Managed services

12 February, 2019

How ISPs and CSPs can reap the benefits of network-based security

Pressure is mounting for communications service providers (CSPs) to begin helping their customers prevent cyber-attacks, but this can be especially tough when users have entire families to protect, writes Neil Cook, the vice president of Products Security at Open-Xchange. Often, this can mean providing protection on upwards of five smart devices, such as virtual assistants, smart fridges and smart thermostats, per household – and that’s in addition to more conventional devices, like smartphones and laptops.

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30 January, 2019

Restore order to communications chaos in the workplace

The term bring your own device (BYOD) has been defined by Gartner as a disruptive phenomenon, writes Rufus Grig, the chief technology officer at Maintel. Employees were bringing non-sanctioned, non-company IT devices into work with the intention of connecting them to everything.

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21 November, 2018

Connectivity – the danger of buying what you’re sold

We all know what happens when there’s a monopoly. Regardless of industry or product, consumers have limited – or no – choice, and end up paying whatever the suppliers in the monopoly dictate, writes Nick Johnson, the chief executive of Evolving Networks.

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19 November, 2018

SD-WAN is an industry enabler for greater network operations

Software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), is an application of software-defined networking (SDN) technology which is applied to a WAN architecture. One of the main benefits of SD-WAN, compared to traditional networking technologies is being able to centralise the control plane through a cloud hosted controller. Removing control from the edge devices allows for a more streamlined management of those devices. For network managers, simplifying controls, speed of deployment and agility to new challenges not only allows for cost savings and greater productivity, but helps deliver an overall better user experience, writes Stephen Lawrence, the sector director for enterprise at SSE Enterprise Telecoms. (more…)

17 November, 2018

What does Hotspot 2.0 really mean for your business?

Wi-Fi connectivity is extremely important for businesses and is a key tool driving customer satisfaction across the retail, hospitality and transportation sectors, as well as cost control and employee productivity in the enterprise. Users simply want, nay expect, to be seamlessly and securely connected wherever they are and able to get on with whatever task they need to complete without participating in the plumbing, writes Blaz Vavpetic, the chief technology officer of iPass.

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08 November, 2018

It’s time to fix broken processes in the contact centre

Go back little more than a decade and most contact centres followed the traditional model of being office-based with headphone-wearing operators packed together like battery hens answering fixed line phone calls on weekdays between 9-5, writes Jeremy Payne, the international vice president of marketing at Enghouse Interactive.

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06 November, 2018

Why a cloud expense management programme is essential

One of the greatest benefits of cloud computing is cost efficiency but there is a flip side, costs can get out control if services are not provisioned effectively or properly managed. Cloud service providers must be carefully selected based on the needs of the business and the prices and services they provide, writes Amanda Vernazza, a product marketing manager at Tangoe.

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25 October, 2018

Cable bites back – part 1

In the first of a two part article, Jon Baldry the metro marketing director at Infinera, says fibre to the home (FTTH) or building is now a very popular choice for new housing developments and business parks across the globe.

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14 October, 2018

No more ‘heads in the sand’ as security firms urge customers to patrol enlarged attack surface

Security never seems to get any easier, does it? Ransomware, say the experts, shows no signs of diminishing as a threat to consumers and enterprises. So if they can’t nullify the threat, how can enterprises and consumers reduce their vulnerability? (more…)