|
Conference Sessions
 Implementing Policy and ControlTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm There is general agreement that IT organizations need to implement control functions in the IT infrastructure in order to both improve application performance and to provide enhanced security. There is also general agreement that IT organizations require the capability to set policy in an automated fashion. There is, however, wide disagreement as to what type of control functions need to be implemented, where they need to be implemented, and just how automated and granular the policy capabilities need to be. This session will explore those issues and position the attendees to develop an effective strategy for implementing policy and control.
Is There Anything New to Say About the WAN?Tuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm In the 1980s, IT organizations began to deploy TDM-based WANs. In the 1990s, many IT organizations migrated their WANs first to Frame Relay and then to ATM. In this decade, many IT organizations have migrated to MPLS based networks. However, there is very little buzz in the industry about a technology that is the successor to MPLS. In this session the panelists will address the question of whether or not there are any fundamental changes coming to WAN services or are today's MPLS services the end of the line for at least the foreseeable future?
How Networks Can Assist ApplicationsTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm Historically the way that networks have assisted applications was by providing sufficient bandwidth. However, recently vendors have started to integrate functionality such as SSL processing and WAN optimization into network devices. Now we are beginning to see a movement to provide APIs directly to the switch's and router's operating systems and to also run portions of an application directly on switches and routers. The panelists on this session will discuss the spectrum of functionality that is being integrated into network devices as well as the pros and cons of doing so.
Do Applications Require a Next Generation LAN Design?Tuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm As recently as a decade ago, the majority of LANs were based on shared media. Today, they are based on switching and are designed for two key parameters: speed and availability. However, there is a growing interest in implementing more services, such as security, in LAN switches. This session will help IT organizations determine what functionality belongs in each class of LAN switch. To achieve that goal, this session will look at how the functionality that gets deployed in access and backbone switches either enables or inhibits IT organizations from being able to easily support key initiatives such as mobility and unified communications.
Managing VirtualizationTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm If you believe the articles in the trade magazines, it seems like all of the physical components of IT (i.e., desktops, networks, servers, firewalls, storage, application front ends, etc.) are being virtualized. The promised benefits of virtualization are compelling. However, there is just one problem: How can IT organizations that are currently struggling to manage their physical assets start to manage all of those virtual assets? The panelists on this session will detail what capabilities exist today to manage virtualized resources and will identify what new functionality you can expect to see over the next year.
IT RoundtableTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm This session will be a roundtable discussion with senior IT professionals (Director through CIO) to discuss the current status of the IT function - at 100 Kft, what are the key challenges and opportunities facing IT organizations today. |
