2013-05-19T11:13:44-04:00 Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=thierry-grenot Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Thierry Grenot Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2614345 2013-02-04T06:49:17-05:00 2013-04-06T05:12:01-04:00

Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thierry-grenot/
This week, employees everywhere will be sharing some of the famous (and infamous) Super Bowl adverts. From Volkswagen's 'The Force' to Old Spice's 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like', Super Bowl adverts were designed to be shared.

From an IT perspective, all this sharing is risky. I've talked about the dangers of big events before (see this post on The Olympics here in the UK), and a lot of the threats emerge again. Basically, during major global events, traffic flows across networks increase dramatically. The Super Bowl is a perfect example. Employees will look at videos while working in the office.

I've used the 'car and road' example before to explain what I mean when I say traffic is flowing across networks, so let's branch out. Let's use a sports appropriate one. If you're a business, and the playing field is your broadband network, then you only have so much space.

Let's say that applications are football players. Add more football players, and more, and more, and eventually you're going to run out of room for movement. The players won't be able to run. In the same way, sudden traffic from applications (like video) over your network can cause serious delays. This is particularly risky for your business critical apps - which, to keep with our example, might be your star quarterback.

Video and Unified Communications are two of the 'high consumers' in terms of bandwidth. They're like the really big players on the field. They take up a lot of space.

So what do you need to do? You've got to plan ahead. You need to have appropriate network management. You need to be able to see and control which applications (or players) are running where and when. It's either that or buy a bigger playing field, which is very expensive, and which you probably don't need anyway.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2170386 2012-11-21T09:08:05-05:00 2013-01-21T05:12:01-05:00

Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thierry-grenot/
Whilst Obama and Romney battled it out for the key to the White House, company networks would have been battling to cope with the additional strain placed on them. Imagine a media site like CNN or the BBC going down because its network resources were unable to cope. It would have been more than a little embarrassing. Past instances of poor network management stand out. In April 2011, the entire BBC website crashed, due to Royal Wedding fever. With thousands of viewers attempting to watch Kate Middleton walk down the aisle, their networks couldn't cope, leaving many viewers staring at a static screen instead of watching the nuptials.

For businesses, the dangers of increased and unmanaged traffic levels over corporate networks are immense. Each application running over a network (like Twitter, or videos, or Facebook), drains the network's resources a little. If one app is greedily sapping more than its fair share of the bandwidth due to heavy usage, then the other apps suffer from poor performance and users end up frustrated. If business-critical apps (such as video conferencing) are being side-lined due to employees frenziedly tweeting or streaming election result videos, then the company has a problem.

Losing five minutes per day from poor application performance creates a 1% drop in productivity, which can limit profitability by 10%. This is never acceptable in today's economic environment. These peaks in traffic are not just a phenomenon at election time - natural peaks (such as those occurring when companies run system back-ups at specific times of the day) can produce similar spikes in demand.

So how can businesses prevent this? Regardless of the company's size, they need to have greater visibility over the network, and to be able to see exactly what's running over it. If employees are streaming election videos from certain news sites, then the person in charge of IT absolutely needs to be aware of it, and acting where necessary.

We're certainly moving past an age where one 'pipe' is equal for all applications using it. The network itself and its managers need to be able to understand the traffic it is carrying and to make more intelligent decisions about how resources are allocated.

Not all apps are created equal

Once visibility has been established, the next step is gaining control. It could be that certain apps are particularly demanding, and need to be reined in for the sake of wider network performance. Take video streaming as an example. With so many employees streaming the news to keep up-to-date on the election results, you can bet that other (potentially business-critical) apps were being side-lined as a result. The network needs to be managed in such a way that business-critical traffic is given priority.

This would mean that the streaming of elections would not have any negative impact on the other applications that are needed by the business. So there comes a need to 'rank' traffic, and decide which flow of data should take precedence over others if network resources are ever strained.

Just how far the IT manager wants to go in terms of 'controlling' usage is of course up to them. In a recent survey of CIOs and IT managers across Europe, we found that 67% said they currently block Facebook, 56% do the same for on-line video, and 49% block Twitter. This is interesting, and sparks a natural debate over whether it's fair to curtail an employee's social media use so heavily.

Events as significant as the presidential elections don't crop up every week, and this is something which CIOs and network managers can perhaps be grateful for. But it's important to know that when they do arise, either within the business itself or more generally, the company's networked tills can continue processing orders, its websites remain live and its logistics systems continue to function.

In addition to here at the Huffington Post, we talk about these topics over on our blog, www.AppsSoluteblog.com]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2024450 2012-10-26T12:43:30-04:00 2012-12-26T05:12:01-05:00

Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thierry-grenot/
This week, we'll focus on the importance of having the right tools to monitor network activity, and the effect this has on the business.

