Application Delivery: Creating a Flexible, Service-centric Network Architecture

The effect of changing social patterns on business models cannot be ignored, with more and more of the workforce now based away from head office. A growing proportion of the workforce is also becoming more mobile, meaning that organisations must cater for them in corporate and IT strategies. The expectation is that it will be possible to work remotely, roam freely, and be able to use any type of device. However, there is an increased business risk to this freedom, with the main issues being the security of information outside the confines of the office and the ability to effectively manage the wider environment. Today, IT departments employ a variety of point-solutions and technologies in order to accommodate flexible working practices. With the trend for employee decentralisation and information dissemination showing no sign of abating, now is the time for IT departments to adopt a holistic approach to application delivery and IT infrastructure access. The IT manager must be able to provide services that are appropriate to the many different roles and scenarios found in the organisation today. KEY FINDINGS The expectation of employees now is that they will be able to work from any location and use any type of device. The penetration of mobility technologies will grow at a steady rate over the next two years. Organisations must start to create an application delivery architecture utilising a single IP infrastructure and virtualisation, along with a services-based approach. The performance of remote services and optimisation of application delivery are key issues for IT managers. The key benefit of deploying enterprise mobility solutions is to enable business process improvements. Organisations must start to measure actual user experience. Security is a key concern, although it should not be a barrier to the adoption of more flexible working practices. Unless effective device and connection management are put in place, ownership costs will quickly spiral out of control. Wired and wireless networking technology must be treated as a single entity. This Report reveals: The main considerations and issues with remote working. How deploying mobile solutions can improve business processes. The importance of application performance at the edge of the network. Why organisations must begin to formulate an Application Delivery architecture. How to secure the extended environment without impacting usability. The challenges of managing different types of endpoints. Why organisations will benefit from the provision of a single, IP-based infrastructure. The early adopters gaining significant benefits from innovative Application Delivery solutions. How utilising managed services can help bridge the knowledge gap.

Additional Information

Introduction

The effect of changing social patterns on business models cannot be ignored, with more and more of the workforce now based away from head office. A growing proportion of the workforce is also becoming more mobile, meaning that organisations must cater for them in corporate and IT strategies. The expectation is that it will be possible to work remotely, roam freely, and be able to use any type of device. However, there is an increased business risk to this freedom, with the main issues being the security of information outside the confines of the office and the ability to effectively manage the wider environment. Today, IT departments employ a variety of point-solutions and technologies in order to accommodate flexible working practices. With the trend for employee decentralisation and information dissemination showing no sign of abating, now is the time for IT departments to adopt a holistic approach to application delivery and IT infrastructure access. The IT manager must provide services that are appropriate to the many different roles and scenarios found in the organisation today.

Business Issues

The importance of providing key applications to remote workers and of extending business processes to distributed locations either through fixed or wireless communication technologies cannot be overstated. Enterprise mobility allows enterprises to improve processes, from removing the paper trail to getting invoices out faster. The availability of mobile devices and wireless technologies presents an opportunity for innovation within organisations, offering new freedoms that will eventually change the way companies interact with customers, partners, and employees.

A study conducted in 2006 by Affiniti, a communications integrator, and ICM Research, involving 1,000 workers across the UK, found that remote working is a key requirement of employees. Allowing the workforce greater flexibility including working from home or whilst travelling means that not only is deadtime reduced but also employee satisfaction is higher and as a result productivity is increased. Organisations must take care to deploy application delivery technologies in ways that take account of the needs of employees affected. The user experience and usability of solutions are crucial factors that can significantly impact the successful deployment of such a project.

Organisations face continuous challenges in deciding how best to use available and proven application delivery technologies to the best advantage. A number of device type and connectivity options are available to serve the needs of organisations and their individual users. Matching the characteristics of individual technologies to the various processes, tasks, roles, and scenarios within the organisation is a key step towards achieving potential business advantage. Inevitably, any type of device or connectivity has limitations, and in the context of application delivery one of the most important is the means of connection that enables this requirement to be fulfilled.

Technology Issues

From an application delivery architecture perspective there are three main layers - network, presentation, and services. Gone are the days when proprietary equipment with vertically integrated solutions is acceptable. To be successful and enable the exploitation of common services the application delivery mechanisms must be based on industry standards. Security continues to be an important aspect to the open delivery of corporate information services, as well as the efficient management of application delivery, which relies on the availability of real-time performance information and the use of policy-based administration.

Security

Customers, employees, business partners, suppliers, and contractors need to be properly and adequately protected each time they access applications. Within this context, there is a requirement for operational security solutions that have the scalability to deal with high volume access requests, are comprehensive enough to handle all different levels of user and systems protection demands, and still retain the functional granularity that is needed to deal with each user as an individual when assessing their security status. Given the user roles and scenarios that need to be protected, it is important to put in place protection systems that provide the operational flexibility, but at the same time retain security controls that are aligned with the security profile, protection policy, and business rules of the organisation. Issues such as the importance and acceptability of a user’s location, their device status, and its protection also need to be addressed. All endpoint devices need to be protected so that their use cannot cause security problems for the user or the applications, systems, and networks to which they will be connecting. With more organisations choosing to incorporate flexible user access facilities, including the use of local and remote wireless network approaches, there is a need to understand the associated risks as well as the benefits that should be taken into account when considering such a strategy. The risks include data loss and data leakage, eavesdropping on transmissions, the ability of third parties to intercept wireless communications, the lack of central control, and reduced connection controls.

