are often not sufficient to meet the everyday demands required by a burgeoning, increasingly sophisticated wireless network. In this assessment, Research Director and Vice President Paul DeBeasi compares enterprise WLAN vendors in the areas of network design, network management, and problem diagnosis. Assessment (Comparison Use Case) Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2083 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2083 The existing unallocated pool of old-style (Internet Protocol Version 4) addresses available from the Regional Internet Registries will be exhausted in mid- 2012. The probable result will be loss of universal Internet interconnectivity, scattered performance issues, configuration and security problems, and legal and financial issues. Enterprises must understand and plan for the possible impacts as soon as possible. This TeleBriefing, presented by Burton Group's Senior Analyst Eric Siegel, presents an executive overview of the management issues and the recommended actions. TeleBriefing Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2019 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2019 Poor application performance over the wide area network (WAN) causes lost productivity, failure of server-consolidation projects, and sometimes unnecessary expense when unsatisfactory attempts are made to fix the problem. This management initiative document discusses the opportunities for major performance improvements and simultaneous cost savings by using WAN optimization controllers (WOCs) and similar technologies, which improve the performance of applications and file systems by making the WAN characteristics appear to be better than they actually are. This document also discusses the risks of those technologies and suggests some alternatives. Management Initiative Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=779 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=779 Redesigning applications to make them less sensitive to wide area network (WAN) environments may be impractical, improving WAN characteristics is expensive, and improving only one factor, such as bandwidth, may not appreciably affect application performance. This assessment by Senior Analyst Eric Siegel discusses the basic technologies underlying WAN optimization controllers (WOCs) and similar products, which can improve the performance of applications and file systems by making the WAN characteristics appear to be better than they actually are. It presents the strengths and weaknesses of each technology and of WAN performance optimization in general. Assessment (Single Instance Use Case) Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2005 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=2005 This assessment by Senior Analyst Eric Siegel is for those who have decided to implement wide area network (WAN) performance optimization and are starting to analyze competitive products. It discusses WAN performance optimizer architectural integration issues, including integration with the network’s routing, security, measurement, and diagnostic systems, then constructs a set of technical criteria to evaluate WAN performance optimizers. It also provides a coarse summary of products in the marketplace. Assessment (Comparison Use Case) Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=1938 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=1938 The evolution of multicast technology to new, network-based digital media technologies is attracting the attention of many enterprises. With new digital signage systems, businesses can utilize digital multimedia content to cost-effectively improve customer interactions and facilitate communications. The systems include editors for the creation of multimedia content, content management functions that control the delivery of digital multimedia over the enterprise’s data network, media player functions that provide an interface to the media displays, and the display function. In this quick start document, Senior Analyst Mark Cortner examines the architectural components of digital signage solutions and their relationship with enterprise networks. Quick Start Thu, 20 May 2010 01:00:00 GMT http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=1997 http://webstager.tbg.com/Client/Research/Document.aspx?cid=1997 The existing unallocated pool of old-style (Internet Protocol version 4) addresses available from the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) will be exhausted in mid-2012. The probable result will be loss of universal Internet interconnectivity, scattered performance issues, configuration and security problems, and legal and financial issues. Enterprises must understand and plan for the possible impacts as soon as possible. Major redesign of the enterprise network is not necessary, but some adaptations must be made, especially at the external boundaries. This management initiative document, by Burton Group’s Senior Analyst Eric Siegel, presents an executive overview of the management issues and recommended actions. Management Initiative Mon, 03 May 2010 01:00:00 GMT