Next week, we'll consider the roles of BYOD and cloud computing alongside SME tech.

Making tech work for SMEs

SMEs and technology go together like rain and London: these days it's hard to imagine one without the other. Yet with the onslaught of IT comes numerous difficulties. If SMEs want their tech tools to work for them, they need to focus on two words: visibility and control to secure business efficiency. Below I'll discuss how these words can lead to better communication between IT staff and managers; and can improve application performance, cutting down on recreational online activities while maximizing business ones.

Tech tools to increase communication between IT staff and department managers

For SMEs, conveying IT information about applications to senior officials can often be challenging. There's a lot of lingo. KPI, SLM, SLA, WAN optimisation - these are all terms that managers and senior staff may not be familiar with. Eyes glaze over. Confusion arises. Rather than driving business forward, such complicated technology terms hinders business - particularly in SMEs, where resources are so limited and so crucial.

What SMEs need is to be conscious of this. There are tools that allow SMEs to be proactive about their IT and the performance of their business applications. These tools cross the language divide between IT staff and department managers. Some offer one-to-ten rankings to indicate how successfully IT and applications are operating across networks. Others provide easy-to-understand graphics.

Without such measurements, it's difficult to set technology-related goals. Under such circumstances, when issues arise, tension between IT staff and department management inevitably follows. Management see IT as expensive and not performing well; the IT department is put in the uncomfortable position of being on the defensive.

In contrast, when there is a metric - a clear indicator that simply and easily points to the heart of an issue - it's much more possible to positively respond to arising difficulties. IT staff have data and information they can provide to senior officials.

Additionally, using tools that provide insight into tech improves user complaint handling. When people do complain, IT staff can see the information needed to help users, even if it is something as simple as being able to describe the problem and tell the customer when it will be fixed. Consider a non-IT example: an individual misses their train. Not knowing when the next train is set to arrive may cause distress. Conversely, knowing how long the delay will be allows the individual to be proactive rather than reactive. Think of these monitoring tools like a digital train board. Through using the advanced information on application performance IT departments can better serve users.

For IT managers, being offered insight into the running of the network is hugely useful. It offers the IT department the chance to take control, and ultimately wield more power and influence within the business. As the use of apps within the workplace becomes more complex, there will be increasing demand on the IT managers to keep up with the additional data, and ensure the network runs smoothly. This is no easy task, and the use of tools to aid in this area will be no doubt welcomed.

That's all for now... We'll talk about the rest next week, as it's a long topic and a complicated one. You can check out more of these issues on our blog, AppsSoluteBlog.com. ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1736995 2012-08-03T09:04:34-04:00 2012-10-03T05:12:02-04:00

Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thierry-grenot/
A recent study indicated that 67% of European CIOs and IT Directors said they block Facebook. 60% block YouTube. 49% block Twitter, and 56% block all online video.

This threatens to create a chasm between old ways and new methods. Justin Fielder, Easynet CTO, noted that "this isn't just about attracting and retaining young talent, it's about how best to create a dialogue with, and retain, your customers."

"Social media is oxygen to anyone under 30 and it's vital for communication, education and information. It has huge implications on business success," said Fielder. "Business leaders - usually Generation X - have to understand this or they will find the future of their business in jeopardy."

It seems that European CIOs have some catching up to do. I believe that this is particularly true in light of Microsoft's recent purchase of business social networking site Yammer, which demonstrates the importance of social networking in the workplace.

Many of the anticipated challenges caused by employee usage of social media such as its impact on the corporate network have been solved. Some might be concerned about the blurring of the network edge when staff want to use their own devices to access social media - yet with a few simple precautions, potential issues are resolved without the need for drastic measures like blocking social media access.

It's time for CIOs to look again at their policies in this area.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1676234 2012-07-16T10:44:54-04:00 2012-09-15T05:12:02-04:00

Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thierry-grenot/
BYOD can be dangerous. Very dangerous. To start with, you have the common security concerns associated with a technical device: spyware, malware, viruses, and so forth. These are all exasperated by the fact that BYOD involves foreign devices coming into the office in an uncontrollable way.

Employees are bringing their own computers and tablets. Suddenly things like applications and virus software become variable.

However, security is not the only issue that comes with BYOD. Troubleshooting can also be a problem in an environment where users are bringing a multitude of different technologies.

There is the danger of more ghost/rogue applications happening via BYOD. According to a recent study, 38% of surveyed UK companies don't know what kind/how many applications are flowing over their networks - and this is within their own traditional office environment. 69% admitted to not understanding the bandwidth requirements networked applications demand.

