Caught in the Middle, Network Managers Speak Out About What They Face in the New Millennium; As Networks Become Mission-Critical, Pressures Mount for Reliability, Cost Control.DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 1999-- Caught between user demand for bandwidth, executive insistence on cost control, and everyone's assumption of uptime, network managers are feeling the squeeze. They speak out in a new report released today by Olicom A/S (Nasdaq/NMS:OLCMF), the leader in fault-tolerant enterprise networking The networking infrastructure in a large enterprise with multiple computer systems and networks of different types is extraordinarily complex. Due to the myriad of interfaces that are required, much of what goes on has little to do with the real data processing of the payroll and orders. solutions. 95% of all respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. say that they face significant challenges in implementing goals set by their organizations. 23% cited budget constraints A Budget Constraint represents the combinations of goods and services that a consumer can purchase given current prices and his income. Consumer theory uses the concepts of a budget constraint and a preference ordering to analyze consumer choices. as the primary challenge. 19% mentioned network reliability. 18% cited keeping up with technology. 14% said that finding good people was their biggest challenge. "The challenges are in implementing solutions within a limited budget, trying to keep pace with fast-changing technology, and identifying quality products that meet our needs," said Thomas (language) Thomas - A language compatible with the language Dylan(TM). Thomas is NOT Dylan(TM). The first public release of a translator to Scheme by Matt Birkholz, Jim Miller, and Ron Weiss, written at Digital Equipment Corporation's Cambridge Research Laboratory runs Grass, manager of engineering systems, U.S. Electric Motors Division, Emerson Electric Co. "In today's world technology changes every 6 to 12 months. We need to know what is the right direction to move in and how soon to buy the new equipment." Olicom commissioned the study to document current needs and future plans of networking decision makers in medium to large U.S.-based commercial and governmental enterprises. The 157-question survey was administered by phone or in person to network managers and executives in late February. "Network managers are under increasing pressure to turn new technology into tangible business benefits," explained Per Larsen, president of Olicom Inc. "We commissioned this study to document those pressures and provide a cross-section of front-line perspective on how managers are coping with these challenges. We are also using it as a guide for our own product and solution development plans." Network uptime is a constant concern of these professionals. 59% say when the network goes down, revenue and productivity are affected. For 19% of respondents, downtime The time during which a computer is not functioning due to hardware, operating system or application program failure. can be disastrous. To prevent the unthinkable from happening, most managers resort to redundancy. 31% have redundant networks -- redundant components such as hubs, routers, or switches (18%), or servers (17%). Next Generation Products Network executives look to the next generation of products to better meet their needs for reliability (27%), greater bandwidth (23%), and simplicity (23%). Only 9% reported having everything they need today. Despite the perception that Ethernet switches A device that connects clients and servers to each other in an Ethernet network. See switched Ethernet. have become commodity products, the vast majority of respondents (79%) said that they would be willing to pay more for a particular vendor's product with certain attributes and features, including greater performance, quality and reliability. 69% of firms reporting Token Ring A local area network (LAN) access method developed by IBM. Conforming to the IEEE 802.5 standard, Token Ring uses a token ring access method and connects up to 255 nodes in a star topology at 4, 16 or 100 Mbps. installations say they plan to migrate to another networking technology. Of that group, 52% are migrating to Ethernet Ethernet Telecommunications networking protocol introduced by Xerox Corp. in 1979. It was developed as an inexpensive way of sending information quickly between office machines connected together in a single room or building, but it rapidly became a standard computer , 10% to ATM. Providing network access to customers, partners and employees in remote locations is also creating challenges, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. respondents. Two-thirds of the firms included in the survey provide support to home office workers. 53% said they will be expanding their remote LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. access capabilities. Hurdles mentioned include security (24%), support issues (24%), connectivity (19%), and bandwidth (17%). About Olicom Olicom, a leading global supplier of high-performance data networking solutions, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets its products for large, geographically dispersed dis·perse v. dis·persed, dis·pers·ing, dis·pers·es v.tr. 1. a. To drive off or scatter in different directions: The police dispersed the crowd. b. enterprises. It specializes in providing campus network connectivity solutions, advanced technical support services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services , and ClearStep(SM) evolution strategies for networks in transition. The company's products are distributed worldwide by a network of strategic partners and resellers. More information on Olicom is available from the company's SEC filings or by contacting the company directly. See Olicom news, product, and service information on its Web site at http://www.olicom.com. Olicom is a registered trademark and ClearStep is a service mark of Olicom A/S. Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release may contain forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. , involving risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Among the factors that could cause results to differ are uncertain market conditions, overall demand levels for networking solution products, the timely development of new products, intense competition in the networking industry, and the company's ability to execute strategies efficiently and effectively. Further information may be found in Olicom's periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the most recent reports on Form 20-F and 6-K, which identify important risk factors related to the company's business that could cause actual results to materially differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion