infoTECH Feature

January 21, 2015

The New IP: Building a Virtually Unstoppable Workspace

By TMCnet Special Guest
Marcus Jewell, Vice President, EMEA at Brocade

Whether you run your own business, or simply work for one, chances are you will be very familiar with the advantages - and challenges - of flexible working. In the Middle East, we are beginning to see a trend of employees working part-time or in flexible full-time roles and in future this is only going to increase. Businesses are therefore increasingly under pressure to take action and make sure they have the technology and processes in place to meet these employee demands.

In response to this, virtualized workspaces are gaining a strong foothold in the future of working life. A virtualised desktop is an individual users' interface becoming accessible in a virtualised setting, which, in essence, means that employees can work remotely, from anywhere, as effectively as if they were in the office. A virtualized workspace empowers employees with a choice; a choice to strike a better work-life balance as they can work from anywhere, anytime, with any device. IDC (News - Alert) are predicting that 1.3 billion people will work remotely using mobile technology in 2015, equivalent to 37.2 percent of the entire global workforce, and it's easy to see why.

As employees are no longer constricted by their location, they have the ability to become more agile and flexible in their work hours. Connecting to the corporate world remotely is becoming as seamless as walking into an office. With our time more valuable to us than ever, the ability to log-in and work - easily and securely - on the train, in a coffee shop, or wherever you might be, is ever more desirable.

Moving outside of the office environment can also have a positive effect on creativity as employees often lack inspiration when stuck in a corporate environment. For example, how often do you have your most innovative idea when you've got your head stuck in a spread-sheet or when the phone doesn't stop ringing? Your inspiration is more likely to flourish when your mind is at ease, when you're under less pressure, have fewer distractions, and in an environment where you have time to think - something that remote working encourages.

However, this added flexibility will inevitably put greater strain on a business's core IT infrastructure, and companies will need to make sure they have the right network in place in deliver this level of user flexibility and freedom. As existing networks are already struggling to keep pace with growing demand and data volume, how should companies go about moving towards a virtualized workspace?

The answer is ‘The New IP’. In simple terms, The New IP refers to a state-of-the-art, virtualized IP network. This new infrastructure provides a more dynamic, automated capability based on leveraging software and virtualisation. It allows customers to exploit best-of-breed technologies, based on open architectures and open ecosystems, and not be locked into any one vendor.

The New IP will be the enabler for a wealth of new technologies - from virtual workspaces to the Internet of Things - to be transformed into a truly useful tool. Businesses who embrace The New IP will be able to offer their employees an agile, resilient and scalable network, one capable of delivering data and applications to any device, anywhere at any time.

It is clear that our day-to-day lives are becoming ever more reliant on this 24/7 connectivity and whether we are aware of it or not, we rely on the networks connecting these devices together. There is no doubt that, when harnessed correctly, these technologies will help foster corporate innovation; however, flawless delivery off these applications can only be achieved providing the underlying networks are in place to support them.

About the Author: As Vice President Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Marcus Jewell is responsible for sales operations throughout the geography, helping Brocade (News - Alert) expand its footprint in the EMEA market. Jewell has more than 15 years of experience in the networking business, having started his career in technical sales at Xerox, focused on network attached solutions. He then joined MiTech Europe, where he rose through the ranks from lead generation and sales to become Managing Director of MiSpace Ltd, a managed ICT services company jointly owned by MiTech and Jewell.  He joined Mitel (News - Alert) Networks in 2003, heading up the Enterprise Sales and Services for the UK and Ireland, where he was responsible for significantly growing market share and revenue. He graduated from Glamorgan University with a Bachelor of Engineering Honours Degree in Civil Engineering.




Edited by Maurice Nagle
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