These numbers could be made drastically worse by BYOD. Just like before, with external devices come the unknown. Employees may have numerous applications installed on their own tablets and their own computers. When employees come to the office with their own devices, these applications will suddenly be running, unmonitored and unrecognised, across the networks. They provide a direct security threat in that they may be carrying with them certain virus-prone weaknesses.

BYOD also provides an indirect threat. Additional devices running numerous applications could crash the networks themselves by putting too much stress on the available bandwidth. From photo sharing to social networking, employees operating on their own devices are more likely to use 'at home' applications while in the office.

Companies, who currently don't know what applications are happening where and when, will be operating more blindly than ever. Control is lost. Business is put at risk.

Already 82% of UK companies in a recent study noted that problems such as slowness or unresponsiveness are becoming more frequent. BYOD threatens to make these problems worse.
In short, BYOD can be particularly dangerous, posing security threats both in the traditional and the network-related sense.

Companies must be prepared to handle these challenges before they rush after BYOD.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1549935 2012-05-28T05:40:30-04:00 2012-07-28T05:12:10-04:00

Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thierry-grenot/
Driven by the increasing proliferation of bandwidth intensive applications such as unified communication, video conferencing and collaboration software, as well as the trend towards cloud computing, networks are struggling to match the increasing demands placed on them.

A recent study analysed responses from 550 CIOs and IT decision-makers across Europe about application performance and the problems they face ensuring users remain productive and that business apps deliver on their objectives.

It revealed worrying trends, with 82% of respondents reporting speed and responsiveness issues within the last 12 months and nearly half of respondents commenting that those types of problem are becoming more frequent. Perhaps more concurringly respondents said it was business critical applications such as enterprise (ERP / CRM), voice and collaboration applications are the most likely to suffer from performance problems.

The survey also emphasises a distinct lack of awareness amongst those overseeing networked applications. Many of Europe's businesses are 'flying blind', without adequate knowledge of exactly what is flowing over their networks.

For example, 69% of respondents are not aware of how much network bandwidth each application they use requires, and nearly one in three do not even know the number of applications running on their corporate network.

Measurement of application performance is also fairly rudimentary in many cases with 55% of respondents admitting that they rely on the 'final line of defence' (namely user complaints to the IT department) as their primary performance metric. In other cases a plethora of competing network level technical indicators such as 'jitter' and 'delay' are in operation.

What's actually required is a simple, single KPI which provides an aggregate view on how well each application is performing which everyone in the company can understand and which can inform improvement. Today this management information seems to be lacking.

The study also charts a rapid growth curve for network capacity with a third of respondents saying they would need to double the size of their networks every two to three years in order to keep up with data growth rates.

Finding money to finance that growth doesn't seem realistic as over half of respondents said their networking budget remained flat or decreased in the past 12 months.

Ultimately the average cost of supplying applications in a large business is approximately $1,000 per user, per month and this significant investment in software and programmes shouldn't be jepordised by under investment in the comparatively minor networking budget.

The takeaways from the study suggest rather than simply throwing capacity at the problem there needs to be a change in mind-set. CIOs and network directors should be asking 'what data traffic is really important to the organisation?' 'Can we do without certain traffic or can it be de-prioritised and prevented from running at peak times?'.

The 'application performance crunch' is only set to be further highlighted during the Olympics as office employees stream sports events simultaneously, adding further strain to corporate networks across the UK and the world.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1437363 2012-04-19T11:33:51-04:00 2012-06-19T05:12:01-04:00

Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thierry-grenot/
Now the 'one to ten' scale is helping classify how applications are performing across networks via the Application Quality Score (AQS) metric.

AQS provides some basic numbers with big repercussions - numbers that could help businesses build better relationships between IT staff and senior managers, streamline processes, improve customer relations, guide wise investments, minimise downtime, and create some pretty interesting graphs.

What is AQS?

Today there is no standard indicator for application performance across networks - and with good reason: there are very few standard applications. AQS confronts this issue by operating as a composite indicator. By combining a variety of sub-metrics (such as round trip time, server response time, transaction activity and TCP retransmits) and unique 'one-way' network metrics (such as transit delay, loss and jitter), the 'one to ten' AQS score is a top level view that reflects the application performance that remote users experience over the WAN.

How AQS can help improve application performance

AQS acts like a compass, pointing IT departments to where an issue lies and then allowing them to find a solution. Poor application performance can be the result of the network, the server or the application itself. By creating a metric, AQS indicates which of these areas, and where within these areas, any issue is to be found.

