Logicalis US to CIOs: Your Wireless Infrastructure May Soon Be Obsolete

NEW YORK, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Some of the most exciting advancements in IT are taking place in the communication and collaboration arena.  As enterprise employees demand a more consumer-like user experience from their workplace technologies, the industry's key vendors are poised to deliver just that. According to Logicalis US, an international IT solutions and managed services provider (www.us.logicalis.com), keeping abreast of the coming changes and preparing for them in advance is what will separate the futurists from the dinosaurs in tomorrow's digital enterprise.

"If you're still thinking about work as a place you go instead of a thing you do, you're missing the emergence of an important trend," says Ron Temske, Vice President, Collaboration and Networked Solutions, Logicalis US.  "As we talk about the proliferation of collaboration tools in the workplace and the ability to do work anywhere, anytime, on any device, we're seeing two very distinct kinds of customers emerge: those looking for ways to embrace next-gen communication and collaboration technologies and empower their employees to use it, and those who are still trying to lock down their IT departments to prevent that type of access. The problem with the latter is that it can't be done; people are going to bring devices into the office and use them for work whether they are authorized to do so or not. So, instead of trying to tie their hands, we need to free them to use what's available to create competitive advantage for their employers.  Knowing what's on the horizon will help prepare the way for the next wave of communication and collaboration technologies – a wave that has already begun."

What's on the Horizon?

1. Merging two worlds: The once very different worlds of consumer and enterprise technologies are beginning to merge. Cisco and other vendors are working together to deliver enterprise capabilities on what have traditionally been consumer mobile devices.  With this trend, expect to see subtle, yet critically important changes like devices that offer more intelligent selection of access points to maximize voice and decrease latency issues.  Local caching technologies will enable faster updates for communication toolsets. Smart networks will soon prioritize business applications like CRM or ERP, for example, over more consumer-oriented applications on mobile devices whereas today, all the network sees is mobile traffic with no distinction or importance placed on what kind of traffic it might be. Additionally, more team-based collaboration tools will run in the cloud delivered via subscription as a service.
2. Moving to the cloud: Shifting collaboration tools to the cloud will also allow a wider range of devices to be used to access those tools, truly transforming the way work is done.  These kinds of subscription-based cloud tools will support everything from enterprise-scale video conferencing systems to physical desktop phones to mobile phones.  Even via a mobile phone, users will be able to participate in enterprise collaborative experiences that mirror the ease and flexibility of consumer applications with significantly enhanced feature sets.
3. Extending enterprise boundaries: Using communications tools already deployed inside the corporate environment to create an outward-facing collaborative experience between the business and its customers or partners is another trend quickly gaining traction. As businesses strive for greater integration of collaboration tools with customer-facing applications, actions like embedding video chat directly from a web page to amplify customer service efforts or federating presence to include partners and customers are becoming commonplace. As a result, organizations are moving toward a separation of collaboration from physical devices to make its use pervasive throughout the enterprise and beyond.

Getting Ready
None of this happens without preparation, however. One of the most important ways to prepare today, according to Logicalis' Temske, is to ready corporate wireless infrastructures for the onslaught of devices that will run bandwidth-hungry applications with an enhanced expectation for speed and fluidity. Organizations, for example, that don't yet have 802.11ac wi-fi in place should consider an upgrade.

Because so many of these changes are tied to the cloud, it's also important for CIOs to consider their evolving IT strategies and what role cloud-based technologies and as-a-service subscription offerings will play in tomorrow's digital enterprise.

Want to Learn More?

• Did you know Logicalis US has just expanded its communication and collaboration capabilities by acquiring The Via Group, a solution provider specializing in unified communications and voice?
• Watch a brief video in which Logicalis expert Mike Johnson, Director of Collaboration and Networked Solutions, defines communications and collaboration, discusses its components and business benefits, its implementation challenges and how to navigate them, and examines the communications and collaboration vendor landscape: http://ow.ly/YFNQK.
• Take Logicalis' Communication and Collaboration quiz to see if your company is ready for the changes on the horizon, then map your Communication and Collaboration Journey to get there: http://ow.ly/YFMVj.

About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international IT solutions and managed services provider with a breadth of knowledge and expertise in communications and collaboration; data center and cloud services; and managed services.

Logicalis employs over 4,000 people worldwide, including highly trained service specialists who design, deploy and manage complex IT infrastructures to meet the needs of over 6,500 corporate and public sector customers. To achieve this, Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders such as Cisco, HP, IBM, EMC, NetApp, Microsoft, VMware and ServiceNow on an international basis. It has specialized solutions for enterprise and medium-sized companies in vertical markets covering financial services, TMT (telecommunications, media and technology), education, healthcare, retail, government, manufacturing and professional services, helping customers benefit from cutting-edge technologies in a cost-effective way.

The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of over $1.5 billion from operations in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific and is one of the leading IT and communications solution integrators specializing in the areas of advanced technologies and services.

The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM Stock Exchanges, with revenues of over $6 billion.

For more information, visit www.us.logicalis.com.

Business and technology working as one
To learn more about Logicalis activities through a variety of social media outlets, click here.

Media contacts:
Lisa Dreher, VP, Marketing & Business Development,
Logicalis US
[email protected]
425-201-8111
www.us.logicalis.com

Karen Franse, Communication Strategy Group for Logicalis US
[email protected]
866-997-2424
www.gocsg.com

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SOURCE Logicalis US

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