Video Conference - A Corporate Bust?

Ever go to that departmental meeting and the meeting organizer decides at the last minute we are adding video conference, so a vendor or out of town team can join?  First 20 minutes of the meeting is watching someone figure out how to make it work, just to have it go to a audio conference in the end because everyone is frustrated.  Perhaps video conference tools are complicated enough to keep the average manager from using it?

The technology group usually doesn't do a good enough job setting up the technology, provide training and user quick reference cards.  In addition, push back on the vendor to say, make it point and click and easy to setup, use and monitor, doesn't take place.  Some organizations, at the cross roads now of 10 year old systems, budget cuts and challenges are saying - take it out, we will just use WebEx and Audio.  Right choice? 

I think it is time to look past the traditional camera and monitor in a conference room once called Video Conference, and find a interactive solution.  Microsoft Lync has come a long way, and provides that ability to have a live meeting, chat, video and phone call on demand really.  Most laptops now come with built in camera, or a USB camera is very cheap, and effective.  So I think there is a balance, a hybrid solution for most organizations, and the days of a useless video system in the corner of the conference room can go away.  

Video solutions saves on travel, provides some interpersonal communications, and can be an effective tool for those impact meetings.  For day to day operations - you can't beat Lync.   Lync won't replace all your Cisco or Polycom video solutions, there will still be a need for several of these in enterprise organizations, but they can work together. 

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net

Cloud Storage - A good option for Corporate America?

Cloud Services, Software, Hosting, Storage, and the list goes on.  Many organizations are asking if Cloud Storage can solve their storage issues.  Data growth for many organization is double digits and sustainability of that growth has quickly become a concern. 

A couple of things to address, one is the data growth itself, and getting a Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) project stated right away.  Get a solid process in place to deal with archive, retention, and unstructured data.  Next, look at your physical infrastructure and develop your storage strategy.  Should that strategy include a "cloud" component?  Perhaps.

The biggest drawback on Cloud storage services is the security.  All data in transit to the cloud service provider and at rest should be encrypted.  You are still responsible for your data protection, and if your data is lost or stolen while at the service provider, having it encrypted is essential.  The contract with your cloud service provider must  include the ability for you to audit their environment, process, and DR plans.  Don't forget their financial stability.

My recommendation is to proceed with caution.  Determine your Cloud Service Provider stability, security, availability, and get everything in writing.  I also would look at archive data as the first candidate to utilize a cloud storage service.  It still comes down to bandwidth and performance, so don't forget the network component of these strategy(s) and plan(s). 

Keep it positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net