For example, imagine the AQS indicates that the network is the cause of poor application performance. IT staff would be able to delve deeper. They would be able to answer two related network questions: is the network itself experiencing a fault, or is the network jammed with too much traffic from multiple applications? All this information is contained within the composite parts of the AQS metric.

From there, IT staff could go about finding a solution: if the low AQS score is due to of a faulty network, then the network provider would be responsible for improving it; if the score occurred because of too much traffic over a perfectly suitable network, the IT department would have to unblock the traffic jam. They may choose to do this by determining which applications are business-critical (such as ERP, CRM, videoconference, etc.) and prioritising them. Applications like YouTube or Facebook may be deemed as non-critical, in which case a company may allow an AQS score of 2 or 3. The same company may want an AQS score for critical applications, like SAP or VoIP, to be at 9 or higher.

To keep with the previous example, if the low AQS score indicated the problem was a result of too much business-critical traffic, then companies would know they need to direct funds towards increasing bandwidth, and better still, they'd have the information to make the business case.

Why IT people need AQS metrics

Conveying IT information about applications to senior officials can often be challenging. KPI, SLM, SLA, WAN optimisation - these are all terms that managers and senior staff may not be familiar with. AQS helps make the language of IT more approachable and even more visually stimulating, owing to the visual nature of dashboards. The metric of 'one to ten' is simple and easy to understand.

Without such measurements, it's difficult to set application-related goals. Under such circumstances, when issues arise, tension between IT staff and management inevitably follows. Management see IT as expensive and not performing well; the IT department is put in the uncomfortable position of being on the defensive.

In contrast, when there is a metric, a clear indicator that simply and easily points to the heart of an issue, it's much more possible to positively respond to arising difficulties. IT staff have data and information they can provide to senior officials.

Additionally AQS improves user complaint handling. When people do complain, IT staff can see the information needed to help users, even if it is something as simple as being able to describe the problem and tell the customer when it will be fixed. Consider a non-IT example: an individual misses their train. Not knowing when the next train is set to arrive may cause distress. Conversely, knowing how long the delay will be allows the individual to be proactive rather than reactive. Think of the AQS like a digital train board. Using the advanced information on application performance IT departments can better serve users.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1414203 2012-04-10T19:00:00-04:00 2012-06-10T05:12:01-04:00

Thierry Grenot http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thierry-grenot/
The story is simple: during major global events, traffic flows across networks increase dramatically. Employees will look at videos, or direct broadcasting, or even just news, while working in the office. This takes up valuable broadband. It means more important applications, like a sales system or email, could get 'stuck in a traffic jam'.

The Olympics is a major global event. It threatens to stress UK networks like never before. BT, the official communications sponsor of the Games, announced in 2009 that the Olympics are 'the most complex logistical peacetime challenge [they've] had to face'. Every second BT expects 6GB of information to travel across their Olympic-designated networks, equivalent to 6,000 novels, or the entire contents of Wikipedia every five seconds. In preparation, BT is investing 640,000 man hours into the Olympics project. The O2 also is investing £50 million to increase its reliability around Olympic sites by deploying new temporary antenna.

It's no surprise BT is concerned about the impact of the Olympics on networks. Consider a related international event: the 2011 World Cup. During the World Cup, mobile bandwidth data usage increased by 24%. Web browsing traffic increased by 35% during match time. YouTube traffic grew by 32% on post-match mornings, while lunchtime matches showed the largest bandwidth increase with 31%. Video streaming increased by 11%. Enterprise networks faced unprecedented traffic flows.

Now let's go back to the office. During an average week, 56% of UK office-based employees watch online video while at work. Roughly 66% of UK employees indicated they watch more than one hour of online video per week from the office. A large portion of the Olympics will occur during business hours; employees will go online to track their favourite events. So take the traffic stats mentioned above, and expand them to - quite literally - Olympic sized proportions.

The failure of business critical applications can really cost an organisation. For instance, a high-volume online store bringing in £25,000 per hour could crash due to a single network failure. If the outage lasts several hours, the monetary impact can be quite significant. IDC recently estimated the cost of an 11-hour IT outage at around £600,000.

There are two solutions: companies can purchase more bandwidth before the Olympics, but this is costly and still doesn't provide control of what's happening on their networks; or companies can use WAN governance tools to monitor and regulate the flow of applications across their networks. This means companies can prioritise business critical applications, ensuring the success of their operations.

These tools act like police officers on a road. They can regulate and direct applications (in this instance, cars) into certain queues. This means the YouTube car could be delayed. The email car could move ahead. All this could happen along the already existing network/road.

In brief, the Olympics are coming. Companies must prepare their networks now.]]>