Management

Management is a key component in an application delivery architecture where policies drive availability, and visibility moves from individual point solutions to being system wide, along with the shift from fixed asset administration to dynamic asset utilisation. A cornerstone for the provision of multi-modal channels is the ability to deliver intelligent central management, enabling efficient use of the available resources. The accessibility of end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) supporting data, voice, and multimedia, is an important first step in the evolution to an automated solution. From an enterprise perspective, mobile devices will soon be as important a part of the corporate ICT infrastructure as any of the other computing assets. Most organisations do not have management or technical capabilities sufficient to undertake effective mobile device management. As mobile devices are increasingly used by enterprises for application delivery, organisations must ensure that they are managed as capably as other assets.

Services

Up until recently creating mobile applications has more often than not needed consultancy and/or mobile environment expertise, making it a costly and time-consuming undertaking for most organisations. As the mobility market matures there are a number of innovative approaches which can help organisations avoid starting from scratch when developing, deploying, and managing mobile applications. A successful mobile deployment can provide a number of benefits such as increased worker productivity, lower operational costs, and improved customer service. However, the success in actually realising these benefits hinges on the ability to provide the mobile workforce with easy-to-use services that match requirements, as well as secure and real-time access to critical information in the field. An opportunity exists for organisations to deploy compelling communication services. This is more than just Voice over IP (VoIP) or a wireless network. It is the integration of communication capability into existing applications and the extension of corporate information and systems beyond the office environment, based on a combination of technologies, along with the implementation of automated management functionality. A first step can be the deployment of new multi-channel services by making use of a service provider, saving on new infrastructure investment, the worry of product obsolescence, and the need to upgrade skills.

Presentation

Many organisations find that richly functional client computer environments, most commonly PCs, deliver more problems than solutions from the perspective of satisfying business requirements. Paring down the client environment footprint and centralising processing power can offer considerable savings. The adoption of thin client and associated virtualisation technology is set to increase considerably, due in no small part to the improved mechanisms that are now available for delivering applications to client devices. Organisations are transitioning the architectures of major applications to an Internet-based delivery model, in which the Web browser forms the presentation layer component. This model has become much more predominant in recent years. Browser-based delivery is instrumental in enabling mobility, as users accessing applications via a browser need not be tied to use any specific machine, or be in any specific location, to access an application.

A new generation of browser-based Rich Web Applications (RWAs) are starting to become available. Mobile devices browsers are not far behind those in the desktop arena in supporting RWA delivery, so this approach will be applicable across application delivery technologies. Today, many companies make some use of speech technology for customer service, and have begun adopting its capabilities to streamline operations, especially with the focus on the ‘real-time enterprise’ and increasing worker mobility. Some of the most productive uses of speech technology to date have involved mobile worker tasks. Speech-based application interaction is expected to be used increasingly in organisational business process improvement.

Network

Managing connections for the entire workforce, especially mobile workers in the field, can prove a complex task. With users connecting via a wide range of fixed and wireless networks, ensuring seamless connectivity, whilst also controlling costs, can be a headache. Session persistence, air time management, and roaming between wireless networks are also a part of this responsibility. In addition, both fixed and wireless networks need to be administered as a single entity. Many remotely accessed applications are mission-critical but face issues with centralisation, poor performance, reliability, and security.

The IT department must, firstly, deploy the means to measure, and secondly, implement tactical and strategic mechanisms to improve the performance for remote users. With the Wide Area Network (WAN) optimisation solutions available today a major barrier to consolidation is removed through the significant improvement in application performance at remote locations. It is recommended that organisations with branch offices must look at trialling a WAN optimisation solution. Traditionally, separate networks have been provided within the enterprise for data, voice, and video. These have been operated as discrete silos with their own infrastructure and management systems, and in larger organisations administered by different teams of people. The next-generation network based on a single IP infrastructure will enable the organisation to provide an adaptable foundation on which services can be rapidly and effortlessly deployed, as well as supporting many different device types and connectivity mechanisms.

Market Issues

Increased mobility of the workforce is a growing trend. For example, laptop sales have greatly increased their share of the market, and were reported to have exceeded the market share of desktops in the US for the first time in mid-2005. The convenience factor provided by mobile devices is thought to have been a significant factor in their adoption. The availability of Wi-Fi capability in mobile devices has also fuelled the growth in flexible working practices. However, the price of this success is that expectations have risen further, and users are likely to demand even greater convenience. The importance of application delivery is spurring the growth of mobile and network managed services as a part of many Service Provider offerings. The rapid expansion in the number of mobile workers, and of the practice of homebased working, leaves the IT manager with a major headache over how to gain expertise in this area.

Using a managed service to deliver implementation ‘know how’ and operational support, especially after the implementation of an application delivery project, is one alternative to consider. The markets for managed mobile services are developing in strength and seeing considerable growth. Organisations should consider the benefits of using such services. The Datamonitor Technology Trends survey of 800 IT managers conducted in 2006 identified that penetration of mobility technologies will grow at a steady rate over the next two years. Analysis of five core enterprise mobility technologies showed there were only slight variations in current usage and investment plans. The three mobility technologies which over a third of IT managers interviewed currently had or used were mobile management, mobile security, and mobile applications. Mobile platforms and integration were found to have a lower penetration rate, but more investments were planned in this area over the next two years.